BabuLife

Friday Fun: Got a Problem? Take a Number Please

Friday Fun: If Star Wars were a TV Show

What if Star Wars was simply a 1980's TV show with the theme from Dallas? Hmmmm..... Enjoy the video.  HT: @jamesedwards via Twitter

Friday Randomness March 20, 2009: Quiet, All About Worship, Easter & Junk

Wow. It's been over 10 days since I've posted something here on BabuLife. A far cry from my first year of blogging when I felt a day without a post was an utter failure. There's a lot going on in my life personally, spiritually and at Grace.  So many things in fact that by the time I've been able to sit down and blog about them...the moment has passed.  So here's a quick look at some things spinning around my head and heart:

• Unplugged. Monday I did it. I woke up, sent a note on Twitter & Facebook that I was unplugging for the day. No phone calls. No email. No online communication at all until the kids were in bed.  I have to say....it was AWESOME.  I think I am going to make it an intentional goal each Monday on my weekly day off to unplug.  I didn't even carry my phone with me. Even though there were doubters, I still made it happen.  I have determined that I will be making this a priority.
• Quiet. It's been quiet here on the BabuLife blog lately. Trying to figure out what to do here.  Might be making some changes in the near future...or pulling the plug for a season.
• All About Worship. My friend Wisdom and I have been able to talk to some very gifted songwriters, performers and worship leaders lately on the AAW Podcast.  I'm excited about what's coming up in the near future on the cast.  I think God ripped my heart out of my chest last Monday night while interviewing Tommy Walker for an upcoming show.  He knows the heart and struggles worship leaders deal with and he was a personal encouragement to me.  I think you'll enjoy it in a few weeks. I recently spoke with Bethany Dillon about her life as a musician and her personal story. She's one of my faves.  If it all works out...I might have a chance to talk with Christy Nockels of Watermark fame.  Her story has been a personal encouragement to my wife and I. I feel extremely blessed to be a part of it!
• Easter. It's coming. Can you feel it? The spring crunch is on! 
• Self Discovery. It's been an interesting couple of weeks for me. I've spent some time evaluating myself.  Looking at the personal goals set for myself at the start of the year along with some relationship evaluation.  Still spinning on this one. I've discovered how important friends are a little more during this time.  Still listening for God's voice and direction.
• Twitter. So if you miss catching up with me here on the blog, be sure to check out my Twitter feed.  I'm still updating that at least...periodically. Follow me!
• Facebook. Holy cow! Has anyone noticed how this little online tool has exploded in the past six months? Be my friend here and check out the Grace Church group page here.
• Worship Team Planning. Spent an entire day away from the office praying and planning. I want to take our Weekend Service Team to the next level. It's going to take some guts and commitment to excellence from each of our team members.  Anxious to see what God does.
• PinkHairedGirl. Last week I visited Westside Family Church out in Lenexa, KS to talk Communications with a fellow blogging/Twitter/Facebook friend, Crystal Renaud. She was extremely kind and gracious in letting me ask all sorts of questions about their Communications processes.  I'm always impressed to find that the person on the other side of the computer screen meets every expectation when you see them in person.  Thanks Crystal!
• Clone Wars. Final episode of the first season tonight! It's going to be a good one!
• Battlestar Galactica. Final series episode is tonight! Sad to see this show leave. But happy to see it leaving on a high note. My Friday eves will now be free with no Clone Wars or BSG.

Have a great weekend!  What's happening in your world?

Friday Randomness January 16, 2009: Vacation, Wickham, W.

• Graphics. I deeply dislike when large organizations don't make readily available graphics for local churches to use for their website, PPT slides, print etc. Very annoying. I gave up on trying to create one for a youth organization. Too much effort.
• Phil Wickham. If you've not followed my recommendation here...then you are seriously missing out on what I believe is one of the most amazing live recordings I've heard. Just Phil and the geetar. Check it out here. Download for free if you sign up for a newsletter. Worth it.
• Things God Hates. There are 6 things God hates...and one more for good measure. If you're a Christ follower, you better learn them right here.
• Vacation. After a week off, I am STOKED to lead worship at Grace this week. Seriously, just typing it right now makes me want to sing with the church. I am rejuvenated. Thank you to my brotha Mike Foley for leading and Preston Morris for sitting in on the acoustig guitar.  THANK YOU!!!
• Grace Online. So over christmas we went ahead and jumped into the streaming world with our services.  You can check in on Sundays at 10:10am to see the services live on our website here or visit us directly on our Mogulus channel where you can join the chatroom here.  HUGE thanks to my man Brian Vincik for making that happen.  If you want to be a part of the video team, contact me. We're looking for some people who can help manage this on the weekends.
• W. I've been pondering a thank you post to our outgoing president. Not sure. I know there are many passionate people on either side of the political spectrum.  I've seen some extreme negative stuff about W. that I've been disturbed by. Still undecided on this one. I don't usually go too political here.

Friday Randomness Nov 21: Older Woman, Christmas Music, Once an Arafat Man

• Married to an older woman. It's true. And today, as it happens every year on November 21, I am once again married to an older woman. While in reality I'm always married to an older woman...even if only by 5 months...this particular day is special as I get to tell people I'm married to someone a year older than me. Happy birthday to the most amazing woman in the world...Addie!  Go visit her blog and tell her happy birthday right here.
• Christmas music. I really do love Christmas. Seriously...I enjoy it. I even like listening to Christmas music. A lot of time has passed since my post back in December 2005. Just wanted to officially state that right here on BabuLife for all the world to see.
• Grace Website. Still basking in the huge glow of the accomplishment my buddies Steve Laughlin, Jeremiah Bentch and I achieved a few weeks ago. We rolled out the new Grace website on November 2 and I gotta say...I'm LOVIN' it! www.VisitGraceChurch.com Couldn't have done ANY of it without these two web gurus.
• Video. We've been getting ready to unleash the possibilities of video on the Grace website. Last month during IGNITE I did a little experiment streaming the event live on the BabuLife Mogulus channel and then Tim and I did the last Grace Microcast live on the Mogulus channel.  Today I just received a lighting kit and a tri-pod for the camera we ordered. Thanks to Soakie for the video help! Along with all you fellow bloggers/Twitter peeps who gave me some advice over the past 6 months.
• Movie. Having a really difficult time deciding which movie to take my wife to on her birthday eve. Without choosing Bond...really what else is there? Pre Thanksgiving week movie options are rather droll.
• Travel. Next week I head over to northeast Missouri over Thanksgiving to spend some time with my parents and sis. We haven't been there since August of 2005 so the kidlets are extremely thrilled to be heading back over there.
• Once An Arafat Man. Lots of chatter on the web about Dads book. Check out this interview he did with Janet Parshal. Here's the Google search results for "Once an Arafat Man" reviews.
• Symbolic Worship. Check out this post by my fellow worship leading friend and blogging friend Jeff Miller. Excellent dialogue and conversation on the issue of symbolism in worship.
• Middle Eastern Food. Tomorrow night Addie and I are going out with our long time friends Brian and Bekah for some authentic Arabic food at Cafe Cedar. A birthday celebration for my wife who fell in love with the food when it was introduced to her back in 1991 when my Pops cooked me up a birthday dinner. This ain't no Greek food pretending to be authentic...it's the real deal. We'll be in Parkville, MO tomorrow feasting together on hummus and lamb at Cafe Cedar. 
• Painting. Volunteering to paint some homes for the Community of the Good Shepherd here in KC. There are about 120 folks from Grace that volunteered to take time from their weekend to minister to people. Way to go Gracers!!!!
• Tim. Our Senior Pastor is on fire. Seriously. I've always felt he was extremely gifted in teaching...but man...It feels like recently he's turned the fire up. And by the looks of his blog...others are feeling it too.
• All About Worship Podcast. It's official. I'm a part of the team at the AAW Podcast. My friend Wisdom and I will be interviewing Darrell Evans and Kim walker on Monday eve at 9pm CST. You can watch us live over on Mogulus here and join the chatroom live during the interview where you can throw some questions at Darrell and Kim.  You might know Darrel as the author of "Trading My Sorrows" and " Your Love is Extravagent". www.AllAboutWorship.com Join the Facebook group page here.
• Star Wars. And of course...I can't do a Friday Randomness post without a Star Wars mention. I got the Clone Wars movie on DVD...guess what I'll be doing this weekend? Here was my original impression upon returning from the theatre back in August after seeing this flick.

Friday Randomness Oct 17: Catalyst, G3, Election, Clone Wars

• Catalyst - Last week I had my leadership rear handed to me. That's right. I was challenged and stretched in ways that left me both pumped and semi-discouraged.  I experienced so many things that confirmed within me a "pat on the back" if you will...and I also experienced things that challenged my personality and leadership.  I've pondered a post regarding Catalyst, but I haven't had time to really comb thru what I would share here.  I did tell my worship band-mates I wish I could've packed them all up and taken them with me to experience the worship. It was refreshing for me personally and I think for the entire Grace pastoral team. Oh yeah...and I got to meet Bobby!  Woohoo!
• All About Worship Podcast - Next week my friend and fellow worship buddy, Wisdom Moon, will be interviewing me on the All About Worship podcast. It's funny when you're asked to do something like that. I'm sitting here wondering what in the world would anyone care to hear about from me?  I'll post a link when it's up.  Unless it totally goes horribly wrong...then I'll just let Wisdom promote it. :)
• G3 - What is this? Hmmm...do I tell here? Or do I just encourage the Gracer folks to make it a priority to be at the services on November 2?  I'll just post a little graphic here and let you find out when Tim takes the stage at 9 & 10:45am at Grace on Nov 2.
• Election - I've not talked much about it here on the blog really.  But from where I sit the election boils down to this..."Symbolism vs. Substance". It's awesome to see here in America we've reached a point where we have an African American (50% African American) and a female VP on the ballot for President. It's amazing to see how far our nation has come. What concerns me about the electorate, is the desire to put someone in office simply for this reason. To have the first black American President or the first female Vice President. I'm really praying that people can look beyond the symbolism and dig into the issues.
• Clone Wars - Oh yeah...Star Wars. Can't post randomness without it. Friday nights, 8pm CST on Cartoon Network.  This has become a weekly tradition for our family. We're loving it. Are you?
• Worship Leader Hair - I twittered about it while heading back home from Catalyst. I was chewing on a post about the great care worship leaders seem to take in the presentation of hair. It almost seems as though it needs to be included in weekly worship planning meetings. At Catalyst I say many well crafted hairstyles. One even confused me to the point where I actually wanted to say "Excuse me m'aam" when I bumped someone in the main hallway at the conference. Trouble was that it wasn't a m'aam. It was a sir....at least I think it was.  I don't know...I'm still thinking about this one.  Maybe Wisdom can help me understand the craftiness of worship leader hair on the All About Worship podcast next week.
• Twitter - Still on it. If you're not, seriously, you're missing out. Follow me. Follow Grace Church on Twitter too.
• Facebook Friends - Suddenly over the past 2 months I'm reconnecting with High School friends/acquaintences/people I never talked to thru Facebook.  It's interesting to see all these folks.
• Grace Website - Working with Steve Laughlin and Jeremiah Bentch on a Grace website relaunch. Just cleaning up the site and adding a few new features to it. These guys are quickly moving into my "hero" status along with her.

Friday Randomness: 7/25/08

• Vacation - I love this time of year in the office. Quiet...low key. Lots of vacations.  Mine starts Monday - Wednesday, August 6.  Woohooo!!!!
• Clone Wars Midnight Madness at Toys r Us - I'm thinking about going to this at midnight tonight.  Seriously...if you're not familiar with my blog, then you might want to take some time clicking on the "Toys Games and Other Junk" category. I'm a Star Wars geek.
• Typepad - I love Typepad. I've been using them to host this blog since June of 2005. I could never fathom leaving them....and today they just kept me for a longer time.  They responded to a trouble ticket within an hour and a problem with my blog was fixed. Yay Typepad!!!
• iPhone - I don't get it. What's sad is that I find myself smirking at hearing about the trouble many iPhone 3G buyers have experienced with their new gadget. I think I need to seriously ask myself why I find joy in that. Is it jealousy? Hmmmm... but here's a video that made me laugh.
• Friends - Addie and I are missing our friends the Kings.  They are in London thru September 17 (I have it marked on my wall calendar in my office...thank you very much Marie). It's nice following Brian on Twitter and reading Marie's daily blog posts.  This one in particular caught my fancy.  All hail the mighty Chuck Taylor's!
• Music - I have a boat load of new music to listen to.  I think I'll load up my iPod and get to listening.  A new music post may be in order.
• TwitPic - I've been having fun posting pics directly to TwitPic. As if Twitter itself wasn't enough, now you can follow me there too.  Snapshots from my daily life.  Things only my mother would care about...you would think....several of you get a kick of my pics because I can see how many times people view them.  Check 'em out here.
• Joel Rosenberg - Author who just completed the foreward to my Pops' book "Once an Arafat Man".  We're pretty excited about this...he's a great author.

Friday Randomness for June 13

Friday stuff for you.  Enjoy...

• Rich does it again.  Another great "Worship Mythbusters" post. This one was called "Expressiveness in Worship versus Legalism" Go check it out.
• Summer Breakout Jr. Just finished three days of playing kids worship music.  As I stated on a previous post...Rob Biagi is Da Man of children's worship.  He writes some tough music and as usual...the Grace team nailed it.  Great job!  Special thanks to all the workers who took vacations and spent time ministering to my kids and all the Gracer kidlets. I'm continually amazed each year at how many people volunteer. Awesome job!
• Twitter. Seriously...if you've not checked it out...go.  Follow me and maybe I'll follow you.  I'm finding it difficult to keep my "following" list down to 50 or less.  I don't know how some folks can follow anything more than 50.  Get yours here...follow me here.
• Grace Church on Twitter.  Forgot to mention...Grace has a Twitter account.  What for you ask?  Just another way to keep you Gracers informed.  If you follow Grace Church here, you can elect to have Grace Tweets text messaged to your phone.  Don't worry, we only update it with news and important info (rain outs, event info, event cancellations etc).  Follow Grace on Twitter here.
• What's a Twitter? One other Twitter thing...don't know what "Twitter" is? Go here.
• The Daily Scribe. The folks at Daily Scribe reviewed the content here on BabuLife and have deemed it worthy enough for a feed.  Thanks for including me on the site.  Thanks to Rich for the recommend.
• Podcasting. Lately my life has been revolving around solutions that will equip Gracers with more tools to keep up with Church info, vision and discipleship.  For a community that's constantly "on the go" what better way than equipping with audio they can take with them?  Easier to listen while driving than watching.  Tim and I are experimenting with "Microcasts" periodically throughout the summer. Give them a listen here and email us at podcast@graceks.org or phone us with a voice mail at 206-426-5394.
• Pride. It usually does come before a fall.  Praying it away from my world this week. Proverbs 12:1...don't be stupid.
• New series. We're on week two of "Don't Forget the Lyrics". Our iPod giveaway continues this week with another chance to finish the lyric to a song.  Can't wait to see who wins this weekend.  Correction to the reading mentioned on the microcast...should've been Psalm 119:121-128 not 119:141-148.  Sorry about that.
• 8 Questions. Check out Tim's post for this current series. Talked about it on the Microcast this week.
• My wife and daughter.  They ran the stage this week during SBO Jr.  As I stood on stage, I felt pretty overwhelmed with pride and joy when I looked across the stage to see my oldest daughter (8) with a headset on standing next to my wife waiting for her cue to help bring props offstage. A servants heart molded by the awesome example of my wife Addie.
• Friday night.  Nothing is going on.  I'm excited about just going home and playing with the kids. I've missed them this week.

That's it for now!  Want more Babu absorption?  Check out Twitter and follow me here.  Did I mention that?

-Babu

Friday Randomness

Here's some Friday randomness for your viewing pleasure:

• Rich has an ongoing series of posts called "Worship Mythbusters" addressing various misconceptions about worship.  I loved this post. MYTH:  worship leaders are about themselves, since they get to play music and be in front of people.
• Starfield - I forgot I had their new album until Doog mentioned it in a conversation last night. Spun the iPod clickwheel to "I Will Go".  I still can't believe they only had a little side stage at last years Rock the Light here in KC. That was just messed up.  BTW...did you hear what happened at a Starfield show last week?
• R2-D2 - Check out this little DVD projector/iPod dock station/pretty much everything else. $3000 is the asking price. This might be a good tool for the video team...Adrian, my video friend, you could never be replaceable. Thanks for the link! Watch the video demo here.
• Sporty's Invention - Spent Monday and Tuesday with my oldest working on a school project.  Check out her nifty little Star Wars board game invention on my wife's blog here.  I am very proud.
• Iron Man - Saw the movie. Wow. I enjoyed it. Truly a comic geeks flick. Be sure to stay through the credits for a fanboys dream come true.
• Once an Arafat Man - Reading an advanced copy right now. Very well written and I'm looking forward to seeing how this book might impact lives within and without the church world. BTW, this is a book about my dad's life as a PLO sniper and how God transformed him. Check out the blog.

-Babu