Blog Posts - paulk thoughts

Left, right, fiscally, socailly

8/27/2014

A few weeks ago, while listening to The Herd with Colin Cowherd, I heard a quote that made me go "hmmmm." Colin says it but places it in the mouth of an unnamed "very smart person":

"Wherever you go fiscally, if you generally just lean left on social issues, you’ll never be able to look back in 20 years and say I’m embarrassed by what I defended. But if you, not to go political, but if you fiscally, moderate to right, you won’t embarrass yourself 30 years later, but socially, socially, if you lean left, 30 years later, there’s not a tape of Peter King or Colin Cowherd you’re embarrassed by."

As I reflected on this comment, I'm not sure I agree with it but I'm not sure I disagree with it either. Granted Colin and presumably the person he was quoting are not speaking from a standpoint of faith, but I can recall times where I wish I had spoken up in the midst of a conversation where I stood on the more right leaning side. I can also recall times where I might have been embarrassed by the zeal with which I stood up for something but I was not embarrassed about the right leaning stance.

What about you? do you agree with with the quote about leaning left on social issues?

The podcast can be found here.

Books for sale

8/11/2014

One of my favorite things to do is digitize books. I cut off the spine of the book, then scan and optimize it. But sometimes I am able to find digital copies of the books I want/have which means I can buy them already digitized. Logos Bible Software recently released the New Interpreter's Bible, a twelve volume commentary set which is currently one of my favorites, especially for preparing sermons and lessons. Now that I have it in digital form, my print books need to find a new home/owner.
I have had some success selling them on eBay and have listed my set for sale. Are there better ways of selling books? Has eBay proved successful for you? Are you interested in buying my set?

90th birthdy

8/10/2014

Today we celebrated the 90th birthday of Dorothy (Dot) Ruth Horcher, the resident matriarch of our congregation. During the celebration, stories were told about her life, and the history she lived through. It was amazing to learn about the history that took place during her lifetime.

One thing that stands out about Dot is that she is always positive and every time she speaks I want to write it down. I wonder what I will have seen if I reach 90?

High School Mission Trip

8/9/2014

I recently returned from a 10 day mission trip with 51 other people (40 of which were high school students). While I continue to reflect on the trip, one of my colleagues has already published some of his thoughts about the trip.
See here (post 1), here (post 2), here (post 3), and here (post 4).

Why a blog

8/9/2014

I've tried to blog before, but inevitably I would fail to keep up with it. I feel like I have some things to say, but I'm not sure anyone would want to listen. At the very least, I can treat this like a little journal for myself, and if anyone takes pleasure in reading it, great!

Backdated Blog Posts: MMQB

10/28/2013

Note: Monday Morning Quarterback is a weekly post reviewing my day on Sunday, a rather busy day; a colleague of mine made it a regular part of his blog and I copied it (yorocko.com)

12:00am – 10 month old son and wife (went to the ER earlier in the day because 10 month old was having difficulty breathing) are transferred to Children’s Hospital for diagnosis.

2:30am – finally fall asleep while waiting for updates on wife and child.

6:00am – older son joins me in bed saying he misses mommy and younger brother.

7:00am – otay…I’m awake

7:45am – sandwiches I ordered yesterday are ready (ordered them for the T3 class I am teaching after worship today)

8:05am – finally pick up sandwiches…running behind today.

8:15am – set up older son with iPad and breakfast sandwich; he watches a show and eats while I add powerpoint to the worship computer (secretary was on vacation this week and this hadn’t gotten done yet)

8:30am – add video to powerpoint (yesterday pastor asked if there was an easy way to add a list of statements people had written the previous week to a powerpoint; inserted list into iMovie as rolling credits…done)

8:31am – check on older son…still eating and still watching.

8:40am – set up projector and speakers for T3 class (T3 stands for Tough Topics for Teens and we tackle difficult issues for teens. Last month was bullying. Today is Depression/Suicide. Maybe we’ll tackle sex next time…we’ll see.

9:00am – powerpoint for worship – set. T3 presentation – set. What to do now?

9:01am – check on son…he’s not in the room. Searching for him.

9:03am – still searching for son; first bit of panic sets in.

9:04am – I hear his voice…he sounds otay. Found him: he’s helping the Children’s Director set up Sunday School. Sigh of relief.

9:06am – voicemail from pastor saying that the worship computer was displaying an error

9:07am – find pastor…he restarted computer and everything is fine

10:00am – worship starts…video looks good (visit Facebook.com/npcdb to see video)

10:03am – pastor says something about using the youth room…he couldn’t have meant today because we have a class in there…he must mean next week

10:20am – notice that every youth in the youth section is looking down at a personal screen (some playing mine craft, one exploring instagram, can see what that one is doing)

11:10am – worship is over, passing the peace of Christ by saying, “Pizza Crust be with you.”

11:25am – pastor shows up to youth room for new member gathering…he did mean to use it today. Thankfully 9 youth are there for my T3 class, new member gathering is relocated (we didn’t have a staff meeting this week, but we could have solved this double booking ahead of time)

12:07pm – youth talks about giving big toe to another youth

12:08pm – comment that the big toe comment was blog worthy and introduce this blog to the youth

12:40pm – T3 class is done, invite youth to play games…I think it was a good introduction to depression and suicide, hope they did too

1:25pm – why aren’t the last two youth picked up yet?

1:30pm – final youth leave, pack up and watch Peyton Manning throw his first touchdown

2:30pm – finally make it to visit wife and son; son is doing much better; could be released tomorrow

3:00pm – Broncos are down two touchdowns…WHAT!

3:25pm – Broncos leading again…playing with 10 month old who looks happy to see me.

4:30pm – Broncos scored 38 straight points and win 45-21 after being down 21-7.

7:30pm – after an afternoon of hanging with the wife and littlest one, time to head home.

8:05pm – stop by Carl’s Jr (don’t care for their advertising, but their western burgers are delicious)

9:00pm – begin transferring Bronco game from Tivo to computer for later viewing.

9:30pm – while waiting for transfer and conversion, write up MMQB, so today MMQB is finished before the day is over…until next time…

Backdated Blog Posts: Western Christian Educators Conference 2013

10/18/2013

I was very fortunate to attend the Western Christian Educator’s Conference at the Zephyr Point Conference Center on the southeast shore of Lake Tahoe. Yes I am on the planning team and was a presenter at this year’s conference, but despite my roles, I had a great time as a participant.

Our keynote speaker was John Roberto of Life Long Faith Associates. Throughout the conference, he presented his seminal work on faith formation. I am still working through the information he presented, but to quote one of the attendees from the conference, “my view of faith formation will never be the same.”

He talked a lot about technology and about having a digital platform for faith formation. This fit right up my alley since I love technology. In fact, my presentation was on tech: “Technology Toolbox: Free, Cheap, and Easy Tools for your Ministry.” About 20 people attended my presentation and unfortunately I over-promised what I had to offer. I thought I had 90 minutes to present, but I only had 90 minutes. It went by so fast. I also participated in a tech panel. Contents of my presentation are available here.

I have much more to say about John Roberto and faith formation but will need to save it for a future post.

One of my favorite aspects of any conference is the networking and at WCEC, one is introduced to educators (both clergy and lay) from the PC(USA) (WCEC is the regional gathering for and sponsored by APCE), from the UCC (WCEC is also sponsored by AUCE) and from the Episcopal Church (WCEC is also sponsored by FORMA). I found some kindred spirits and wise individuals I look forward to consulting int he future.

As part of creating a digital platform, a number of conference attendees created faith formation websites before they left the conference. One such example is: http://ukiahpresyoungadults.weebly.com/gatherings.html

Overall it was a great conference in a beautiful, scenic location. I am looking forward to next year’s conference.

Backdated Blog Posts: MMQB

10/14/2013

Note: Monday Morning Quarterback is a weekly post reviewing my day on Sunday, a rather busy day; a colleague of mine made it a regular part of his blog and I copied it (yorocko.com)

5:30am – awake – get ready for the day

6:30am – putting on a suit, thinking to self, “When is the last time I wore a suit?”

7:30am – at church, maybe a little early than I need to be, but I’m here

7:45am – updating powerpoint; I previously changed all the songs to be more gender inclusive, particularly when speaking about God, but decide to go with familiarity (traditional lyrics) rather than gender inclusiveness (I’m a chicken)

8:30am – choir folks are arriving early

9:30am – begin saying welcome to folks who arrived early; usually people arrive right at 10am

10:00am – Worship begins with me announcing that Pastor Bob is on study leave and that I am the preacher for the day

10:22am – hand out oreos to the children who come up for children’s time; none of them say thank you, which makes my children’s sermon for me (today’s scripture is the story of Jesus healing the 10 lepers and one returns to say thank you)

10:45am – sermon done, congregation looks pleased

11:15am – worship concluded, I then attempt to keep church members in the sanctuary for a congregational meeting where we elect a slate of nominees for Elder and Deacon

11:22am – nominations closed and unanimous ballot cast…prayer…dismissed

11:30am – trying to be sociable (sometimes difficult for this extrovert)

11:40am – attending Children’s Ministry Team meeting, discussing budget; how do you make $5,000 out of $2,200? Jesus needed

1:30pm – time to watch the Broncos

4:00pm – Broncos game over, not quite the 28 point spread everyone expected, but a Broncos win is a Broncos win

5:00pm – pack for the Western Christian Educator’s Conference (www.westernceconf.org)

6:00pm – play with boys/eat dinner

8:00pm – get to bed, gotta leave early for the conference

Backdated Blog Posts: National Youth Workers Convention - October 4-6, 2013 - San Diego

10/12/2013

I was lucky to attend the National Youth Workers Convention earlier this month in San Diego. I had a good time hanging out with a few Presbyterian folks and catching up with colleagues who attended also.

I found the conference to helpful and fun but it really felt like a big commercial for products for Youth Specialties sponsors. A few memorable highlights:

1) Harvey Carey – great speaker, reminded me to trust God’s word

2) Rend Collective Experiment – Awesome band; new favorite song: Build Your Kingdom Here

3) Mark Yaconelli – told a story about playing capture the flag at a prestigious hotel in Chicago – Memorable

Backdated blog posts: MMQB

9/30/2013

Transferring previous blog posts from a different host:

Note: Monday Morning Quarterback is a weekly post reviewing my day on Sunday, a rather busy day; a colleague of mine made it a regular part of his blog and I copied it (yorocko.com)

5:30am – awake to the sound of a crying baby, luckily I’m able to go back to sleep

6:30am – I’m awake, ready to start the day

7:30am – getting snacks for the youth event this evening then arrive at church

8:00am – observed the pair of deacons begin the church opening routine, noting that they both had cars I hadn’t seen before (am I losing my keen observation skills?)

8:30am – reviewed the things I intend to cover during your youth committee mtg after worship

9:00am – listening to the choir the warm up and rehearse in the sanctuary (they sound pretty good) and review the powerpoint for worship checking for errors

9:30am – run into a former youth group student who is now in college but was worshipping with us for today, conversed with student until worship began at 10am

10:00am – worship begins

10:24am – Children’s director announces during children’s sermon that the children are going to support a child through World Vision; a worthy cause

10:30am – Pastor begins talking about money (have we started our stewardship campaign already?)

11:10am – worship is dismissed and I make sure to say hello to a few particular individuals

11:30am – youth committee meeting begins; talk about possibility of changing our weekly youth group meeting from Wednesday night to Sunday noon following worship (committee likes the idea) and broach the possibility of a youth worship concurrent to the regular worship service (committee like the idea too)

12:45pm – help my wife who is responsible for closing up the church today, putting away the coffee urns, umbrellas, and locking the doors

1:25pm – Broncos-Eagles game begins

4:20pm – ask colleague whose MMQB I copied if he wanted to know the results of the game (he watches the game in it’s entirety via NFL rewind), he declines but mentions someone hinted at how the game went (I wanted to tell him that Peyton Manning was out of the game and Brock Osweiler was playing; it doesn’t tell him the result of the game, but he would have been even more interested in finding out about the game)

5:00pm – set up chairs, snacks, and projector for the youth event tonight

6:00pm – Youth event: Tough Topics for Teens (or T3 for short); tonight we discuss Bullying

6:15pm – only 1/3rd of the youth who said they were coming are here, let’s get started anyway

7:15pm – because of the smaller than planned group, the T3 ends earlier than intended, but those who came appreciated what we did and learned skills to deal with bullying; also walked away with the challenge to start each day saying the phrases: “I am _______. I matter. I am loved.” Powerful phrases that will hopefully help them

7:45pm – cleaning up and heading home

8:30pm – catch up on all the Bronco news via blogs

9:30pm – watching an item I bid on ebay, 3-2-1, I won; awesome. Now need to pay for it, oops

10:00pm – watch tivo’ed episode of Hawaii Five-O: intense

11:00pm – composed MMQB

Night y’all