Ken

I'm not sure who came up with the phrase "pet peeve" to describe things that really annoy you. And if what I'm about to share applies to you, then you need help!Twice in the recent past have I gone into a restaurant's restroom only to find that previous "occupant" failed to flush. What type of person goes into a restroom and leaves a parting gift for the next person? I would expect this if I were visiting my elementary-age daughters at their school -- it's the type of thing an eight-year-old boy would do. On encountering my first "gift," not only did the previous person refuse to flush, it also appeared he was never trained to aim. Perhaps we need to leave a few Cheerios in our public restrooms and consider it a civic duty.

I've found a new online diversion that's actually semi-productive. It's called "Monk Email" and it's hosted by careerbuilder.com. You can dress up your own monkey, type in a message, and it converts the text to audio. Then enter a buddy's email address and you have just created a world of fun.Here's the link: http://www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/

In yesterday's message, I talked about how churches in the modern area began sterilizing their environments in an effort to create a non-threatening atmosphere for non-believers. This was in response to the Baby Boomer generation leaving church en masse and then beginning to return in the 1980's and 1990's.Innovative church leaders began eliminating church-speak, that highly specialized form of church language only known to insiders. They began writing music that was actually enjoyable and somewhat resembled what a person could hear on the radio. Pastors began wearing normal clothes. Church services became programmed and produced.The result was that a few of the churches began attracting and keeping large numbers of Boomers. New models for church planting were created.One of the casualties, however, was that many of these worship environments didn't convey much of a sense of worship. They were designed to look like theaters and religious symbols and icons were…

Hannah and Hope had their first piano recital at the Piano Exchange in Mission Valley. They've had other recitals but they have all been in the home of their teacher. This was their first "public" recital and they each did a fine job. The Piano Exchange has a great recital room, complete with stage and baby grand piano. Tonya and I were both proud of the girls. And then later in the day we took the girls to see RV, the movie with Robin Williams and Jeff Daniels. All four of us enjoyed it. It's a bit goofy, but that's ok.Sunday was a great day at LifePoint. Our band continue to gets better and it sounded good again yesterday. We also featured a painting by a local artist -- Estevan Gargost. People seemed to really enjoy that.Sunday night I drove up to Rancho Bernardo for the Global Day of Prayer…

We have two new ads for LifePoint appearing in this month's editions of the Good News, Etc. and the Christian Examiner. These are 1/8 page ads targeting mature, adventuresome Christ-followers who might be interested in helping a new church community. You can pick up a copy at any local Christian bookstore.