mikejonesblog.com

Hey everyone,

I've finally decided to move forward with my blog, taking a slightly different approach to what I post. And while I have had my own domain for a while (that simply pointed to this site), I have finally been able to move my domain to another hosted space.

Which means... you can now find me at mikejonesblog.com with a little different look and feel but the same Mike Jones. Please change your links, bookmarks and subscriptions accordingly :)

Thank you for sharing my journey with me! I look forward to talking with you more on the new site!

The real Mike Jones

Nudge

This actually got me to blog again (thanks for the article Larry)!

Such an interesting concept. Is there a way to utilize this in ministry or in leadership? What things already exist that help 'nudge' people to alter their actions in a positive way without doing anything?

Check this out - it's brief.

http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/brandautopsy/2009/02/small-idea-big-impact.html

And no, I'm not dead :)

Taken over by Twitter and Facebook, but I haven't forgotten the blog.

Just trying to figure out what to do with it.

Breaking the Silence

New Year. New Post... Really!

No this blog is not dead. Just neglected it a bit. I see it everyday and know that it's there but so much has happened over the last several months.

I actually started feeling a little overwhelmed...haven't posted in a while, what should I write about? It has to be something good to bring people back to reading it (though I am honored that many of you have continued to be faithful).

As a start, I wanted to share some pics from our Christmas Eve services at the Orchard (courtesy of Jen Cresse).

Enjoy!

New Blog Banner

Used one of the photos my wife took of me and my kids to create a new banner for the blog.

Let me know what you think.

What's New?

Let's see...

My wife had a great post on her blog about my daughter, her money management and her newest responsibility. I am very proud of her - almost makes you feel like you are doing some right things as a parent, though she has really done this all on her own.

Finishing our series at the Orchard called OnePrayer. This week we are honored to be hosting Perry Noble from NewSpring Church in Andersen, SC (via video). I have had the chance to meet and talk with Perry in person and share a meal with him... he is as funny in person as he was on the screen this weekend! The music team totally rocked the house so far this weekend too - can't wait for tomorrow (ok... a few short hours from now).

Starting a new series next weekend (July 12/13) called At The Movies. We're kicking off the summer in a series taking clips from some mainstream and indie films to teach some great life lessons. Great speakers part of this. Should be a lot of fun and leads us into our BBQ and Baptism in August - very exciting time for us! We so far have over 60 people signed up to be baptized this year as of last weekend! Amazing!

Working on some song writing along with two handfuls of other projects :) . We continue to tweak or new lighting system and have really been enjoying the color mixing and creativity with now have with our lights - makes a huge difference! I remember making my own par-can lights with some friends using stove pipe (innovation at its finest).

That's it for now. Working on trying to get some stuff out to you on the blog, so stay tuned.

Peace.

And so it begins...

...my vacation that is! I had an opportunity I could not pass up and am very thankful for the chance to take a little break. I love doing what I do, but everyone needs a little time away (I think there's a song in that).

This week is kind of bitter sweet. While I get a chance to refresh, my kids are also taking off for Arizona. I know they will have a great time, but Kristen and I will both miss them. Obviously we get time just the two of us which will be nice too. It's been 12 years since we've been at home just the two of us.

Yep, my daughter just turned 12 - can't believe it! I don't know where the time has gone. I've started to panic wondering if I've shared and taught her what she needs to know. She's oficially a tween. The "T" stage is next and I just don't feel old enough to be the father of a teen. She's a great kid.... er... um... I mean young adult.

Dang that sucks. Time just flies too fast.

I guess you just can't take anything for granted, including time. So, I'm off to enjoy my vacation though I anticipate blogging more than I have been.

Peace.

The Skinny

What a whirlwind couple of weeks. Hard to believe everything that has happened, but here's what's been going on while I was away from my blog...

Went from running the heater to running the AC. Not a big deal to most but I prefer the cold to the heat.... definitely worth noting.

My wife left me for another state with my girls... course it was to visit my mom and help take care of her after brain surgery. Go figure.

Because of the above I was a single dad of two boys for nearly a week. No easy task though my boys did an excellent job of keeping me in line.

Kristen's mom went into the hospital to be put on dialysis... she is now home.

I have actually planned a vacation... hard to believe I know, but I am planning to take a week off within the next couple of weeks, including from the weekend services I lead at The Orchard. This will be my first weekend off since August of 2007.

My wife is so hot! Ok just on my mind and had to say it :)

Dropped off my workout plan because of most of the above and because I was bored. Supposed to start back again tomorrow.

Twitter has taken over... I know I haven;t been blogging but I hope you have been at least keeping up on the twitter section of my blog to the right.

Twitter rocks!

Lights... what can I ssssaaayyy abbboouuttt lights? Yeah that's right... I might just have been shocked too many times by live voltage. Thanks to Bradster and a few electricians, the project we started around the time I took my last vacation has been completed! Ok so there are a few small things to be wrapped up and it is not the end but the beginning. The lights are a huge improvement!

Uh yeah... for the above, we hung 46 lights, ripped down 30, re-wired 18, dangled off a truss to hang some of them and then I proceeded to dream about lights for the next couple of days!

My Mac power cable burned up. Apple replaced it the next day.


I'm rocking on Guitar Hero 3 - my first Guitar Hero experience. Course I'm playing on easy mode but my kids think I'm a rock star.

Started a new message series this weekend... we're linking with more than 1200 other churches for a series called OnePrayer. Great weekend!

I guess that's good for now.
Thanks for hanging out.

Twittering

As you can see by my sidebar, I've joined the few and proud who are twittering.

According to wikipedia, "

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" (or "tweets"; text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website, via short message service (e.g. on a cell phone), instant messaging, or a third-party application such as Twitterrific or Facebook.

Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and instantly delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them.

I used to think, "how am I going to twitter when I can barely blog" but twittering is easy! You can text your updates or IM your updates and people can follow along.

Kind of fun.

If you want to subscribe, you can follow me here.

How about you? Do you twitter?

Tweet.

Creative and Funny

I have to say... I'm hooked on this dude's blog. Very creative, a good writer and his posts are just plain funny. If you have not been over to John's blog and are in need of a laugh, you need to go there.

Now. Go ahead. It's ok if you leave mine to go check out his (just make sure you come back :)

The dude is becoming a blogging fiend too.

If you missed it, here's some videos he wrote scripts for. Pretty simple, pretty clever, and funny.

Let me know what you think.
Peace.

1. Yeah I said Twitter.



2. Bath time.



3. I just learned spanish.

Bald Worship Leader

I got a text message from a friend of mine in New York this weekend.

Hilarious.

Go check out this blog post. Look back at the picture in this post. I won't say I was the first but I definitely fit the description, unintentionally.

At least I shave my head :)

Go ahead. Say what you gotta say about it. Get it out so we can move on :)

Make sure you read some of the comments too - funny (thanks for the link Kenny)!
Peace.

So much to blog about...

The office is finally back! As one of my few TV indulgences, I've missed having some new episodes.

I've been watching season two on DVD and even went back and watched a few episodes online of season three (don't own it yet). Still makes me laugh. I just don't see how you can get any more inappropriate than Michael Scott?

Jim, Pam, Dwight and the gang did not disappoint. Uncomfortable and funny show tonight.

I actually got to see the American Idol results show with my kids tonight. Haven't got to do that in quite a while. I don't think the right person was voted off but I'm sure he will do well on his own.

And what about the American Idol Gives Back??? I didn't get to see the show but they showed highlights... AI has really moved up in being able to get bigger stars. Pretty high quality acts.

Tonight they had Jordin Sparks perform with Chris Brown - her latest single No Air. Last night they hosted previous AI contestants Chris Daughtry and Carrie Underwood. The night apparently was filled with performances of Heart and Fergie (doing Beracuda), Annie Lennox, Gloria Estefan, Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg, and Miley Cyrus. Terri Hatcher, Brad Pitt, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, and several other celebrities threw their faces in the ring to help raise funds for impoverished youth.

So far they've raised 60 million dollars - that's awesome! A lot of young people living in poverty around the world will hopefully benefit from all this.

Peace.

20K!!!

20,000!!!

Looks like mikejonesblog.com hit 20,000 viewers this last week! Not much for most of you guys who have that much readership in a week but for me that is pretty cool.

Thank you all for your comments and for those of you lurking around here - thanks for checking the blog out.

Here's to more posts and insight into Mike Jones... kind of freaky.
Peace.

Link Love Roundup

Haven't done a link check in a while.

So here's the DL...

If you link me and I haven't shared the love, let me know and I'll be glad to add you to the link love list. Just a reminder if you all would please use http://mikejonesblog.com so that you'll link to me no matter where this blog is hosted.

Here are the latest:
Matt Olds - formerly of CA, now in ID.
Cliff Ames Jr. - Tales From The Yellow Brick Road.

Give them so love and check out their sites. Thanks for the links guys!
Peace.

Today is a New Day

So I'm making a commitment to get back into blogging more regularly. So it's my plan to blog everyday this week.

Take it one week at a time and see how it goes.

Peace.

Changes Are Coming...

Saw a banner that said the same thing in my local Walmart Store as it transitions to a 'Supercenter'. OK....

As you can tell, I'm working on the layout of this blog and trying to decide if I can customize it the way I want to using Blogger or if I need to go with another host (or my own). Let me know what you think about it along the way, but I should have the same features or better back up and running soon (one way or another).

One thing that YOU can do that would help out - if you link to this blog (make sure you let me know that you do so I can link you back, if I don't already), PLEASE make sure your link points to http://mikejonesblog.com as this allows me to move my blog and keep your links to me intact.

BTW, the wind and cold have finally arrived in the Chicago area - like the cold, hate the wind.
Peace.

link Love Update

Hey bloggers! I'm trying my best to get back in the game here and have just been in a busy season. Rest assured though, I'm committed :)

I noticed I had some new links (thanks to the wonders of Technorati). If you link back to me and I haven't shared the love, let me know and I'll be glad to add you to the link love list.

PLEASE use my domain name http://mikejonesblog.com as I'm thinking of moving my blog over to wordpress.

The latest additions are:
Brandon Shanks - The Revolutionary Blog
Paul Haugen - Jacob's Well
Bekah Gustin - Caffeinated Ragamuffin (she's back!)
Ted Egly... of Ted Egly (congrats on George!)

Make sure you stop by for a visit.
Peace.

Two B-days and a Bunch of Craziness

Feels like I've been on a blogging hiatus lately. Lots to write about but too much going on to actually do it. For a summer month, July has started out full throttle! We usually have the summer slow down where we kind of 'coast' - not a lot of school work for the kids at home, not a ton of things to do (except yard work), and usually just maintaining the creative level at the church. We have been having a blast but haven't really slowed down.

I have two kids in sports (Seth in coach-pitch baseball and Kylee in Softball). They have been doing great and it's part of our homeschool PE program. We didn't realize when we signed them up that there would be a gazillion games for both of them every week, or that they would be 15-20 miles from our house! You live and learn I guess.

Faith went to camp for a week.
The girls are going to AZ for 17 days.
Josh and Kylee both just celebrated birthdays within a day of each other (Kristen had great posts for each of them).
Seth is losing or pulling his teeth for cash :)
Kristen is losing her teeth for cash too (the money just goes to the dentist :)

We've been running a new series at The Orchard and preparing for several upcoming events. The new series is called Rockin' The Orchard 2 and you can find details in an earlier post (and on our website). We are preparing for our BBQ and Baptism coming up in August. We have more than 80 people signed up to be baptized so far!! I'm trying to find a Blues/Rock band to play that evening as well so that we can add a third 'B' to the BBQ and Baptism.

We have been running Arts team auditions, building sets, learning new tunes, and doing some team coaching as well. I am deciphering through proposals for our auditorium upgrades so that we can get them in soon and have been dealing with consultants. We are getting ready for the fall and the launch of our third weekend service (Saturday nights)... I've actually even been exercising if you can believe that! Lots of fun, but busy.

So that's kind of the latest in a post! It is awesome to see the excitement my family has at what God is doing within our church family and our own.

How's your summer been so far?

Peace.

Moving?

Just wanted to say thanks to all of you who stop by here and check out my blog! It's been pretty wild getting to know people in the blog world that are spread out all over the world (cheers to you guys in AUS!!)

I know there are a lot of you who actually link here. I am considering moving my blog over to another host - don't know which one yet (suggestions?).

Some of you link to the 'blogspot.com' address and I need you to start pointing (linking) to my domain address, mikejonesblog.com... this should get you over to my blog no matter where I have it.

So00000, PLEASE update your links if you would to the mikejonesblog.com address.

Where do you have your blogs posted? Pros/cons?

Thanks all!
Peace.

Feels like...

Feels like I've dropped off the blogosphere. I hadn't read any blogs and hadn't posted in several days. This is one of my biggest weeks/weekends during the year and a lot of preparation, time and energy have gone into making our weekend at the Orchard one that will impact people's lives. A great team of volunteers, staff and leaders have put countless hours into this weekend.

What's funny is that we are making it very much like one of our regular weekends at the Orchard so that guests who show up don't see something this week and then show up next week to see something completely different. Yeah, we added a couple of extra lights but everything else was about the same.

So then why all the prep? While every weekend is important for us at the Orchard, this weekend in particular has the largest potential to reach people who would otherwise never come to church. Every weekend is our chance, maybe our only chance, to reach someone who doesn't know God. We take that very seriously - I take that very seriously in all that I am a part of there.

Hope you all have a great Easter weekend!
Peace.

Link Love

Hey fellow bloggers and readers! You all are great!

I have updated my list of blogs in my sidebar and I am looking around to find those of you who may have linked to me. If you link here and are not receiving the love back… let me know. I'd love to spread the love back.

Make sure you all give them some love and check out THEIR blogs too!

What about weekly worship wrap up videos? I'd love to know if you have one of those as well.

Peace.