:::. joshbrickey.com .:::

Being sick sucks...

So all day yesterday i was really sick. Must be a virus or something, but it was pretty brutal. Let's just say, when that much stuff is coming out so many places, I'm fairly confident that i got a complete colon cleanse. But...on the bright side...

1) My temperature finally went down.
2) I got on a scale this morning and I was 10 pounds lighter than I was Saturday. I'm sure it's probably mainly water weight, but hey...it was good to see a lower number on the scale.

Now it's time to see if I can work through the day after feeling like I got hit by a truck.

On a side note...I don't know how my wife made it through all the nausea for 5-6 months when she was pregnant with Isaiah. How did she do it? What a woman!

Open Letter to Those Who Forward Emails to Me...

Dear Email Forwarders,

As much as it pains me to say this, I would appreciate it if you would take me off your email forwarding list. I know that your intentions might be good, but frankly...I don't have time to sift through the crap that you send me. I know that you are just trying to keep me "informed," offer me a chance to get something "free," or demonstrate your patriotism, but the minute it hits my inbox, you really lose your credibility. So...as we end this email relationship, here are some things that I thought maybe you should know:

1) While I am thankful for America, do you really think that the best way to display patriotism is to send me an email with a flashing flag or a letter from Jay Leno? (Which...by the way...was not written by him.)

2) Even though Mike Huckabee is a pastor, why would you consider me a bad Christian if I didn't want to vote for him. Don't get me wrong...having Chuck Norris as a spokesperson was brilliant (as was Mike's appearance on Saturday Night Live). But...from reading the Bible, I made an amazing discovery: there actually are more than two Christian values. And like I heard another pastor say once, I'm sure if God could use people in the Bible like Nebuchadnezzar (and many others) to accomplish His will, I'm sure he can do it with our next President.

3) Thanks for warning me about the car jackers and the killer in my backseat. Fortunately, the killer must like it back there and he never bothers me.

4) Let's all say this together....Barack Obama is not a Muslim.

5) Bill Gates is rich, but I guarantee he doesn't give a rip what your forward says and he sure isn't tracking it so he can pay you for it.

Thank you for your time in reading this. It may pale in comparison to the amount of time I've wasted reading your emails, but it is much appreciated. You are now blocked.

Sincerely,

Josh

P.S. I give some of you a free pass since your forwards are rare. This is for the repeat offenders.

Crocs, Beanie Babies, and other ramblings

For so many years, my experience as a Christian showed me churches that were primarily focused on developing relationships with the people already inside of the church. The main ways to attract outsiders was to have a weeklong "revival" (which...ironically implies that your church is dead) or by "Vacation Bible School." Don't get me wrong...I saw a lot of close knit relationships develop through the church, but there just seemed to be something missing in the development of the church.

I have been thinking a lot about innovation lately. Why is it that most churches are some of the least innovative places and so resistant to change? It's not just in traditional churches. It's "contemporary" churches as well. While the methods used may have been considered innovative 15 years ago, it's definitely lost it's effectiveness now (Some things of note in 1993: Sega Genesis, Beanie Babies first released, and Leonardo Dicaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape).

Let's face it, we have to seek ways to be on the cutting edge of innovation. It's bigger than Facebook, Twitter, or text messaging (if you don't know what those are...look them up). Sure we can use those things now (and should). But we need to create ways of ministry that are constantly fresh and innovative. Let's think outside of the proverbial box. Heck...we should be nowhere near the box. Let creativity be more than simply filling in a template for a weekly worship service. Let creativity be more than a clever joke in a sermon. Let creativity be more than an email prayer chain.

Here's my prayer today: God...not only now, but when I'm 85 years old (let me make it that far please)...I hope that I am open and searching for new ways to teach about you and introduce people to you. Oh...and please let Crocs go out of style. They are so ugly.

Wow...it's been a while

Last week, we took our youth to camp...Big Stuf. It was incredible. You can check out video highlights from our youth website, by clicking here.

Anyways, I missed Patty and Isaiah like crazy. We had a good time on the 4th, watching some fireworks right outside our apartment. Here's some pics to show ya what we've been up to.

Isaiah and I taking a nap after camp

Fireworks outside

He's growing up quick

Isaiah's first trip to the beach

Here are a couple of pictures of Isaiah's first trip to the beach. Sorry I've been slow blogging. Hopefully I can get consistent soon!

He loved it!

My favorite picture from the trip

Why?

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about what church should look like. I guess the question I've really been asking is this: Why do we do church the way that we do it?

Don't get me wrong. This is not about questioning traditions. It's about making sure that every single aspect of what we do as a church has a purpose. AND...THAT purpose lines up 100% with the main purpose of the church.

Let's take a typical worship service at our church for example. Some of these things I see the point in, others I do not. Here's some questions to ask ourselves about each element.

*Countdown- Do people need a countdown to let them know when it's starting? Does there cell phone not sync up with the satellite?
*Opening Song - Why have a song to signal the start of a service? Kind of like the national anthem maybe?
*Welcome- Why do people need to be welcomed during the service? Did multiple greeters and other people greet them on the way in?
*Worship Set- Why have music at all? Can worship only begin with upbeat music and work gradually to slower, apparently "more worshipful" songs?
*Offering Prayer and Special Song- Why does this need to be in the middle of the service? Can people only give if there is some background music playing?
*Bumper- Why do we need a video that transitions between the offering song and the sermon? I wonder how Jesus could have been effective without it.
*Sermon- Why does it have to be a live speaker giving a lecture? When was the last time you invited your friends to a lecture?
*Invitation- Why should we give an invitation every week? Do you think one more verse will bring them down? (I see that hand).
*Closing Song- Why does it have to end with another song? Was six not enough?

Obviously, I said a lot of things tongue in cheek. I see a lot of reasons that we should do some of the things mentioned above. The main thing is, we have to know why we do what we do. If what we do does not line up with the vision and purpose of the church, we shouldn't do it. (What is the vision and purpose of your church? Sorry...I couldn't resist.)

What questions do you think should be asked about church life?

My snack of the day

I just finished up some of these for my afternoon snack. Yum...kind of.

Some Fresh Changes...

Isn't it amazing how many times we say we're gonna change something in our lives and we don't follow through with it? Well...I know there are a couple of changes that I'm making in my life that gonna be hard to stick with, but when all is said and done both will change my life for the better. What are they? Here ya go...

1) Patty and I are gonna be setting up a hardcore budget and paying off stuff as fast as possible. I'm sure that we won't be able to eat out much and we'll have to cut back on other things (goodbye cable package), but wow..it will feel great to be out of debt. This post by Seth Godin really sums up how I'm feeling about it. Part of our plan is that I'm gonna do some extra work on the side...maybe even some speaking or music. We'll see.

2) I'm going to lose weight and get into shape. I need to drop about 35-50 pounds and it begins today. I wish I could find an inexpensive personal trainer (is there such a thing?) but I'm just planning on toughing it out myself until that happens. Let's face it. Most of us know what we should eat and what we should do to stay in shape. We just don't do it. The Bible says our bodies are a temple. My temple needs a major renovation.

Should be interesting. I'll have to give everyone updates on our progress.

Isaiah's first trip to the pool

He loved being in the pool today. Now if his daddy can just lose some weight, you might see some pics with all of us in the pool!

Caption of the Week

Here ya go....make a caption for this picture: