2010 January

Apple’s Event – 1/27/2010

On January 27, 2010, In Apple, Web/Tech, by Jeff Calloway

Today at approximately 1:00 pm EST, Seve Jobs will introduce to the world the product he has spent his entire life perfecting. Many analysts and industry pundits are speculating that Apple will introduce a tablet computing device. This device, depending on who you listen to will be able to take reading books electronically to the [...]

Today at approximately 1:00 pm EST, Seve Jobs will introduce to the world the product he has spent his entire life perfecting.

Many analysts and industry pundits are speculating that Apple will introduce a tablet computing device. This device, depending on who you listen to will be able to take reading books electronically to the next level, make Apple a serious gaming platform, and otherwise be a pretty cool portable internet device.

I have heard it from reliable sources that what Jobs is planning to unleash today is the Mark of The Apple otherwise known as iWorld. The strategic plan that Bill Gates could not deliever on due to his ineptness, will be carried out by his nemesis Jobs. The plan pure and simple is that each person on the planet will be emblazoned with the Apple logo on their foreheads or left hand. It will allow them communicate interchangeably with one another and with Apple headquarters in Cupertino. For those of you who scoff at such an idea, laugh not! By the end of 2010, a worldwide edict will be given that every Windows computer must be destroyed and replaced with a Mac. Along those lines, there will only be one cell phone available for use – you guessed it, the iPhone. All others must be destroyed.

The plot began many years ago when Jobs seemed to harmlessly began to use a small case i in front of all products AllSeeingEye introduced by Apple. If only we would have known that harmless, yet very cool i really stood for the all seeing eye that Apple would become. Today will definitely be the day that lives throughout eternity that a one world system was instigated. For what seemed to be a harmless product announcement revealed a sinister plan that has been brewing since the days of a small computer company operating out of a simple garage. Hide your children and your wife! Do not watch this event online as part of this plot includes mass electronic radio waves during the event that will scramble brain cells. This will be the first step to prepare the hard core Apple fanboys to lead this worldwide movement. The results will not be pretty!

And you thought today was about the iPad!

Repost: What God is teaching me about being a man

On January 21, 2010, In Uncategorized, by Jeff Calloway

Having been a male for the last forty-eight years, I kind of thought I had it figured out what it meant to be a man. You know, go out and kill dinner and drag it home, have control of the house, etc…, etc…, etc… I have learned that my wife was right – I am [...]

Having been a male for the last forty-eight years, I kind of thought I had it figured out what it meant to be a man. You know, go out and kill dinner and drag it home, have control of the house, etc…, etc…, etc…

I have learned that my wife was right – I am an idiot. Wait, Julie doesn’t think I am an idiot, on the contrary she thinks I am quite smart. It’s the stupid things that I do that at times that cause her to shake her head and think “idiot!” I call it the Ray Berone syndrome, if you have ever watch the sitcom named after Ray you know what I am talking about.

Before being in full time vocational ministry (an oxymoron BTW), I was in the work force in Accounting and Financial Management for a couple of Fortune 500 companies. I was making good money, had loads of responsibility and bought into that my identity was found and based on what I did for my livelihood. The scripture passage is so true in 1 Corinthians 13, “when I was a child(boy) I spoke like a child(boy), I thought like a child(boy), I acted like a child(boy). When I became a man, I put away childish(boyish) things, thoughts, and actions.”

There is still a little boy in me and in most men. That is what I call the fun side of manhood. When the boy in me controls my life, I am going to be selfish, not generous. I will think of only my self and not others. Many men need to grow up and get rid of the boy in their life. That doesn’t mean we can’t go to football games or kill some animal and drag it home for dinner. But in the context of our relationship with our wife and children, we put them and their needs and wants first – way ahead of ours.

When I was a boy, I never thought it would be so hard to be a man.

Help Haiti

On January 15, 2010, In Uncategorized, by Jeff Calloway

If you are looking for a way to help out the victims of the tragic earthquake in Haiti, I want to recommend Samariatans Purse.

Why ask why

On January 7, 2010, In business, Leadership, by Jeff Calloway

The secret to creativity is curiosity. We often forget to teach kids to be curious. A student who has no perceived math ability, or illegible handwriting or the inability to sit still for five minutes gets immediate and escalating attention. The student with no curiosity, on the other hand, is no problem at all. Lumps [...]

The secret to creativity is curiosity.

We often forget to teach kids to be curious. A student who has no perceived math ability, or illegible handwriting or the inability to sit still for five minutes gets immediate and escalating attention. The student with no curiosity, on the other hand, is no problem at all. Lumps are easily managed.

Same thing is true for most of the people we hire. We’d like them to follow instructions, not ask questions, not question the status quo.

Yet, without “why?” there can be no, “here’s how to make it better.”

Seth Godin

How To Leave Your Church

On January 6, 2010, In Church Life, by Jeff Calloway

From my friend Tim Stevens People leave churches every day…sometimes even when they’ve been attending that church for years or even decades. But for some reason–a time comes when they decide they need to go somewhere else. Some of those reasons are good. Some of those reasons are bad. The purpose of this post is [...]

From my friend Tim Stevens

People leave churches every day…sometimes even when they’ve been attending that church for years or even decades. But for some reason–a time comes when they decide they need to go somewhere else. Some of those reasons are good. Some of those reasons are bad. The purpose of this post is not to debate the reasons–but rather to talk about the way that you leave a church.

Before I share my ideas on how to leave a church, let me give you my very unscientific stats on how most people leave churches:

▪ Group A: 20% leave kicking and screaming. They talk about everything they hate, how shallow the sermons are, why the kids program didn’t help and how the music is too loud or too traditional or too something else. And, of course, they say, “You’d be shocked by how many people agree with me, but everyone else is just too scared to speak their mind.”

▪ Group B: 79% say nothing. They just disappear. They quietly resign from their ministry roles and they stop attending. If you are privy to their giving records, you’ll usually find their hearts actually left a few months prior. Something happened and they became less enthused about the future. Or perhaps they moved into a new phase of life and the church just wasn’t working for them anymore. Either way, at some point you are walking through the hall at church and you think, “I don’t think I’ve seen Bob & Harriet recently.” You soon realize they quietly slipped away.

You might think Group A is bigger than 20%. But it’s just because they have VERY loud mouths. They get people worked up and talk to everyone, so it seems like the whole church is upset when it is really just a few.

You might also think that Group B chose the right way to leave a church. But truthfully, slipping away quietly can be just as painful for the pastor or leaders of the church (especially when you’ve been there for years) as those who leave loudly.

Thinking of leaving your church? Here’s how I would do it…

▪ I would write a letter to the pastors and leaders. In this letter, I would talk about the way God had changed my life through the ministry of that church. I would talk about how some of my family members met Christ there, were baptized, went on missions trips and more. I would talk about how my own thoughts and beliefs were formed through my years at the church. I would talk about how I am more like Christ because of my time there. I would tell stories of specific retreats or camps or services where my life (or those of my family) was changed because of the church and its’ leaders.

▪ In this letter, I would not gripe or complain. I would not talk about the stuff I don’t like or decisions with which I disagree.

▪ In a short paragraph, I would say that “my wife and I have decided to attend and serve in a different church for this next season of our spiritual growth.”

▪ I would end the letter by assuring the pastor that he/she will never hear us talk badly about this church. I would encourage the pastor to feel free to share this letter with anyone who questions why we left.

▪ THEN, and this is most important, I would not mail this letter. Rather, I would set an appointment with the pastor and I would hand-deliver the letter. I would read it aloud to him–or ask him to read it in my presence. I would re-state my love for him and profound thanks for the ministry he had in my life.

▪ Then I would walk away and keep my promise. I would never speak negatively to anyone about that church. In fact, when people asked, I would say, “God changed my life at that church!”

You might have noticed that my percentages for Group A and B above only added up to 99%. That’s because I think only 1% leave a church in the way I’ve suggested. Well, actually, it’s probably more like .00001%. Because in 15 years at Granger, I only remember one family leaving the way I suggested. It was Mike and Laura who left in 1996. And the way they left marked me.

If I ever have to leave a church, I want to leave like Mike and Laura.

What about you?