Heroes: Bryon Mondok

I will never forget the first time I met Bryon. We met at a local deli for breakfast. My first impression was "this guy is a mans man". He drove up on a motorcycle and a few minutes into our meeting I noticed he was pretty built and he talked with confidence. Forward 7 years later. Bryon has become one of the most influential ministry mentors in my life. He has challenged me in many areas from stepping up my personal relationship with Christ or having a forward mentality in my music listening, movie watching or politics. I really could go on and on but here are three words I have to describe the blog-star:
Available - Bryon is a true friend who is always there. I have called him early, late when ever. He is always there for me.
Honest - He is one of the most honest, genuine people I have ever met and he has taught me to never fever honesty, even when I make you vulnerable. If you read Mondok Blog you know this. As a friend and mentor I have learned so much from this, thank you Bryon.
Brilliant - A deep thinker is very often mis-identified. Bryon doesn't fit the stereotypical genius. He looks like, acts like and plays like a regular dude, with tats. What you don't know until you engage in a conversation is that this man is a freakin' genius. He reads, studies and thinks. I love it. He has pushed me to be a smarter guy. To challenge myself and to think outside of the box.
As you see, Bryon has been an incredible mentor to me. I am forever grateful that the Lord has brought him into my life. I have learned to be available, honest and strive to be smarter because of his influence on my life.

Love this guy.....

From Resurgence blog by Mark Driscoll:

This year I was invited back but declined because the few-day round trip from Seattle to Florida to give a very short message (last year it was less than twenty minutes) seemed like too much in light of other responsibilities. So, the sponsors of the event asked me to instead put together an eight-minute video on church planting that could be shown at the event and then handed out to each of the 1,500 attendees. So, in an effort to be helpful, the video crew from Mars Hill Church and I spent half a day in freezing weather at a military cemetery shooting scenes that were then edited for the video. Apparently the video was shown at the event, was well received by the attendees, and then criticized by Bill Hybels from the stage because it did not speak of women church planters. And, not wanting a bigger fuss, the organization hosting the event then made a decision not to hand out the video as they had promised, leaving the guys from our Acts 29 Church Planting Network who had hauled suitcases of the videos to Florida with thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of wasted effort. The leaders of the event are good guys whom I still consider friends, and I've never met Bill Hybels so I won't speak about him personally. But, I thought we should at least post the banned video online, so here it is:

Some thoughts....

This time of year is CRAZY when it comes to working with students. Seriously there is so much garbage that goes on towards the end off the school year. The whole "spring fever" is true!

I'm going to have knee reconstruction real soon. The second time is a charm!

We have been watching old episodes of "House MD". We are on season 2. This is the best drama on TV. Sorry 24 peeps, Dr. House kicks Jack Bauers butt!

There is a lot of buzz about this new band Kings of Leon. Don't believe the hype. They really suck.

My dad beat everyone in Wii bowling the other night. I beat everyone at tennis.

I am taking our Student Ministry team to Youth Specialties CORE Training. The theme is Helping Hurting kids. Should be good stuff. I enjoy the CORE series better than any of the big conferences.

Summer movies I would like to see: "Spider Man 3" May 4, "Evan Almighty" June 22, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" July 20, "The Bourne Ultimatum" August 4th (I will see this!).

My dog is so stinkin' funny! Last night during another brilliant episode of "The Office" there was a Dyson vacum cleaner commercial that made him act crazy, in a good way.

No adoption news.

My PARENTS bought a Wii!

My mom and dad, considered senior citizens by the early bird special promoters, have purchased their first gaming console since I was 10 years old in 1982 (Atari 2600). This should grab the attention of all gen-x'ers because we all know the attitude the boomers had toward video games. I believe that is beginning to change. I have read about Senior Wii Bowling leagues and Wii fitness classes. The Nintendo Wii transcends the old school sit on your butt while you play the game. Nintendo has given people a product that gets you involved more than fantasy. Here is a great article discussing the why of Nintendo Wii's success.

Who has a Wii out there?

Observations about millenials...

360 digital influence blog has some interesting observations from the millenial conference (remember, millenials are the generation born between 1980 and 2000). read the whole post, but here are his four key observations:

Millennials describe themselves as “non-white” - Mike Vorhaus shared an interesting stat about how a recent survey noted that 40% of all Millennials describe themselves as non-white. Young people today are more likely than ever to associate with a range of cultures and heritages and unlikely to define themselves narrowly. They have grown up in a world of interracial relationships and often see themselves as a product of this world.

Interest matters more than ethnicity - Whereas much of marketing has been focused on separating audiences into neat demographic groups based on race or ethnicity, Kevin Walker of Culture Lab shared the interesting perspective that Millennials today are more likely to be aligned by interest rather than ethnicity. This clearly has big implications for anyone planning a multicultural marketing campaign and hoping to gain a better understanding of the audiences they are likely to reach with their efforts and how to craft a smart strategy. It is an effect we are already starting to consider in any of our own multicultural marketing efforts targeted at the Millennial generation.

Friendship is no longer tied to locations - With the rise of social networks, it’s clear that Millennials have friends from many different cities and parts of the world. In the process, they are redefining the idea of a “friend” to include those acquantainces that are listed as friends on their MySpace pages, and those that they actively communicate with. Close friendships are no longer dictated by geography and as a result cross-country and international friendships and conversations are flourishing online.

Music discovery and experimentation rules - Jay Frank of Yahoo Music shared the interesting anecdote of youth five years ago and how many of them would have answered that they like every type of music, except country. Today, Millennials are listening to every type of music and there are no exceptions. International music, ethnic music, mashups, and independent labels are all finding new popularity as Millennials discover new music and share it with friends around the world.

ht: ysmarko

Went campin'.

Well, I made it back from my weekend camping trip with a bunch of middle school students. We had a great time and really saw some of our students lives get touched. One of our girls accpeted Jesus as her savior too, all worth it. If you work with students, go on campouts. Go to a place where cell phones dont work and there are no out side distractions. We go on 2 camp outs a year, one with middle school and one with high school. Always a hit, always a blessing.

Goin' campin'.

Im taking a bunch of middle school students camping this weekend. This may be the last you hear from me.

Tagged by Blog-Star Transition Pete

I have been tagged......so I'm tagging Mike B, Victor E and Justin W......

What’s the most fun work you've ever done, and why?
Ministry. I enjoy serving God and people.

Name one thing you did in the past that you no longer do but wish you did.
Play basketball. My knees are wicked, no can do.

Name one thing you’ve always wanted to do but keep putting off.
Plant a church. One day!

What two things would you most like to learn or be better at, and why?
Administration - I really struggle at balancing my schedule and doing all of the admin stuff in ministry.
Tell jokes - it's real bad. I cant remember jokes and then I try to tell them and they always bomb. I might be the worst joke teller on the planet.

If you could take a class/workshop/apprentice from anyone in the world living or dead, who would it be and what would you hope to learn?
How cool would it have been to be one of Jesus 12 disciples?

What three words might your best friends or family use to describe you?
Dude, faithful, motivated

List two words you wish described you:
Organized, comedian

What are your top three passions?
Christ, family, Mac

Joost invites!

I only recieved 3 of them. If you got an e-mail, then you got an invite. If I get more I will distribute to those who have asked. FYI - Joost is pretty amazing. A little quirky (because it's in Beta) but nice.

Ricky Gervais in Africa?

I first saw this a few weeks back and I died laughing. There is an unfortunate moral of the story that hits oh so close to home being in ministry and all. If you have a 8 minutes or so, please watch....oh yeah, there is a surprise guest at the end that is worth seeing.

HT: ysmarko



Update: YouTube pulled the original video so I re-uploaded in ZippyVideos

Amazing free application

Callwave is awesome. I have been trying to solve my voicemail issues, I get too many and have a hard time sifting through them. This app is similar to the whole iPhone visual voicemail. It's free and worth a try. Download here.

Heroes: Andrew Oates

When I was told that a guy younger than myself was going to come and oversee the ministries that I was involved with, I thought I could teach him some things. I mean, I have been serving in different capacities of ministry for several years at that time. Little did I know my world was about to be rocked. Andrew became the student and young adults pastor at my church and we instantly hit it off. In a very short period of time I realized that he would become the mentor and I the mentee because of the spiritual maturity and surrender displayed in his life. I will never forget the time Andrew spent with me reading valuable Christian classics, sharing his method and philosophy of ministry and most importantly his teaching of the Word. Andrew was very dedicated to reproducing himself in me, making a disciple. To this day I still communicate pretty often with him. It's so cool to see that the Lord has blessed Andrew with an amazing family and now a future work in the metro Orlando area as a church planter. Andrew taught me the importance of vision, clarity and total surrender. He is one of the most committed Christ followers I have known and I thank the Lord that he has been a part of my life.

From my office....

We are getting our share of crappy weather. It has poured all day. We need it here in South Florida.

More thoughts....

It's just a matter of time before I switch over to WordPress from Blogger. I appreciate all of your encouragement to take the leap. Billy has been like my own personal WordPress support.

It was 90 degrees in Palm Beach County yesterday. I went to one of our high schools for lunch with some students, my bald head got toasted because we sat outside in the courtyard.

"The Office" is freakin' brilliant!(I think I have said that before). I was really thinking that Michael was going to jump into the castle.

It think my parents are going to get a Wii. Imagine that, senior citizens that play video games, and enjoy them!

I think I'm going to have to get knee surgery soon. A couple of months ago I was playing dodge ball and completely blew out my left knee. Stay tuned.

Oh crusty one!

What will you look like in say, 50 years? Career Builders gives you a hint. Pretty funny and hopefully not too accurate.
HT: Mike B

Oh bearded one!

Change is good, right? I've got the beard thing going on. A little itchy, nice that I only have to shave the dome (for those in Palm Beach County, dome is head.) You like?

Russia curtails American adoption.

From the USA Today: Russia is effectively shutting its doors, beginning today, to most Americans who want to adopt Russian children. I dont know how much investigating this journalist did, but she sure makes it sound bleak for those of us who have poured our lives into adopting Russian orphans.



read more | digg story

Imus vs. the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks Chart (language warning)

It's a sad, sad state we are in these days - Have you seen the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart this week?I have grown up with hip-hop and enjoy good beats and rhymes, but this modern stuff is totally crap! Michelle Malkin brilliantly breaks down the hypocracy with the Don Imus flap and this weeks Billboard charts. Is it me or is there something wrong in our media?



read more | digg story

Word Press n00b

I have been contemplating moving from Blogger to Word Press. It's scary, very scary. It's kind of like like switching from PC to Mac or Playstation to X-Box. I need help. Has anyone made this switch? I have a running blog there but I really don't know how to work with CSS (not that I really know HTML either!). Is easy once you get going? Help a brotha' out. Here are some of my initial questions: How do I get my Bloglines in? Can I customize my banner? Can I get rid of some of the built in WP operations? I guess the number 1 question is, is it simple to do the custom things that I see a lot of bloggers do?

Heroes: Mike Wiggins

For 8 of the 10 years that I worked for Costco Wholesale I had the privilege of working along side of Mike Wiggins. For about 2 of those years Mike and I car-pooled together. At the time he was at the beginning of his journey as a lay pastor and eventual full time pastor in Christian church ministry. Through this time God used Mike to continually stir up the passion and calling to ministry I had on my life years earlier. Mikes integrity, endurance and dependence on the Lord were always very clear to me. This man saw an opportunity to pour into a young impressionable guy like myself and jumped on it. I remember many of the conversations we had. The times he would encourage me to trust the Lord and times he reminded me of the supernatural calling that God has in our lives. Not only did I work at Costco with Mike but I also had the honor and privilege of laboring in church ministry with Mike. We served on staff together at our church (Calvary Chapel Jupiter) for 2 years, just more opportunity to glean from Mike. In 2004 God called Mike to plant a church in Port St. Lucie, Fl. God is doing a supernatural work at his church and in his life. He has taught me so much, more than any man outside of my father has. He has shown me what a man of integrity, commitment and calling looks like. He has prayed with me, for me and even performed our wedding ceremony. Mike Wiggins is a hero.

Some thoughts....

I haven't watched the latest episode of "The Office". I look forward to 22 minutes of pure comedic genius.

Our Easter Service at church on Sunday was a blast. It was cool to look around the auditorium and see so many people, young people. I bet the average age of our community is under 35.

I love the Nintendo Wii. I have become quite a good tennis player on Wii Sports. Seriously, I have a mild form of tennis elbow from this game. All I have to say about the Wii is its incredibly brilliant and the future of gaming.

I have another ingrown toe-nail. It's gross.

Over the next few weeks I will be in Student Ministry mayhem! I appreciate your prayers.

Adoption update: nothing, absolutely nothing. We appreciate your prayers.

Did I mention Madden football on the Wii? Freaking awesome! I've gotten pretty good at it.

Baseball season is in full swing. Look out for those Florida Marlins.

We have put together a nice entrainment system in our house. I will post a video soon to show it off.

On my iPod this week: DJ Mophiziz "The Best of Submission: Vol. 3", Jim Collins, "Good to Great and the Social Sector", Simple Minds, Glittering Prize: Simple Mind, The Killers, "Sam's Town"

The Resurrection

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' "

Luke 24:1-7

I just got JOOST!

I finally recieved my Joost invite. If your not familiar with Joost Frantic Industries has an informative article about it. Here are some Joost bullets:

• Joost is from the Skype people.
• Joost offers free streaming ad-supported video.
• Joost has premium content.
• It's in Beta so they are working out the kinks.
• I have included a screen captures from my BlackBook.

If you want an invite leave a comment, I'll hook you up as soon as the Joost people give me some to distribute..

What Do You See?

A reminder of the sacrifice that was made. Song is by The Ambassador, video footage from "The Passion of the Christ".

102 Year Old Man Takes Out 25-Year Mortgage

Smart dude but what in the world was the bank thinking?



read more | digg story

Meeting Pete.

Me and Bryon met up with a vacationing Transition Pete yesterday. It's a cool thing to meet up with one of your blogging friends. It's crazy, Pete lives in another part of the country and we were able to connect! Its amazing that because of a relationship with Jesus we can connect so easy. My how the world has changed. I know some of the adoption crew has met up (thanks to master networker Debbie). Who has gotten to meet some blogging friends?

Spring Break and Portable Student Ministry.

It never fails, ever year when spring break rolls around we take the week off of regular meeting time and seek opportunity to connect with students in a more raw, unplanned nature. After laboring every week since Christmas with Wednesday night set up of our large group environment it's nice to do something a little different. This will give you an idea of what our Student Ministry will look like this week:
Tuesday: No campus visit today! Regular church staff meetings in the morning. In the afternoon Bryon and I will be heading south to Ft. Lauderdale to meet up with our blogging pal Transition Pete. Good stuff! In the evening I will lead our Young Adults Ministry for an evening of sharing, coffee and such.

Wednesday: Since this "game day" in our ministry, this week it will be very different. I will take this day to get our Student Ministry and Staff blog, G-Group and calendar updated and I have invited some students to come to the Student Ministry office and hang. An opportunity to connect and relationship build outside of a regular church environment. Our office is wicked cool, in a three story townhouse in one of those sweet planted communities that are popping up every where.


Thursday: Our local Christian school had break last week so this week I can go over there and hang out with some students for lunch in the late morning and early afternoon. Then I will get together with another y.p. buddy of mine. Good to get with other local guys and catch up. In the evening I'm getting together with the guys that I am discipling just to have a cookout and play together. It's all about relationships.

Friday: This will be another day for students to come to the office. I would like to have some framed collage deals made, so I'll probably put some students on that. A good day to get files in order and get some coffee time in with some volunteer staff. Any takers?

April Fools

Just imagine me saying these to you in my most upbeat, "can you believe it's true" tone.....then after a few seconds of silence, and a suprised look on your face, I blurt to you April Fools!

I woke up this morning with a full head of hair!

I hate that show "The Office"! I just don't get it.

I'm so glad that Florida is back in the NCAA Finals!

I'm so glad that Ohio State is in the NCAA Finals!

I would never stand in line at Wal-Mart to buy a Nintendo Wii! That's for 35 year old losers.

I'm gonna take the day off from church, heck next week is Easter Sunday, I'll make up for this weeks miss!

Did you hear? It's really easy to adopt children from Russia! They have millions of children in orphanages, and are looking for good homes to place them in!