Tim Steven's - Director's Commentary

Tim's session was an inside look at why Granger plans it's weekend services the way it does.

Granger offers continual "on-ramps" so that people can easily invite their friends at the beginning of each new series. Typically, there is a new series every 4-6 weeks - which also keeps things interesting for regular attenders. The other great thing about planning in advance like this is the media/arts/music teams have time to tie every element together to support the cultural series theme.

Why don't more pastors plan more in advance? Of course it's hard...nobody said it would be easy. It will, however, it seems to make life a lot easier for your teams!

Tim posted notes from his session HERE

Micah Caronna posted notes on Tim's session HERE

Kem Meyer - INNOVATE Workshop

Kem Meyer's workshop on Church Communication was PACKED! Next year they should have it in a bigger room - because communication is something a lot of churches seem to be realizing they need help with.

"Be an INSIDER, but maintain an OUTSIDER's perspective"

Kem walked us through five common communication myths:

• YOU ARE IN CONTROL: nope, you're not. You can't change someone's worldview - you have to identify their world view and then wrap your message around it.
• ADVERTIZING CREATES INTEREST & REINFORCES THE BRAND: nope, at best it creates awareness. Brands are built on experience.
• THE MORE CHOICES THE BETTER: nope. The more items you put on a page, the less important each item becomes. What does your church website look like?
• PEOPLE CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY: no they don't.
• IT WORKED BEFORE, SO IT WILL WORK AGAIN: nope, your audience is changing faster than you are.

Check out KEM's BLOG for great stuff like this on a continual basis!

Chelsey & Semisi

Last night as soon as the last session of INNOVATE ended, I jumped in my car and drove to see my roomie from Hope get married! Chelsey fell in love with a guy she met in Australia...but he's not an aussie, he's from Tonga! I am amazed at how big God is...keeping these two for one another on seperate ends of the globe and bringing them together in such an amazing way!

CONGRATULATIONS CHELS & SEMISI!!

Mark Beeson

"You are standing today on the foundation you built yesterday.
You will stand tomorrow on the foundation you're building today."

Basically, the heart of Mark Beeson and the heart of Granger is to help people know that they matter to God. If having clean carpets communicates that people matter, than Granger cleans the carpets. If buying shuttles to bus people in from the farthest parking lots makes people feel valued, then Granger buys a shuttle. (people actually left the church when Granger bought a shuttle bus) - sometimes christian people lose the vision - sometimes christian people forget that it's not about them!

...okay, I'm off of my soap box now.

Ultimately, people who know they matter to God, feel valued and cared for, they will, not only feel comfortable bringing their unchurched friends to church, they will WANT to! Granger is helping people connect to God and connect to others.

Corey Mann took some great notes on Dad's session. You can check those out, or head back to DC Curry's Blog to see what he had to say about the session.

Guy Kawasaki at INNOVATE 2007

I LOVED GUY KAWASAKI at INNOVATE! So much great stuff. I had the great privilege of sitting at his table, so I noticed some things that others may have missed. Guy was taking pictures of the crowd with his digi cam before getting on stage to give his talk. I thought that was funny. Also, he had some crazy gadget on the table that I figured was some sort of new really innovative camera/phone/ipod/pointer/tazer/flashlight thing...but it turns out it was just his powerpoint controller thing.

He made me want to get a Mac. Aaron was sitting with me and he has a slick little MacBook Pro laptop that is so cool!

I enjoyed that Guy incorporated Bozos, Stupids, and Crappiness into his session. Seriously, read the notes on his session from Dave Ferguson or DC Currys blogs!

Just so you know...

There is still time to sign up for INNOVATE! I'm so excited about it that I might fall out of my chair. My brother Aaron is going to be there representing for Summit Church down in Florida where my cousin Isaac is the pastor. I can't wait to see Aaron! I've only seen him ONCE since he moved there! Ahhhh! I can't wait!

Happy Birthday Dad!

This weekend Ryan and I headed down to Granger to celebrate my Dad's Birthday! It was so fun to be there on a weekend when Dad wasn't preaching seven services...we actually got to hang out together!!

Saturday morning we went to the apple orchard then hurried home in time to watch the Notre Dame game. (Ryan kept a keen eye on the UofM game on another TV...he's bad.)

John and Angela and Brooke and DC Curry came over for the game. I especially enjoyed watching DC watch the game (for those of you who don't know, he was ND's captain a couple of years ago.)After the game we had some SERIOUS STEAKS! John seasoned them up just right and grilled them to perfection! My mouth is watering just thinking about them!

Such a fun weekend! I love my family! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

You Add The Caption

Japanese Treadmill Madness

Is it bad that I could watch Japanese game shows all day? Why can't we get entertainment like this in the good ol' USofA?

Confessions of a Squirrel Biffer

The weather this week has been AWESOME, so Ryan and I went on a long bike ride through the streets of Heritage Hill and around Reeds Lake. We were about 6 miles into our ride when something terrible happened.

I BIFFED A SQUIRREL! The little buddy jumped right into my back tire and all I heard was a "thud thud chirSQUEEEP" sound. Ryan was riding in front of me, so he didn't see it happen, he only heard it.

I yelled "I BIFFED A SQUIRREL!" which made us both chuckle a little since for three years we have often talked about biffing something, but had never actually done it until now.

We turned around to see if we could find the little guy...to make sure he was okay...or dead...both of which would have been better than suffering. Unfortunately, there were so many bushes that I couldn't really find him. We didn't hear him squeaking, so I am assuming he was unscathed by the incident and is happily skittering around gathering nuts for the winter as I type this post.

Needless to say, I am a squirrel biffer. It happened so fast that even my cat-like reflexes were not quick enough to dodge him.

Sorry little squirrel buddy.

The Joys of Home Call

This month Ryan is rotating through the newborn nursery, and instead of sleeping at the hospital when he is on call, he gets to be on "Home Call." I was so excited! Yippee!! Ryan will be at home with me! This is great news!

UNTIL the first night that he was on home call. I hadn't really thought about the fact that I wouldn't be getting any sleep either! His little pager went off pretty much every hour on the hour all night long! Ahhhh! I don't like home call. beep beep beep beep beep!!

Basically, he has to be available 24/7 so that if the nurses page him, he immediately calls them back to either answer their questions over the phone, or he could have to go into the hospital if something major happens.

So, this past weekend Ryan was on Home Call both Saturday and Sunday. He had to have 2 pagers, his phone, and all the notes on the babies and their moms on him at all times! We went on a walk, and this is what Ryan looked like.

Saturday night we went to church and had to sit in the back near the aisle so he could jet out the door if he got paged.

Sunday Ryan wanted to take a run, so while he ran, I rode my bike behind him carrying all of his gear like a pack mule.

Oh, the joys of home call.

Burned

ht: Indexed

What is this? A car for ants?!?!

Toyota has unveiled the world's smallest four-seater car at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The "IQ" is just over 9 feet long and should hit showrooms within two years. The car was released as part of a new line of eco-friendly cars being debuted by several major automakers

ht: Relevant

Read more here.

450 Baptized This Weekend at Granger!

I've been hearing and reading lots of awesome feedback from Granger's Baptism this weekend at The Cove. This was the first time they rented 6 pools and baptized people on the baseball diamond. Thousands filled the stands to watch hundreds line up to be baptized. Anyway, it seemed to be a HUGE SUCCESS and rumor has it that the concession stands got more business from Granger than they typically do during a game!

Read story on WSJV-FOX here and watch video here.

Watch the video Corey Mann made here.
Read story on WSBT-CBS here.

Read what Monday Morning Insight said here.
Read story on WNDU-NBC here (with an option to also watch video on same page).
Read story from the South Bend Tribune here.

Read the Niles Daily Star here.
See pictures from Jason Powell here.
See pictures from Michelle Wegner here.

Ryan's Resident Friends

Ryan went to Camp Roger for a weekend retreat with the Pediatric Department. He had a great time. They climbed a rock wall, went canoeing, and did a bunch of team-building activities. These are some of his friends, Ajay, Rich & Jen.

THE GOO

I'm finally recovering from what may have been the worst cold of my life. It's still lingering around, but I am SO much better than I was 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and even 7 days ago.

I woke up last Tuesday with something I would like to call "THE GOO." Basically, THE GOO decided to ruin my birthday by showing up the day before. Ryan and I had big plans for some glorious sushi to celebrate, but I decided that we should wait to pay for sushi until I could actually taste and enjoy the meal. He suprised me with some Krispy Kreme's...which I am certain were very tasty. I love Ryan.

So, on my birthday I could be found laying on the couch with two sheets of kleenex neatly folded in origami fashion and placed in each nostril.

THE GOO has since crept out of my sinuses and into my lungs, making my cough quite lovely.

I feel good...even though I sound like THE GOO.

Ruby's Class

I love this picture of Ruby's Class in Mexico.


She is teaching the missionary kids for the next 10 months. Way to go Rubyduu! You are an INCREDIBLE WOMAN and you are BRIGHT and SHINING reflection of Jesus!!


Check out Ruby's Blog

Talk about NON-CONFRONTATIONAL!!

DENVER – Police say the man found injured on I-25 Friday night apparently leapt from a moving vehicle to avoid a verbal argument with his significant other.

The man was found injured on southbound I-25 just north of Colfax Avenue on Friday night. Denver Police say the car was being driven by either the man's wife or girlfriend. They say the woman refused to stop or pull over during the argument, so the man jumped out of the moving car.

Authorities say the man suffered non-life-threatening road rash.

SOURCE

Congrats Joel & Lizzy!

Welcome to the family Lizzy!