J-Ham after his 4th home run of the evening

In last night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Ranger outfielder Josh Hamilton set an American League record with 18 total bases courtesy of a 5-5 evening that featured four home runs and a double.

Four home runs in one game has only been accomplished 16 times in the history of Major League baseball, the last time by former Blue Jay Carlos Delgado in 2003, and was a historic evening for everyone in attendance at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Even more impressive than Hamilton’s showing was the response the Oriole fans gave him after his final home run in the 8th inning.

This simple act is something most churches can learn a great deal from.

After his fourth home-run of the evening, the Baltimore fans showed their respect for him, by giving him a standing ovation as he rounded the bases.

So what can you learn from this?

The simple act of recognizing and celebrating the victories and accomplishments of others regardless of whether they’re on your team or not.

Far too often when we see another church experience success instead celebrating with them, we try to find ways to criticize and critique what they are doing and in essence become “player haters”. Why is it so difficult for us as the church to simply be happy for another church when God is moving and instead of trying to diminish what is happening, see what can be learned from it and ask God to bless us as well?

My prayer for us all is that we can see more collaboration and celebration between churches and less competition.

That’s my two cents, I’d love to hear yours.

In looking back at what I would consider major dreams I’ve brought to life, I find they all pretty much fall into two categories. The first category is dreams I pursued “just because.” These are dreams that didn’t impact or change my life or anyone else’s. They were just things that I always wanted to do. Let’s call these “personal dreams” or dreams of attainment. They include things like putting together my own semi-pro baseball team and winning the championship, learning to play ice hockey and being named league MVP, performing stand-up comedy and visiting New York. They meant something to me personally, were things I wanted to do and I did them.

The rest of my dreams fall under the category of enhancement, meaning they either enhanced my life or someone else’s in a variety of ways. It could be financially, emotionally, spiritually or any other way that has a positive impact.

For me, quitting my corporate sales job to launch my own magazine, creating new divisions with two Fortune 500 companies and writing my first book, Dream Big, Win Big!, all fit in this enhancement category. Likewise, sharing the stage with legends like Les Brown and Zig Ziglar, co-authoring a book with Olympic Gold Medalist Lanny Bassham, and launching iamonlyone.org, also fit in this group.

Sometimes a dream can overlap and be both a personal dream and an enhancement dream. For me, being able to fulfill a childhood dream of performing stand-up comedy actually fits both categories because it was something I had always wanted to do, and when I did, I actually got paid to do it.

As I began to dissect my dreams and chart them from beginning to end, a pattern or cycle emerged. There were commonalities in all of them, especially the enhancement dreams. Personal dreams are tricky in the sense that, in some of them, it may not be obvious that certain things actually took place in the process. Besides, it’s also easier to put a personal dream on hold.

For example, let’s say you always wanted to visit Disney World as a child but never got to. Now that you have a family of your own, it’s your dream to take them. But if you find that for some reason your plans fall through, chances are you’ll find that it’s not that big of a deal to say “let’s wait until summer.”

On the other hand, if it’s your 12-year-old daughter’s dream to visit Disney World and she has terminal cancer, you will do whatever it takes to make the trip. It’s now an enhancement dream. Your motivation is much greater, and that’s something we will take a look at later in this post.

As I go through the different phases of bringing a dream to life, I want you to think from the perspective of an enhancement dream. If possible, I’d like you to think of a dream you brought to life, or perhaps one that you wanted to but didn’t. See if you can identify the different components and how they relate to your dream.

As I go through and describe what I will call the Dream Machine, I am going to use the example of when I quit my corporate sales job with a shoe manufacturer to launch my own niche magazine. I left a base salary and benefits to walk out on my own with no financial backing. Sound crazy? Maybe it won’t after we break it down. Almost every dream of mine, including this one, at some point started with an inspiration. This isn’t the actual dream itself but rather the catalyst or spark that got my wheels turning. More times than not it will be either some sort of pain or a cause, something that moves you.

For me, my inspiration came when I was sitting in a hotel room in Southern California during part of a 13-day sales trip. I realized at that moment how much I hated being away from my then 7-year-old son for that long. I hated missing his baseball games because I had to travel and missing his golf tournaments because I had a sales meeting. I wanted to be in control of my schedule and my time. I knew that as long as I worked for someone else that would never be the case. My wheels were turning.

The next three components can occur totally independent of each other or simultaneously. In my case, they all happened almost instantaneously. The next part of the process is the vision. This is the dream itself. My dream was to launch my own business and set my own schedule and never miss another one of my son’s activities.

This also ties into the next piece of the puzzle, my motivation, or why. Your why is what will get you going and keep you going. This may be the single biggest factor in determining whether you will see your dream through to completion. Your why has to be bigger than you, and big enough that you will not let anyone or anything come between you and your dream. Think of it this way: If your why don’t make you cry, it’s not big enough. We will go deeper in the importance of your why in a future post.

After that came the calculation phase. This is where I started to really formulate a plan and began doing research. I wanted to not only start my own business, but try to attach it to something I loved doing and to something I knew I could do well. I knew that a perfect fit for me would be to bring golf and sales together. I loved golf and was good at sales.

After much consideration, I decided to launch a monthly junior golf magazine that would be 100 percent supported by advertising revenue. I spent several weeks doing my homework and coming up with a game plan. As things began to fall into place, I knew that this would provide the income I needed, so long as it was properly executed. I then reached the point of realization, the next step in the process, where I told myself, “I can do this!”

This is where we cross over from testing the waters to actually starting to believe that our dream is achievable. This is also where our self-image kicks in. When it comes to self-image keep this point fresh in your mind — your performance will never exceed your self-image.

Once I made it that far, I was rocking and rolling. But in truth, most dreams die either directly before or after the next step. The next step in bringing your dreams to life is actually quite simple, but as I just mentioned, many people never reach this point. You must make a decision. That’s all it is. Decide. You have to transition from I can do this to I’m going to do this.

At some point you have to make a decision that you are going to pursue your dream. But don’t stop there. Follow me for a second. Three boys are sitting on a bridge overlooking a creek. Two of them decide to jump in. How many are left? If you answered one, you’re wrong. The correct answer is three. You see, they only decided to jump. If half of the people who let their dreams die do so because they never decide to pursue their dream, then the other half let their dreams die because they fail to take the next step,which in reality is the most important. These people decide to act, but they never take action.

You can sit around all day and talk about what you are going to do and even tell everyone how you’ve decided to finally chase down that dream, but brother, if you never take action, it will never happen. You can quote me on that.

This one key is what prompted me to come up with my signature quote: “It’s not how many dreams you have, it’s how many you bring to life.” My dream truly began to take shape when I handed in my letter of resignation and walked out the door. There was no turning back. I took the first step. I took action. This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

I always like to remind myself that talk is cheap. And the old saying is true. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Once I quite my sales job and walked out the door, my journey had begun.

The next step is implementation, the period in which you begin to work your plan. For me, this is where it really got fun. I created a media kit on my iMac, made some copies and went out cold-calling, trying to sell advertising in a magazine that did not yet exist anywhere other than in my dream. To all of the entrepreneurs out there, and I’m speaking from experience, there’s not a person alive who can or will sell your dream better than yourself. I feel very comfortable in saying that, if I had hired a sales team to go out and sell my dream I probably wouldn’t be writing this today.

You don’t have to be a salesman per se. Just share your dream with passion and people will buy into it if it makes sense. The first ad I sold was my back cover. I sold it to a national golf shaft manufacturer that told me up front that it didn’t do any “local” advertising. I’m glad I decided not to listen. After making that sale I knew there was no stopping me! I was building momentum.

This led me to continuation, where I simply continued to implement my plan. This is also a point where you may need to evaluate and adapt if necessary. I continued to tell my story and sell advertising until I had enough money to begin printing. From the time I created my media kit to the day I had sold enough advertising to begin printing, just 29 days had elapsed. In a little less than a month, I was ready to print the first issue of my magazine. The day I went to the printer to pick up the first run of magazines is a day I’ll never forget. A copy of my first issue, featuring my oldest son Caleb and PGA Tour player Sergio Garcia on the cover, hangs on my wall in a glass case to this very day. It is a daily reminder of my why and what can happen when I pursue my dreams.

That is when I reached completion. I had brought that dream to life. It was absolutely incredible to look back and think about that night in my hotel room in Southern California, where an idea was born, and then follow the road that led me to where I was, standing there holding a copy of my magazine. Not someone else’s magazine. My magazine.

At this juncture I reached the point of evaluation. I had to look back on the whole process and pat myself on the back for all of the things I did right, and honestly assess areas that needed improvement. I will never dwell on an area that comes up short, but I have to acknowledge it and recognize what I can do differently next time. Even though I list evaluation as the last step and after the fact, in all reality it’s something that needs to be done after each phase. I constantly evaluate and adapt when necessary. Keep in mind that it’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but you can always connect them looking back.

When I began my quest to do my own thing, I would have never thought that the journey would lead me to some of the opportunities it has. That one magazine led to three regional editions, two in Texas and one on Florida, another magazine associated with the top regional junior golf tour in the U.S., a national junior golf radio show that I co-hosted with Valeria Ochoa from the Big Break and a junior golf television show. I’ve even interviewed more professional golfers and celebrities than I can name, people like Kathy Whitworth, Tom Lehman, Ivan Lendl and George Lopez, just to name a few.

My point in saying all of this is not to brag. It’s merely to help you understand that even though our dreams may seem big initially, they have the potential to be much bigger than we can ever imagine. If you’ve ever been to a redwood forest, perhaps you’ll understand. The redwoods soar to the heavens, and from the forest floor you can’t even see the tree tops. But if you look on the ground, you just may find tiny cones containing even tinier seeds. The mighty redwoods all around you sprang from seeds just like that. This is the way of dreams. They hold more potential than we can fathom. But our dreams will remain just untapped potential unless we take that first step and act. That’s what I did, and you can, too.

If you want to download a visual chart that walks you through the process click here.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories of times when you’ve brought a dream to life.

I’m sure most of us have heard the phrase “ignorance is bliss” at some point in our lives. While I may not always agree with it, there are many times that I do. This is especially true when pursuing your dreams and taking big steps of faith. Before I tell you what I mean let me tell you what I don’t mean.

I don’t mean:

• Completely ignoring the advice of wise counsel…
• Going into something blindly with no plan at all…
• Pleading ignorance when things go wrong…
• Ignoring the obvious to excuse your actions…

Those are just a few examples of what I’m not talking about. Now let’s look at what I am talking about.

What I do mean:

• Not allowing someone else steal your dreams or your calling…
• Not allowing other people tell you that you can’t do something just because they can’t…
• Sometimes it’s better to not have all of the “facts” because they aren’t all relevant…
• Not knowing everything beforehand is ok…
• Not letting someone else’s mentality become your reality…

While you should always want to seek wise counsel there are also times when you have to follow your instincts and go with what your gut (often times God) is telling you to do. Many times well-meaning people, people you love and trust, that love you and only want the best for you, will give you information about a decision you are making that will cause you to second guess if you’re doing the right thing. Their intent is for your best but their idea of your best is not always God’s idea of your best. Once the seed of doubt has been planted it becomes very difficult to stop it from growing. There are other times when someone’s intent isn’t good or bad, they are just sharing information that unintentionally causes you to doubt. Several years ago when I had my first sales job I sold insurance door-to-door for a pretty big national company. I would go out each day and knock on doors and sell policies but I would also go around collecting monthly premiums. About twice a month there would be times when I had a decent amount of cash/checks ($1,500+) in my bag. My “agency”, that is the area I worked, happened to be in a historically older black neighborhood in West Fort Worth. It also was becoming known for a lot of gang activity. I loved my job. I loved meeting and talking to new people, and I loved the challenge of sales. I never thought twice about what I was doing until one day I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. This friend asked me what I had been up to and so I told him all about my new job and how I love it. He then asked a very simple and innocent question, “Do you feel safe?”. I asked him what he meant and he asked me if I felt safe carrying all of that money around and what if someone in the neighborhood knew. My response was that I never thought about it which was true. I loved my job and the people and never felt in danger. After that moment though I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. The next few days at work were horrible. I kept looking over my shoulders wondering if someone was following me. I avoided walking down streets that had people hanging out outside. The job that I loved so much just days before I now hated. All because I now had knowledge of something I didn’t before. A week later I quit my job.

My point in that story is that when I was “ignorant” to some of the perceived dangers I loved what I did and once I had knowledge of what could happen it changed everything. Was I really in danger? Probably not any more than I was any other time. Did I need to use wisdom in how I conducted my business? Of course. That’s what I was already doing. I let someone else’s mentality become my reality.

Do your homework, seek God’s direction, come up with a plan, but always remember you don’t have to know everything and you don’t have to have all of the answers and have it all figured out before you take those steps of faith. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Agree, disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I’ll also be posting things I’m learning here in Durham on my new journey. We are in a unique situation here in that we own a building in the middle of a neighborhood that we lease on Sunday morning to Summit Church and share with them. Also, because we are intentionally focusing on being a multi-ethnic church, there are challenges that come with that as well, especially in a city that has had racial tension in the past with things like the Duke Lacrosse Scandal, and the tension between blacks and hispanics as the latino population continues to boom.

This is the most exciting yet humbling position I’ve ever been in in my entire life and one of the few times where I can honestly say I’ve had to rely 100% on God.

As I post I promise to be real, authentic, transparent, and open about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Talk to you soon.

Bobby

Being a baseball guy I have to tell you I loved Moneyball. I loved the story, I loved the real game footage, I love the scene with Ron Washington (then 3rd base coach for the A’s, played by Brent Jennings) and Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) when they go to visit Scott Hatteberg, trying to convince him that switching to first base, after playing catcher his entire career up to that point, would be the move to make. You’ll have to watch it to see what I’m talking about.

As I watched the movie it made me think of things outside of baseball like the church. See, the main point of the movie was more about how Billy Beane went against tradition and what tradition said was the right way to run a baseball team than anything else. All of the conflict he had in the movie was between him and the baseball purists, the scouts, ownership, manager Art Howe, because they wanted to do things the way they always had (getting the same results they always had.) and he wanted to do things differently. The fact that they ended up winning more games that year (the same number of games as the Yankees with less than half the budget.) than they did the year before and making the playoffs is besides the point.

As a pastor or church leader what can you learn from Moneyball you ask? It’s simple: Just because something has always been done a certain way is not a reason to continue to do it that way. Anytime you try to change something big (and even small in many churches…) your greatest foe will be tradition. People love to keep things the way they’ve always been and they love their sacred cows. Now Billy Beane didn’t want to change things just for the sake of change. Going against tradition began with a brutally honest assessment of this team’s current reality. He knew that if they didn’t make radical changes they didn’t have a chance against big payroll teams like the Yankees. Because he could be honest he wasn’t afraid to make the changes necessary to move his team forward even at the objections of his “inner-circle”.

If you’re a pastor or a leader you’re in that position for a reason. Sometimes you’re the one God has placed in that position to be the one to go against tradition. Watch Moneyball and get inspired to do BIG things.

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes…

I hope I’m not dating myself by the David Bowie reference (I was in kindergarten when the song debuted. If you want to know the year Google it.)  in the title of this post, but there are big ch-ch-ch-ch-changes on the way for me and my family. In a nutshell, we are leaving Fort Worth, TX where I’ve lived my entire life and moving to Durham, NC where I’ll become the Directional Leader/Lead Pastor of a multi-ethnic church restart called Mosaic Durham. Because it’s a restart I’m having to raise support for 12 months to make the transition.

In going through this whole change process I began to realize their are two primary ways to handle it. I can be a Risk Manager or I can be a Risk Taker.

All change involves taking risks on our part no matter how big or how small the change may be. If I become a Risk Manager I take the safe road (at least that’s what I think.) trying to control the situation, attempting to  minimize the chance for failure and the level I have to step out of my comfort zone and embrace what’s going on around me. Yes I pray, but what I’m waiting for is for God to give me a crystal clear sign of what He wants me to do. I do this to take me out of the equation which normally is a good thing but in this case all I’m trying to do is not make a mistake. If I know 100% what God wants me to do and where He wants me to go then if things don’t work out I can always blame Him. I know we’ve all heard “the devil made me do it”, but in this case it’s “God told me to do it”.

I’m not saying being a Risk Manager is always bad, but if it’s left up to me I’d prefer to err on the side of being a Risk Taker. Here’s why. If I’m going to mess up I’d much rather go somewhere or do something God wasn’t specifically calling me to do and have an epic fail and learn from it than to stay put in a comfortable situation, afraid to take risks, when God’s calling me out to do something great. Being a Risk Taker doesn’t mean just jumping into things without thinking them through and seeking direction from God. Jesus says in Luke 14:28 that we aren’t to even begin without counting the cost. (“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?) Risk Managers keep counting the cost to the point of paralysis by analysis while Risk Takers count the cost, see the reward as being far greater than the risk, and hit the ground running without looking back.

My own personal philosophy is I’m going to “go, until God says no, or says to go slow”. I’m operating on the basis that by leaning on His direction and letting the Holy Spirit guide me on the front end, as I move through the process I can be more certain I’m operating is His will, not mine.

It’s funny how much God has changed me over the years and prepared for what He has me doing right here, right now. In the words of David Bowie,

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don’t want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different man

I’ve embraced change by not being afraid to take risks and learning from the failures along the way in becoming the man God has made me today.

Do you tend to be a Risk Manager or a Risk Taker?

“There is no education like adversity.” ~Disraeli

When I read that quote it made me think of all the things I’ve learned in life that have made me who I am today that I learned in the midst of adversity. Many times those are our greatest opportunities to learn and to grow. It’s also those times that many people throw in the towel and totally “miss” what they were supposed to “get”.

One of the greatest recent examples of learning through adversity can be found by looking back to the 2008 Big 10 Indoor Track Championships when Heather Dorniden falls down during the Women’s 600m race with only one lap to go and gets back up and wins at the end by a slim margin. Even the slightest hesitation on her part about whether to get back up would have cost her the race. If you’ve never seen the video then watch it now and while you watch Heather’s inspiring performance think back to a time in your life when you let adversity teach you one of life’s greatest lessons- “never give up.”

In the words of Homer Simpson..."Doh!"

But what I want to talk about today has nothing to do with any of that. As a matter of fact when most leaders make these two huge mistakes we usually have no idea until we are looking back. Remember it’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward but we can always connect them looking back. We also usually make these mistakes in the midst of thinking we are doing the right thing.

What am I talking about? The two biggest mistakes many leaders make are staying too long in a position or leaving a position too early. It happens all of the time. I think for many leaders God has been preparing them and now calling them for that next season in their life and they keep ignoring the signs.

Why do we stay? Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of change, sense of obligation, sense of loyalty, the list could go on and on. For others it’s the opposite. God is telling you to stay and you bail. Maybe you see a better opportunity somewhere else, someone offended you, you feel under appreciated, you think you could do things better, who knows. The point is God wants you where you are and you decide otherwise. So how do we know when to stay and when to go?

Abide in Him, seek His will, and check our motives. This is the time for honesty and transparency. Be real with yourself and answer this question-why am I staying or why do I want to go? What is God telling me to do?

I was reminded this past weekend of how significant small things can be. My family and I spent this past Sunday evening hanging out with a friend and his family. It was a great time. He cooked brisket, we ate, talked, laughed, talked baseball, and caught up on the past 13 years. Up until a month ago I hadn’t seen or talked to my friend James in almost 13 years. We originally met playing on a Men’s baseball team in Fort Worth called the White Sox. Other than being teammates we didn’t spend much time together. He was a nice guy that simply enjoyed being on the team. He usually came off the bench and filled in at first and I played short stop. We reconnected last month at the birthday party for another friend of mine that I baptized earlier that day. At the party the guy catering the food came up to me and asked me if my name was Bobby Minor. It was James. He said his wife had mentioned to him that the guy that preached that morning was “some guy named Bobby Minor”. He wondered if it was the same “Bobby Minor” and he was correct. We chatted briefly and discovered we literally live less than two miles from each other. We talked about me being a pastor now and I gave him my card. We also agreed to catch up sometime soon. The following is an email he sent me two days after the party.

Hi Bobby, 

It is always good to see an old teammate again, however I was especially glad to see you at Alberto’s party on Sunday.  I know we only played together on the White Sox briefly, but I have always wanted to thank you for something.

During one of my first games with the team I made an error on an easy throw from you, and felt absolutely awful about this as it allowed a run to score.  As you recall, we did not win many games back then, and so it was a big deal.  I was not the greatest player, but absolutely loved the game and tried so hard, so if effected me deeply.

However I will never forget that as we were running in from the field at the end of the inning, you made it a point to run over to me and rather than being upset, you smiled and told me it was OK.  This meant a lot to me as I was new to the Sox and trying so hard to fit in with everyone.  The error affected me more than it did you, and you were perceptive enough to know this, and gracious enough to help me get past it.

I played seven wonderful seasons with the White Sox, had it not been for you I probably would not have come back for another game. I doubt you recall this incident, however I have never forgotten it and have always wanted to say thank you.

It would be great to get together sometime and talk baseball, among other things.  I think you live near us in Park Glen, perhaps you and your wife would like to come over for dinner sometime?  

Best regards,

James

Honestly, when I read his email I was blown away. He was right, I didn’t remember. To me I’m sure it wasn’t a big deal. I played baseball most of my life and at the moment it happened it was just “one of those things”. It obviously meant a great deal to him. That’s what I want to remind everyone of. Small things can make a huge difference in the life of someone else and we can never underestimate the impact they may have. Saying hi to someone, smiling at someone, talking to someone, encouraging someone, all can mean the world to the person on the receiving end even if to us it’s no big deal. Don’t get so busy, so in a hurry that you don’t have time for the small things. It may mean the world to someone else even if you never know.

Yes, even us pastors have pet peeves and things that get on our nerves from time to time. We are only human as you may be aware. I know it may be hard to believe but there are actually a few things can get under my skin just a bit. 

In no particular order here are four of the things that I’m not a big fan of. If you are guilty of doing any of these…stop it. Please. Now.

Ok, if you know me at all you know I’m pretty active on Facebook. I love posting things and using it as a tool to connect with people all over the world. Two of my biggest pet peeves both have to do with Facebook. 

The first one is when “people tag me in random photos that I’m not in and have no association with.” I guess along with that would be “people that post things on my wall unsolicited.” (I guess that would mean my list has now grown to five.) I don’t mind being tagged in a photo that I’m actually in but why would you want to tag me in one that I’m not? I also don’t mind people posting a comment on my wall but I don’t  like it when people use my wall as a way to market/promote/advertise something they have going on without at least giving me the courtesy of seeing if I’m cool with it. If you want me to promote something just ask. Make sense?

This leads me to my next Facebook pet peeve- “when guys poke me on Facebook.”

Call me old fashioned but I don’t get this one either. Throw all of the high school-ish sexual innuendos out the window and I still don’t like it. It’s weird to me and I don’t get it. Period, end of story. If you’re a guy don’t do it.

My next pet peeve is when “people state the obvious.” For example, you and I are supposed to meet at Starbuck’s at 10:15am and you text me at 10:20am and say, “I’m running late” it’s pretty obvious at that point. Next time try this, “hey sorry for running late I’ll be there in 15 minutes.” Simple enough. Another one in this category is when people say any form of this: “This may or may not happen”, “This may or may not be true”, etc. Anytime you preface something by saying “this may or may not” it obviously applies to every situation. Nuff said.

My last pet peeve is when “people talk (or Facebook, Twitter, etc…) on their cell phone in the restroom in the stall when there is only one stall.” Maybe they are multi-tasking, I don’t know, but what I do know is that when I’m in there and I’m messing with my phone I’m not really thinking about someone else that may or may not be (lol) waiting outside because they’ve got to go as well. The courteous thing to do is get in and get out as quickly as possible. When you’re at home, have at it, take your laptop, kindle, ipad, whatever you want in there with you and take as long as you want, just don’t do it in a public restroom where I may be waiting patiently. 

I guess if I wanted to give you a bonus pet peeve it would be “when people don’t ask for my ID when I use my debit card.” Why does that bother me? Because I never sign my debit card, I always put “ASK FOR ID” where the signature would go. By not taking the time to look at the back of the card and asking me for my ID it tells me that if someone ever stole (found) my debit card and wanted to use it, I’m in trouble.

Well there you have it. Of course I wrote this in an attempt to be slightly humorous but we all know there’s always a little bit of truth in it whenever someone is joking.

If you enjoyed reading about just a few of the things that get on my nerves I’d love for you to return the favor and share a few of your pet peeves as well. I know that most of you may or may not have gotten this far and if you did you may or may not post a comment and that’s ok, I’m cool with it.

Right now my life seems like a whirlwind with so many things going on. In some ways it’s exciting and in other ways a bit overwhelming. That’s why is so critical for me to focus and prioritize. Almost weekly I’m presented with new opportunities to do some cool things but right now these are the top five things going on that really have me excited:

1.     2nd Chances-The Barrio Pilot: Over the past 12 months I’ve been working with author Robert Renteria from Chicago and his publisher Corey Michael Blake on creating a pilot for a reality show we are going to present to several networks. In this arena there is a lot of “hurry up and wait” going on. Finally, after what seems like months of inactivity, we are taking things to the next level. This relationship began with an idea I had and by me reaching out to Robert via Facebook. Prior to that we didn’t know each other. In the next 90-120 days we will begin shooting the pilot for the show. If you want to find out more about it check this out: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/3066-2nd-chances-from-the-barrio-pilot

2.     3rd service launch at Waves: Over the past 18 months God has been doing some amazing things at Waves of Faith where I pastor. We have grown from the 180′s and one service to consistently over 450 and two services (with close to 80 baptisms during that time) to now launching a third service this Sunday. On Easter we had three services for one day and had over 600 people show up. After recently celebrating my 10-year anniversary of the first time I ever stepped foot in Waves (September 16th) I am blown away by how much it has changed since then and can’t wait to see what God has in store next. Check out Waves at http://wavesoffaith.com/

3.     JSparks Studios: My good friend Jaime Puente and I have our hands full working on Social Media campaigns for several people and organizations including some that most people are very familiar with (can anyone say “tweet 2 eat”?). Moving into 2012 we are planning on taking on a limited number of new clients. This is a lot of fun and the fact that I love helping people build their brands and business is an added bonus. Get the scoop on JSparks at http://jsparkstudios.com/

4.     C3 Church Consulting: Last July while on a plane to India I mapped out a plan to use my 20+ years of corporate sales and marketing experience and combine that with my ministry experience and what came out of that is C3 Church Consulting. It’s been incredible these past 12 months working with local churches and parachurch and denominational groups to do some pretty cool things. I’m in the process of getting my certification through the Society of Church Consultants and that has me very stoked! You can learn more about what I do with C3 at http://www.c3churchconsulting.com/

5.     Top Secret Golf Project: Because of where things are in the process I’m not at liberty to publically say who all is involved but I can say I’m in the middle of launching something on a national level with one of the top golf publications out there. This is something that will launch in the first quarter of 2012 and is going to provide an amazing service to junior golfers wanting to play college golf. Stay tuned for more details.

So there you have it. Five really cool things I have going on, on top of everything else that I do day in and day out like being a husband, father, friend, baseball coach, pastor, writer, and whatever else I feel like getting into.