Just want to remind everyone that we will not be holding services this Sunday, December 28th….Sleep in!!!!!

We will resume services January 4th!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas day!

Who knows your fears?

Who knows your dreams?

Who know your faults?

Who encourages you to go further?

Who encourages you in your walk with Christ?

Most of the time, it isn’t what, where, when, why, or how….it’s who.

I have been reading this book called Sway by Ori and Rom Brafman.  In the book they referred to this study about convicted felons and fairness.  The question they asked the prisoners was “how fair they felt about their legal process?”  I suspected that the longer the sentence the more dissatisfied the person would be, but the study found something much different.

They found out that the longer their lawyer spent with them, the more they felt the “legal system” treated them fairly.  It wasn’t based on the sentencing at all, it was about if someone was on their side. 

Relationships sometimes are just about being there for the person!

Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody. Romans 12:14-16

Many try to live life with as few failures as possible.  Trying not to fail in your job, trying not to fail in your finances, trying not to fail in class, and trying not to fail God.

When we succeed we tend to forget to examine.  For example, if a sports team wins a game, do they look at the game tape closer than if they lost?  We all examine and adjust faster when we have failure.

Embrace failure when it comes because it is not the end, it is the start of a new beginning.

I know some people are already preparing for their 2009 goals.  I like making new goals.  Some of the more popular ones include exercising more, reading more, and praying more.  

When you create goals, you have to categorize them into long term goals vs. short term goals

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-Short term= 1 year

Make fewer short term goals.  Too many short term goals usually result in a higher probability of completing nothing.    

-Long term= 20 yrs

Make your long term goals huge, they will almost seem impossible.

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Be specific and if possible set benchmarks along the way.  Remember all goals do is reset your priorities and focus.

Another amazing Sunday. I can’t believe that it’s almost the end of the year. Allow me to dump a little…

1. Today was the first time I’ve picked up the trailer in a few weeks. It was nice to be up early again (I’ve been late the last two weeks).
2. Picking up the trailer is something I’m used to doing now. It’s not easy getting up that early in the morning but it’s something that is almost fun to do.
3. I’ve had a few challenges from @wade007 and @ted17 that they can drive the trailer better than I can. We’ll see if they step up to the plate!
4. We pray before every service but this morning before anyone ever got to the Palladium, we took some time to pray as a staff and it was really good. We prayed our hearts and I noticed a difference. I think we’ll start doing that more and more.
5. About month ago, @kevj shared that God had really being speaking to him about praying more. There is just no substitute to sending time with God in prayer. I feel a real challenge to spend more time in prayer and we need you to join us. If you’re up for increasing your prayer time, will you let me know?
6. We tried to put some tension fabric on the trusses and it looked stupid so we had to take it off. Pretty much a complete waste of time putting it on.
7. When you have as many ideas as I do, some of them stink. I’m cool with that.
8. Coming soon, “Wisdom, by Solis”
9. @israelramos was out this week and while we had some people step up to fill his shoes (not easy to do) I don’t like it when he’s not here. He pulls a good deal of the load all by himself and it took three people to do what he usually does all alone. That guy rocks!
10. Spurs are looking pretty good lately. We’ll see if they can keep it up when they play a contender next Wednesday.
11. We are having some real sound issues. We’ve got some ideas that we’ll be implementing soon to fix ‘em.
12. In spite of the sound issues we’ve been having, the band sounded really good today. Really good! @ralfula1 was awesome on a couple of solos! And the rest of the band always sounds great.
13. A big part of that is @wade007. He’s only been on the sound board for a few months but he knows what he’s doing now. He’s incredibly consistent and what he does is vital to what we do every week. 
14. He’s also brought tacos for the last two weeks which makes him even more vital!
15. Dear God, not so cold please.
16. As leader’s pastor, I’m constantly thinking about the different areas of Imagine and how we can improve. I rarely think about hospitality and it’s because they do such a good job. Thanks Toni, Jim and @erinluther. Hope I didn’t leave anybody out.
17. We had a twitter minute and two videos. I like it when we’re heavy on the media. Come 2009, we’re going to be adding a ton of media. Be ready for more video teaching like today.
18. @nanpalmero does a great job on the play-by-play. We have a number of people following Imagine Fellowship on twitter who aren’t able to attend on Sundays. The play-by-play allows them to peek in on what we do each week. You can check out the play-by-play here. Just go to the tweets posted at 10 a.m. Dec. 7.
19. Christmas tree up, stockings out,Christmas music playing. Let the eating begin!
20. We’re doing a series called, “A Christmas Carol” we’re talking about Christmas past, present and future. @kevj was awesome today. His message really hit home with so many people, myself included. Our prayer before service was that God would just get to people’s hearts, and He did just that. Awesome!
21. Felt really bad because @kevj got a piece of coal in his stocking one year. Can we all just send @kevj a nice tweet this week to help him heal?
22. We’re going to start using a new computer app (thanks to @vluther) to sign up guests. Be looking for the laptop in the hospitality areas and get signed up soon, WHETHER WE HAVE YOUR INFO OR NOT!
23. This week, @kevj asked me all week whether I had gotten my task list done and the answer was no a lot of the time. I really need to be productive this week!
24. Man I want God to stretch me. I feel like God is really trying to reshape the way I live and I want it to happen. What’s God saying to you lately?
25. I had to skip out on breakdown and I really don’t like doing that! Circumstances required it but I’m big on leading by example and leaving early is not the example I want to set.
26. The next three weekends are going to be really tricky. KP is in the Nutcracker and she’s performing the next two weekends. There could be a lot of driving in my future!
27. Thanks to everyone who stayed to help breakdown. We have so many hard workers at Imagine. That’s how I know that we’re going to accomplish big things in ‘09.
28. This week will be the third week that we post a podcast of our weekly staff meeting online. We’re doing it because we want to let you in on the issues we’re trying to solve. We know that we’ve got some really sharp people at Imagine and by bringing you in on the discussion, we think we’ll be able to accomplish things better and faster. 
29. Imagine Fellowship is going to the next level in ‘09! I feel like I need to take it up a notch creatively and more importantly, we’re gonna see a ton of change in people through authenticity. That’s the goal and we need YOU on board.

With that said, I want to take a sec to really brag on @kevj. I’ve never met a person more passionate about helping people have a personal encounter with Jesus. That’s what Kev is all about. Imagine Fellowship has been a life saver for Pregnant Sara (who by the way is looking more and more pregnant hot all the time) and I. We’ve experienced life change through authenticity and thanks to Kev, Pregnant Sara and I are in multiple relationships where we’re helping others experience the same authenticity and positive change. The goal is that the people in our relational web would be challenged to help their friends have a personal encounter with Jesus. Kevin has been a great example of what a believer should be and I want to personally challenge the Imagine Fellowship family to get on board with the vision God’s given Kevin for Imagine Fellowship. It’s been a great year but there’s a lot of work to be done! Are you on board??

When you pray, it is important to notice how you pray.  It is very common to attempt to “pray away” our  circumstances, or the outside environment that we happen to be in (i.e. our financial situation, our relationship situation)…There is nothing wrong with that prayer at all, but sometimes it is more beneficial to pray to God to change our heart.  These are prayers to accept the situation, or a prayer to “step out” where we never have before, or a prayer to be more disciplined.  Those “heart change” prayers gives us the strength on the inside to move forward and outlast our circumstances.

Remember–

You can’t control others, you can influence them.

You can control yourself.

And God has control of everything!

I wanted to put another list of leadership books up that I like…(some are old, some are new)

Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders

The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam

Personality not Included by Rohit Bhargava

No Man’s Land by Doug Tatum

Pop: Stand out in any Crowd by Sam Horn 

Tribes by Seth Godin 

These books are awesome: check them out if you are into leadership type books

When you were a kid you looked to your parents for everything.  We were dependent upon their food, their shelter, and the red ryder bb gun they gave us.  As time passed though we all wanted independence, maybe a later curfew, or a car, (i drove a 1986 oldsmobile cutlass supreme, which sounds like something off the menu of taco bell, but I thought it was a cool car) or maybe you wanted to talk on the phone longer.

However, I learned that alongside the word independence should be the word responsibility.  I didn’t understand the relationship of these two words…I only wanted the “perks” of the independence.

We love to drive the car, but don’t like to pay for the insurance, gas, and repairs.  We like staying up late at night, but feel the pain or the sleepiness the next day.  We like to stay on the phone longer, but don’t want to pay the phone bill.

What’s the point?

Your responsibility determines the level of independence.  

P.s. That being said we all need help, when you don’t know, ask for help!

Today, for the first time, I realized that I am the mother (this is Shaina writing, Kevin’s wife) of a toddler. Not only was it the first time that I had to take my son out of the store because he was being loud, but when I went to put him into his car seat, he arched his back in protest and tried to squirm out. I also could only decorate the top half of our Christmas tree because his curious little hands kept pulling the lower ornaments off. For so long I used to think that if I could only get him to hold his head up, things would be easier. Then I was waiting until he could crawl, because life would be even easier. Next was waiting for him to walk because then I didn’t have to hold him, but now I have to chase him all the time. It seems like with each new milestone, a different challenge comes up that I am not used to. When I keep looking towards the next step to be easier, it seems to never work out that way. I know that I just need to enjoy the moment and celebrate his accomplishments one at a time. When you keep looking towards the future to be better and stop enjoying the present, life will pass you by before you know it. Everyone says that kids grow up so fast and you know what? They do!