:::. joshbrickey.com .:::

Isaiah - Pics from this week

2008-11-15T23:06:00-05:00

It's been a while since I posted pics of Isaiah. He'll be 14 months old in a week. Here are some pictures that show some of Isaiah's favorite things from this week.

His favorite thing to do: Throwing the ball. Right handed and...

left handed too!

Isaiah with his sippy cup.

He thinks he's getting adjusted by his Dr. Mommy.

Eating some corn with daddy.

Playing in a pile of towels...and...throwing a ball, of course.

What can the Church learn from Starbucks? (Part One)

2008-11-10T14:07:14-05:00

On Thursday, I posted this blog about what Starbucks would look like if it marketed like the church. The video reminds you of how silly a lot of the methods are that churches use today and, honestly, I felt guilty watching it because I've fallen into some of the same stupid methods in my past.

It really got me thinking....what can the church learn from Starbucks? Based on some principles that I read in a book called The Starbucks Experience, here are some quick hits about things that churches can learn from Starbucks.

1) Starbucks encourages both employees and customers to "make it your own." It blows my mind how welcoming the whole Starbucks experience is. If you are a frequent customer of Starbucks, you know what I'm talking about. I get so pumped up about my favorite drinks and even going through the drive through can be a fulfilling experience. Maybe I'm crazy, but it seems that Starbucks has created an experience that people buy into. Starbucks has begun to play an important role in a lot of people's lives.

Churches need to be the same way. People want to buy into something that is bigger than them. They want to have such an incredible experience that they find something they can buy into.

2) Starbucks knows that everything matters. Did you see earlier this year that Starbucks closed for a day to train all of their baristas on how to make the perfect drinks? They wanted to ensure that the Caramel Macchiato that you buy at your favorite Starbucks location will taste the same at any other location. Let's face it, every single detail of your trip to Starbucks has been thought through by management: the graphics and images, the taste of your drink, the "treat receipt."

I'll keep it simple. Churches have to realize that things seemingly mundane like changing a child's diaper can make just as much of an impact as the worship song on Sunday morning. For instance, when Patty and I visited New Spring Church recently, two little things really left an incredible impression on us. One, they put a really nice luggage tag on the diaper bag for us to keep that helped keep bags separate (and give us a great reminder of their church every time I see it). Also, when I went to change Isaiah's diaper later that day, I noticed he had a sticker on his diaper that said something like "changed with care at 'the Majestic'" (their children's ministry). It was a small gesture, but it left a lasting impression.

Everything should matter at church. Those crappy graphics, cheesy church words, and "greeters" that stare at you might be just the thing that keeps people from coming back to your church.

Part two tomorrow!

Senior Citizen's Riding Dirty...

2008-11-07T10:05:25-05:00

I saw this over at Monday Morning Insight and I thought I'd pass it along. Coming soon to a church near you:

What if Starbucks marketed like a church?

2008-11-06T16:24:38-05:00

I think it's right on. It honestly makes you feel guilty about how a church operates in a lot of ways.

What do you think about this? Click "comments" down below and leave your thoughts. Tomorrow's post will be "Lessons from Starbucks for the church." Stay tuned.

Real blessings from God

2008-11-06T12:07:48-05:00

I stumbled on this Francescan benediction the other day and God has really been using it to wreck me. Just thought I'd pass it along:

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

My Halloween Costume...

2008-10-31T13:18:39-04:00

Thanks for all those who tried to guess my costume on here and on Facebook. However, no one was able to guess correctly. So without further ado, here is my costume for Fright Night 2008: As inspired by a Geico commercial, a grown up Cabbage Patch Kid!

I have to admit, it took a lot of effort and work by 4 or 5 people (with Will Wright and Robin Hunt doing a TON of work with me), but we actually finished it. The original plan was to make three Cabbage Patch Kids and Robin and Will would wear them as well. The problem was, we majorly underestimated the art of paper mache. It actually was really funny to see three dudes spending lots of time in the crafts department and trying to do paper mache.

One other funny thing to note. If we had made three, the plan was that one of the others would have been Asian and the other white. You know...we wanna be politically correct and all.

Inside Scoop on my Halloween Costume...

2008-10-28T20:00:31-04:00

Tomorrow night is "Fright Night" at youth, and for the first time ever, I'm making my own costume. I will post pictures on Thursday, but here's a clue to what I'm making....here are the items I'm using to make it:

Large plastic ball....the kind that you shoot into huge bins at Wal-Mart when you're not supposed to.
Elmer's glue
Newspaper
Two wigs
Hot glue
1 yard of brown, stretchy cloth
Spray glue
Modeling clay
Artist gesso
Clothing

Any guesses?

Random Link Love...

2008-10-27T14:50:25-04:00

Wow...I've been out of town way too much over the last few weeks, but I'm back! Just to catch you up on what's been going through my mind lately, I thought I'd share with you some links to things that have inspired, intrigued, or just simply made me laugh over the last few weeks.

These Leadership Quotes have really rocked my world. What's sad is most churches and organizations don't really have the...ehem...um...guts to do anything about it.
This Video is one of the funniest videos I've seen this year.
I think Steven Furtick hit the nail on the head with this post. It sucks to be my fault, but often it is.
Jesus is not only a friend of Sonseed (if you don't know who that is, watch this video , he apparently is also a friend of the David Crowder Band!
Check out how to make a homemade butt crack detector. I know some people that need to make one of these.
Absolutely loved this post about what people REALLY mean. If you don't follow Perry Noble's blog, you're really missing out.

What has been on your radar lately? Any interesting links?

Election 2008...

2008-10-16T17:13:46-04:00

I have to vent for a minute. I am sick and tired of this presidential election. It will be refreshing when this thing is finally over and I don't have to listen to all of the negative campaigns. However, it's disappointing to me that, out of all the people in our country, these two candidates are the best that we can come up with.

Last night, I realized that I have heard more about what these candidates are against, rather than what they stand for (kind of like some churches eh?). Think about it...every single debate a question would be asked of the candidates and they couldn't simply tell us what they were going to do. They honestly spent more time explaining what they don't like about the other one.

The main thing that I hear Obama say that he stands for is change. Mr. Obama, is that all you can come up with? Seriously, we all want things to change. No one wants a crappy economy. Nobody wants war. Thanks for stating the obvious. I really haven't seen major changes that you have been able to make in your past so good luck with your new endeavor.

Mr. McCain, I'm glad to know that you have experience, but people are fed up with what they've experienced from politicians. Besides, of course you have more experience. You went to college with George Washington. Who wants to vote for a president that looks like he could die at any moment?

In all seriousness, I have decided who I'm voting for. The sad thing is, I am voting for who I think is the lesser of two, extremely crappy choices. Just my two cents.

Sorry I haven't blogged in much over the past couple of weeks. I have been out of the country for a week and then had a week to try to get caught up so it's been crazy around here. I'm officially back in the routine now!

Dominican Republic Thoughts and Pics

2008-10-09T16:48:51-04:00

Our trip to the Dominican Republic went well! But...we are so happy to be back home. Here are some quick hits about it and some pictures:

* Patty adjusted over 200 people in two days!
* I learned that Hot Pockets is the official sponsor of Latin American Idol.
* Isaiah flirted with all the Dominican women. One even asked him if he wanted to go home with her. He's already a ladies man.
* Patty woke up in the middle of the night with a cockroach crawling on her.
* We met two guys from Haiti and it really impacted our life. I'm praying that one of them, Johnny, will email us. His story is something else, and I hope that we can somehow find a way to help him and his family.
* I didn't realize that Hatians were so looked down upon by the Dominican people.
* We couldn't put toilet paper in the toilets. You had to put your used toilet paper in a trash can next to the toilet.
* It was definitely an incredibly beautiful country from what we saw.
* Isaiah's favorite drink is the Bahama Mama (with no alcohol of course).
* It really put things in perspective for us. We are so blessed to be living in the U.S. and all of us don't need to take it for granted.

Isaiah's First Plane Trip

The fam on the beach

Drinking a Bahama Mama

The beach at our resort

Us with a Hatian name Johseph