I threw out a tweet the other day where I said the following:

If you’re under 30 and offering life coaching, stop. You haven’t lived long enough to coach others.

Some responses were positive and some were not negative so much as they were concerned about what it was I was saying. For instance, Tyler Braun tweeted back at me:

Is age the main determinant for when someone has enough knowledge/experience/wisdom to coach others? I hope not.

Joel Klampert responded with this tweet:

me @ 25: married 5 years. 1 kid. PK MK. Lived in 3 states. Missionary in Ukraine. Worship pastor. Designer. Sales rep

And then followed up with this one:

me at 34. Same as 25. Now 14 years married and 4 kids. And 200 new things god has done.

And ended with this one:

both at 25 and 34 I think god has used me to lifecoach others based on where I was in my life.

First of all, let me say that my comment was no a reflection of age being a factor in determining whether or not somebody can coach somebody else. But life coaching (and the example I saw) is built around this platform of coaching people on areas of life related to parenting, careers, spirituality and other aspects from a person who had hardly an experience in these areas. And the fact is, most people under 30 don’t. They especially don’t have the kind of life knowledge to request people pay them $300 a month for the benefit of their wisdom. Trust me when I tell you that life between 30 and 40 is drastically different than it is between 20 and 30.

That being said, I am a big supporter of the millennial generation because they are this country’s next set of leaders and all of these people have a lot to offer. All are under the age of 30 (I know I have learned from them despite our age difference):

Kyle Reed – I got to know Kyle through Twitter, met him at Catalyst in 2010 and then got to hang with him a little again in Nashville this past January. It would be nearly impossible to not like Kyle. There is a genuinely warm spirit about him that comes out when you spend a little time with him. He’s a designer and really has his finger on the pulse of social media.

Tyler Braun – I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Tyler in person (yet) but I am familiar with him through his blog and through Twitter. Despite his awful taste in sports teams, Tyler is a young man that is wise beyond his years. He’s a husband and a worship leader.

Tom and Meghan McFarlin – I got to meet Tom and his lovely wife Meghan in Atlanta when I was up there visiting some other friends and then again during Catalyst. When I originally connected with Tom on Twitter, I actually thought he was older than he is largely because his knowledge of pop culture and music ran pretty deep. When I first got to hang out with them, I thought my face was going to fall off we spent so much time laughing. Tom is a developer and I really miss the blog posts he used to write about what he learned at church that week. Meghan is like a ray of sunshine. She’s becoming quite the photographer and though I kid her often on Twitter about Tom, she doesn’t get mad at me. Tom and Meghan are also expecting their first child.

Jared and Eryn Erickson – If there was a picture that defined Christian hipster cuteness, this couple would be it. Haha! But really, they’re both artists to the core using the gifts God has given them in an amazing way. Eryn is a great singer and Jared a kick but designer. Jared cracks me up because his web based self portraits always have him making some kind of face or scowling but in person he’s almost always laughing. When I traveled to Nashville earlier this year, I asked if I could stay at their place overnight so I wouldn’t have to drive straight through and without hesitation they welcomed me into their home. Next time I see Jared I am going to give him a Godsmack CD.

Darren and Crystal Libby – if Darren, Crystal, Jared and Eryn ever got together some amazing things could probably happen. Darren used to be an assistant worship pastor at our church before he moved back to North Carolina to marry Crystal. Thankfully, they make routine trips back to this area so we get to see them a couple of times per year. Crystal is an artist as is Darren. Both of them can sing and I never had more fun worshipping at church than I did when I was on stage with Darren. If there was anybody that missed Darren the most it was my son who was getting guitar lessons from Darren and really having fun doing it too.

Chris Fenner & Julia Purcell – This is another couple (who will be married one day!) that I’ve only come to know recently via Twitter. We share similar passions. Julia is a photographer and Chris a film maker and a damned good one. He and I have spoken and while I won’t give details here, we’ve both been anxiously awaiting news from somebody to see if the two of us can work together on a project. I had also exchanged some emails with Julia where she was introduced to the realities of pricing her work. With the kind of client that has a long list of demands and wants to do it at the cheapest of prices. I really look forward to what they’re going to be doing in the future.

If these are the kind of people who are going to be leading this country in the next 10 to 15 years, then the rest of us are in good hands.

I don’t apologize for my tweet but I guess it was missing some context and thus this blog post.

Thoughts are welcome.

This is a video I put together quickly with some clips I captured at random. Just some quick thoughts.

When I left my previous employer, the plan was over time to transition to photography full time. I was going to use the IT/Project Management skills I had gained over the last 10 years to supplement that income. John, a good friend of mine from church had met several times and discussed working together with a project he was looking to do in the IT field and asked me to be a part of it.

John has been working as a developer for the last 15 years, started a company with a friend of his, raised millions of dollars and headed up a successful business. The goal was to work off that success but we also had conversations about the future. John’s passion is film and video production. It was a field his father was in, and it’s a field his son’s Ryan and Michael are working in. You can see some of the videos Ryan has made for his church on Vimeo. John’s goal “down the road” was to write and produce a new television series. One that would seek to uplift God but also not be an “in your face”, “preaching to the choir” type show.

(more…)

Justice has caught up with Osama bin Laden. It’s irrelevant as to whether he was captured or killed. In fact, he was given the chance to surrender and he chose to engage in a shootout with the Navy Seals and died in the firefight.

Osama bin Laden was the mastermind behind the deadliest terrorist attack on our nation’s history. 3,000 people died that day in the World Trade Center, Pentagon and in field in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. It was an awful day.

The attacks were very personal for me. I was born in New York and lived just across the Hudson River in New Jersey. I lived off exit 12 on the Turnpike and whenever my family drove up north (or later on when I started driving) on the TP, the Twin Towers were clearly visible across the river once you got near Exit 14. In November of 1993, I got a job in NYC working for Cargill, Inc. I worked in the World Financial Center right across the street from the World Trade Center. I could see the towers right from my desk. I took the Path train into the WTC almost every day (if not the Path, then the ferry which provided a beautiful view of the WTC). The newspaper vendor and I were on a first name basis. I bought ties at a store at a store in the shopping area. Used to go to the ATM at what was Chemical Bank.

Before I even started working NYC, my girlfriend at the time (and now my wife) used to go into the city almost every weekend. If we went on a Sunday, we drove as it was easy to find parking. If it was a Saturday, we’d drive to Hoboken and take the ferry (or Path) and be under the shadow of the Twin Towers. My photo archive is filled with images of the World Trade Center. There is one above. This goes back probably 17 years:

We loved that entire area. I loved working there and commuted with many people who worked in that area. So I was angry and sad on that day. So many millions of people felt the same.

Last night, Osama bin Laden was killed. People celebrated. People were happy that justice had been meted out. Considering all of the bad news people have had to endure lately – tsunami’s in Japan, tornadoes causing destruction in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, a lousy economy, continued ramifications of the housing crisis, high gas prices, Donald Trump’s presidential run. The list goes on. The news that Osama bin Laden, number 1 on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, terrorist, anti-semite, and a man who professed that women and children were fair game in jihad was treated as good news by a whole host of people, including many Christians.

It didn’t take very long for the self-righteous Christians to come out of the woodwork. Some people thankfully engage in thoughtful discussion. You can read this post by Jenni Clayville and then there is this one by Carlos Whittaker.

But the self righteousness and judgment I saw coming from others wanted me to reach through the Intertubes and shake some people. “Oh, I think it is so so terrible that Christians are celebrating a man’s death.” and “People need to really stop this and read Ezekiel 18:23.” And on and on.

Know what? Those people need to chill out. Yeah, we’re Christians. But we’re also human beings too. That’s not an excuse. It is a fact and we sometimes react to news the way humans do – with emotion. And it is not unfair for people with pent up emotions about 9/11 to react a particular way over this kind of news. How about next time instead of judging and rebuking, you silently pray for those you see doing it? Pray that their response is merely an emotional one at the time and will be tempered later.

Throwing out what God would do and what Jesus would is pointless.

God and Jesus are perfect.

Humans are not.

My friend Meghan has her own thoughts about this. Check it out. Well worth reading.

There are a lot of emotions being expressed in the wake of the fight between Governor Scott Walker and public unions in Wisconsin. I keep hearing the term “workers rights” being thrown around. If you haven’t been following the story, there is a budget battle going in Wisconsin. Wisconsin has a budget deficit (that has not been caused by Governor Walker, despite claims to the contrary) and he has asked unions to start paying more towards their own pensions and healthcare benefits. The unions have said they will accept those terms, but the fight now is over the process of collective bargaining. Governor Walker wants to put an end to public sector union collective bargaining. The unions say they will not accept those terms and 14 Democratic Senators have fled the state in order to avoid voting on the issue.

The issue of collective bargaining is a contentious one. For a long time, I believe unions played an important role in our nation’s history. But over the last 20 years or so, unions for the most part, have become more about protecting the unions themselves and their leadership rather than doing what is in the best interests of the employees and those they serve. This is especially true in public sector unions.

So what it is collective bargaining? It’s defined as, “The process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements which regulate working conditions.”

Scott Walker’s move to end collective bargaining agreements between public sector (his plan will not affect in any way, private sector unions where I believe collective bargaining is still very much a valid process) is the right one. It needs to end. Collective bargaining by its’ very nature is supposed to be an adversarial process with both sides giving and taking for the benefit of everybody because everybody on both sides of the negotiating table are aware there are limited operating revenues. That doesn’t work with public sector unions. There is no “bargaining.” The unions get pretty much everything they want. Here’s how:

Public sector employees are paid with taxpayer dollars. That money is then used to pay union dues (and these dues are not optional. They are mandatory). Those union dues are utilized by union leaders to donate money to politicians who support the unions and other causes union leaders support. Again, this happens without any input from actual union members. The union leaders then sit down and “bargain” with the very same politicians they donate money to and support with votes (It’s kind of like the kid who sucks at little league baseball but since his Dad is the manager, he’s going to play every single game. The kid as that built in advantage). Who is without representation in these negotiations? The very taxpayer who funds all of this.

The public sector unions are bolstered by the fact that government doesn’t go away. In the private sector, union overreach has severe consequences and we witnessed that in the automobile industry. In the public sector, there are always taxpayers to turn to when a government pension and healthcare system needs to be bailed out. And guess what? We have reached a point where such spending can no longer be tolerated. There simply is no more money to give public sector unions. Times have changed. When we live in an economy where 7.5% to 8% unemployment rates will be the new normal, the process needs to change. No question.

As to those who continually talk about the “right” to collectively bargain? Stop it. No such right exists. Collective bargaining between public sector unions and government officials is actually illegal in states such as North Carolina and Texas. If it were a “right” no court would uphold making it illegal. Collective bargaining is a privilege, nothing more. And since that privilege has long been abused by public sector unions, the tide has shifted and it is starting to go away. On that front, the unions have only themselves to blame.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, but keep it civil.

It was Super Bowl weekend. Thankfully, two tough teams gave us one heck of a game to watch. Early on it looked like a blowout for the Packers as they built an early 21-3 lead. But the Steelers scored a touchdown just before the end of the first half to close the gap and then came on strong in the second half. The Steelers biggest problem of the night however – turnovers – came back to haunt them again as they were on a drive that could have given them the lead if they scored a touchdown. Instead, they fumbled and the Packers scored, giving them 21 points off Steelers turnovers. Still, it was a great game.

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I’m really happy for Aaron Rodgers. This guy took over in the toughest of circumstances, replacing hero Brett Favre. It was Packers GM Ted Thompson that took a ton of heat from the Packers faithful for drafting Rodgers and trading Favre. I think make of the faithful are eating a big bowl of crow for breakfast this morning. So are members of ESPN (and other members of the media) who have treated Favre like some kind of god.

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As for Favre, he went out like many predicted he would if he held on too long. He went out beaten, injured and in the midst of scandal. If he would have retired a few years ago, he would gone out with his legend intact and he probably would have been sitting with Bart Starr in one of those luxury boxes last night cheering on his team.

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Another Star Spangled Banner and another singer screwing it up. Look, Christina Aguilera is not the first (nor will she be the last) performer to mess up this song. The problem I have is this: The Star Spangled Banner is a simple song. Yet, so many performers try to make it complex, drawing out certain words and going to extremes. There are two words in the entire song that deserve emphasis and that is ‘free’ and ‘brave’ and that is it. Here is a terrific example of how to do it right. This is Huey Lewis & The News singing it at the All-Star game in 1984:

Here is a more recent example. Carrie Underwood at an NFL game in 2006:

KISS – Keep it simple stupid.

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As for the commercials, there was one that really stood out and was memorable. The ‘House’ commercial which was a homage off to the famous ‘Mean’ Joe Greene commercial from the 70′s. Most of them others this year were meh and the Doritos “finger licking” ad was just creepy. Though I will say that seeing Roseanne Barr get flattened by a tree trunk was great. Here is the ‘House’ ad:

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As for the half time show, the little I did watch just showed ‘The Black Eyed Peas’ to be an embarrassment. I kept talking about the need for the NFL to get a band like ‘The Foo Fighters’ to be the half time entertainment. No gimmicks. No tricks. No fuss. Why complicate things?

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Apple often has great deals in their refurbished stores. The computers they sell their are marked down, but loaded with the most up to date software and come with a 1 year warranty. It was somewhat confusing at times to see what model you were getting because subtle changes would come with new releases. That has changed as Apple has added the release dates to the description making it easier to tell if you are getting a newer or older version of that hardware.

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Cowboys & Aliens? Looks awesome:

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Gas prices are still going up. The average price is $3.13 a gallon. Does anybody else remember the ear piercing shrieks when President Bush was in office and prices were at $3.00 a gallon? My ears still hurt from it. All of that shouting about Bush being cahoots with oil companies to purposely drive up prices comes of as extremely stupid now doesn’t it? President Obama is not getting a hint of grief about gas prices. I wonder why that is?

Actually, I don’t wonder. My gaze is fixed right on the media. Not the liberal media. Not the conservative media. But the lazy media. The media that gets itself worked into a lather if enough people scream and shout about an issue but don’t bother when nobody else seems to care. You’ll see. Watch the next issue that comes up where people scream and shout the most. Food prices are starting to really climb. Sooner or later, somebody is going to into freakout mode about and then the media will latch on like a pit bull.

Fun weekend. After being at Dream Year, I realized that I needed to focus my photography work on a niche. Something I really enjoy. I am also re-doing my website to give it more of a feel of a portfolio and will create a new blog for that. Exciting stuff. The type of photography I honed in on might not be fun to some people, but I really like doing it.

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There are some Christ followers that “do not buy” or “cannot agree” with the concept of creation as it is spelled out in the Bible and side with the theory of evolution. They also find all kinds of loopholes to explain their position. I find this point of view fascinating. Fascinating because they cannot buy the notion of creation starting with Adam & Eve, but they readily accept that Jesus was born of a virgin birth. They accept He fed thousands with a few loaves of bread and a few fish. They accept He performed miracles such as giving sight to the blind, healing the disabled and raising the dead. They accept He was crucified and buried only to rise again after three days.

So why accept the latter and not the former?

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I think it was bad enough that the Academy left Chris Nolan off the list for Best Director while ‘Inception’ was nominated for Best Picture. But the dumbest omission for ‘Inception’ had to be the lack of a nomination for Best Editing. The latter half of this film takes place with the same characters spread over 3-4 levels of dreams. The work that went behind the editing of those scenes and the effort to keep the story coherent is nothing short of remarkable. A terrible exclusion. But I’ve come to expect nothing less from the same group that thought ‘Titanic’ deserved Best Picture over ‘LA Confidential.’

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Prior to the start of the Pro-Bowl, I made it clear to followers on Twitter that I would not be watching. The final score of 55-41 didn’t do anything to take away from the stench of what was obviously a sloppy game. 8 turnovers. Nearly 900 yards in total offense between both teams. The Pro-Bowl is a joke.

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Jason Fried said he likes this site which allows users to create online forms. I have it bookmarked but haven’t checked it out yet.

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According to Seth Godin in his book ‘Linchpin’ this was the old American Dream:

• Keep Your Head Down
• Follow Instructions
• Show Up On Time
• Work Hard
• Suck it up

…you will be rewarded.

The new America Dream goes like this:

• Be remarkable
• Be generous
• Create art
• Make judgment calls
• Connect people and ideas

…and we have no choice but to reward you.

Do you agree?

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I’ve been watching old episodes of ‘Law & Order’ (Seasons 1-3). You might be surprised to see just how many people had small roles on that show only to be television or movie stars today. Here’s a short list:

William H. Macy
Samuel L Jackson
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Edie Falco
Jorga Fox
Amy Ryan (Best known for her Oscar nominated role in ‘Gone Baby Gone’)
Michael Imperioli

BTW, S. Epatha Merkerson who played Lt. Anita Van Buren from 1993-2010 (the longest running character on the show) appeared in the Season 1 episode ‘Mushrooms’ as the mother of two shot boys, one of whom (a 2 year old) was killed.

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As time goes on I am finding there is less and less value to Facebook on a personal level. I wish they would expand it for small business use and provide some more tools to do that. I’d pay for something that worked well.

What a weekend! It started last Thursday when I started the long drive to Nashville with a pit stop in Atlanta. While I was waiting around for dinner, I had a chance to go to Land of 1000 Hills coffee shop in Roswell, GA. What a great place. It’s house that has been converted into a coffee house. Much to my surprise, you don’t order cups of coffee. All of their coffee is made in a French press. They have 3 different sizes and when your coffee is ready, they bring the entire press out to you with a cup. I’m definitely going back there when I am in town again.

Later on that night was dinner with friends, several of whom I was meeting for the first time. Tami & Adam Shields, Austin and Courtney Lee, Tom and Meghan McFarlin and Eryn and Jared Erickson all dined at PF Changs for dinner. It was a great time. I was meeting Tami, Courtney and Austin for the first time. Ironically, it was the first time Austin was meeting Tom and Jared. I’ve hung out more with those guys and I don’t even live in that state! Get with it people.

Eryn (go check out her music) and Jared were kind enough to let me crash at their place before leaving the following day for Nashville.

By the way….all of these friends? First connected with them via Twitter. This tool presents the opportunity to really build up a community of people. So if you’re a Twitter naysayer because “Nobody wants to read about what I am doing all day” then you don’t get it.

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Dream Year.

I had the privilege of attending this event and getting to meet Ben Arment. I think the word “passion” is often thrown around too loosely these days. Kind of like the word “relevant.” It’s used often because it’s used often. But Ben is the real deal. He’s passionate not only about what he does, but passionate about wanting to see others succeed as well.

I learned a lot in the amount of time I was there. The thing Ben said that I remember distinctly is this

“Entrepreneurship is no longer about the idea. It’s about the idea model.”

That kind of blew me away. And it has given me a lot to think about. Ben is having another one of these weekends in June in Washington, DC. If you were considering going to the event in Nashville, then I would highly suggest going for it in DC. It’s an experience that is worth every penny. But hurry. Unlike the event in Nashville, the one in DC is limited to 75 people.

What I probably enjoyed more than anything else was connecting with people I knew only from Twitter and also meeting people I had never met in any way prior to this. Some of the people:

Greg Darley
Dana Byers
Jamie Beran
JC Wert
Lindsey Appiah
Susan Dillingham
Bryan Allain
Lindsey Hartz
Alece Ronzino
Stephen Brewster

I know I probably left some people out. Sorry!

I also got to hang with Kyle Reed who is an awesome guy. This young man truly has a servants heart and I am blessed to call him a friend.

In addition, as somebody that just turned 40, what I loved seeing as well were people my age and older than me at Dream Year. I think we have a tendency sometimes to assume such ‘dreams’ are meant only for those who are 30 and younger but that is not the case and it was encouraging. At the same time, there were many younger people there and I am thrilled there are people 10-15 years younger than me whose lives are filled with such purpose. It’s a great thing.

So Christmas has come and gone. I always dislike the first few days after Christmas. It’s kind of a downer. There’s so much fun and excitement leading up to that day and then — POOF! — it’s over. It’s my favorite time of the year so it’s tough to see it go away.

Friday was indeed a full day. I was at the church at 2:00pm and after 4 services and getting my stuff together, it was just past 9:00pm when I left. It was a great night. Due to the construction going on, a stage was assembled in the middle of the sanctuary and the services were done “in the round.” I put together a video of the evening’s events. Watch below (please forgive my amateurish editing skills):

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For the first time…ever….we opened presents Christmas Eve instead of on Christmas Day. To be honest, I was really tired and we just wanted to sleep in the next day! Word of warning to parents with young children: As your kids get older, the quantity of gifts starts to go down, but the price of what they ask for starts to go up!

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So the Giants have officially moved into the “We suck” category. For a team with this much talent, they should have been rivaling the Atlanta Falcons for the best record in the NFC, not having to beat the Redskins (combined with a Packers loss) in order to make the playoffs. Prediction: No playoffs and Coughlin is out of a job. He’s got on year left on his contract and either they extend it or let him go. Bill Cowher is out there, wants to coach again and has a good relationship with the Mara family. In fact, I suspect almost anything less than a Super Bowl berth spells the end for Coughlin. It’s just time.

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The Netflix Pick of The Week feature is something I am really going to have fun with. I’ve already got the next few weeks already lined up.

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Greatest movie review I have seen in a long time came from Ed Stetzer:

Movie review: if your home heat is out, and Yogi Bear is playing at a heated theater, set your house on fire & stay home.

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Can DNA show that John Wilkes Booth was not captured 12 days after he killed Lincoln, but in fact, lived 38 years beyond that before killing himself? It will be interesting to see how this story unfolds.

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So how was your Christmas?

Yeah, it’s Tuesday. I know. I am still trying to recover from that Giants/Eagles game. I’ve been watching football for over 20 years. I’ve never seen a game end like that. It’s bad enough the Giants defense allowed the Eagles to score so many points in the fourth quarter. The Giants scored what looked like a punch to the gut touchdown with 8:17 left in the 4th which at the time, made the score 31-10. THIRTY ONE to TEN. With 8 minutes left. So when the Eagles tied the score with 1:16 left, I thought it was all good. That was more than enough time to get into field goal range and end this thing. But no. They had to punt. So I figured, “Ok. It’s going to overtime.” Not. A line drive punt that is muffed, gets run back. I’m still in shock.

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During the 90′s, there was nobody more self-righteous than conservative evangelical Christians. Culture warriors to the extreme, they were happy to call fellow Christians out as those who weren’t “real” Christians if they did not adhere to their conservative political agenda. I know how it was because I was one of them.

These days however, the abundance of smugness and self-righteousness comes largely from liberal evangelical Christians especially when it comes to social programs. It basically goes like this: If you didn’t support President Obama’s healthcare plan or you don’t support increasing taxes (which can then be spent on more social programs) then you’re not a “real” Christian because Jesus said we need to care for the poor.

Oy.

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I am cleaning out my office and my desk and the feeling is surreal. Normally I do this when my location in the office is changing (and that has happened quite a few times in the last 13 years). This time, I am doing it because somebody is moving into this office and I will be headed out the door.

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I am really looking forward to the Dream Year Weekend in Nashville next month. I’m looking forward to meeting Ben and also meeting and connecting with others trying to live out their dreams. I could still use a place to stay in Nashville when I’m there……

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I love this from North Point Community Church:

Many people would look down on this. First of all because the original song is called, “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” from the Charlie Daniels Band. Second of all, it references Santa Claus and Christmas is not about Santa Claus! “How dare they make reference to secular icon in the house of the Lord!!”

Really? Do people really think Santa Claus, Rudolph and Frosty The Snowman can really distract people from the wonder that is Jesus Christ? Give me a break.

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Christmas Eve our church will be doing 4 services. We’ll be doing some classic Christmas songs, but the kicker is going to be a cover of the Trans Siberian Orchesta hit ‘Christmas Eve In Sarajevo.’ After that, I will spend the rest of the evening at home with my wife and kids enjoying Christmas Eve which is probably my favorite night of the year.

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How was your weekend and what are you doing for Christmas?