simplyinsider.com

?I Am a Loser? Contest

How would you like to loose a few pounds? Well we are having a “I Am a Loser” contest to help jump start some healthy living. Join the men of the podcast (Doug, Josh, and Matt) as they embark on 12 week challenge to loose a few pounds. Here are the rules:

1. Weigh-in on Friday, December 4, 2009 (Or, if you?re not going to the SYM Conference, you can weigh in anywhere from December 4-7)
2. Send two photos of (1) scale weight and (2) ?before? photo of yourself
3. Contest will run 12 weeks, ending on Friday February 26th (first night of Simply Youth Ministry Conference for those attending. For those not attending, contest ends 12 weeks after weigh-in date)
4. The winners will be the ones with the greatest percentage of weight lost at the end of 12 weeks.
5. Prizes to be announced soon (to those entering contest)
6. Weight loss coaching available from Matthew McNutt (current youth pastor and former Biggest Loser contestant who lost 170 pounds?see www.matthewmcnutt.com )
7. Send both photos (with weigh in date) to Iamaloser@simplyinsider.com.

You need to hurry because you need to weigh-in by Dec 7, and the prizes will be great.

If you’d like to watch the podcast episode about the rules, watch HERE.

Please join us!

simplykurt.com

Random Randomness

A few totally unrelated thoughts:

- Tiger Woods: Sadly, lots of people have marriages that are in trouble and lots of people contribute to, or respond to, their marriage trouble by having an affair. And for most people, they get to navigate all the ramifications in private. I really wish we would let Tiger and other public figures do the same. He messed up…but why are the details any of my business?

- Token Tiger Woods Joke: “Apparently, he drives an SUV the same way he drives agolf ball…into the trees.” Of course, the irony isn’t lost that the only reason I can pass that joke along is due to his problems being aired in public.

- President Obama: In the interest of full disclosure; I didn’t vote for Barack Obama primarily because I just wasn’t convinced that he had enough experience for the most important, most stressful (note the increase in grey hairs already on his head!) job in the world. And, in my humble opinnion, his charisma, youth and oratory skills allowed him to hide his inexperience. Bottom line is that I’m not sure our President has ample leadership experience, and it seems like watching him navigate health care and the war(s) we find ourselves in are bearing this out. BTW, I’m not convinced John McCain would have been any better. My feelings are that men/women who serve in the senate don’t typically have enough exposure to the types of decisions and leadership scenarios a president faces. I’m certainly not like [...]

youthministrygeek.com

Extending the Life of an Aging Computer

My main computer that I use for all my day to day work is pushing 3 years old, and it’s really starting to show it’s age. I realize that 3 years doesn’t sound like that long, but it’s the longest I’ve used a computer since the 386 I built my freshmen year of college. But in these economic times I’m sure most of us aren’t able to replace our computers as often as we would like. I find myself in a constant battle in keeping mine from crashing and losing hours of work. I’m sure I’m not the only one, but is there anything we can do that can help prolong the life of our aging machines? Here are a few things that I have found that has helped:

1. Hardware Upgrades: Sometimes over time we can develop some hardware problems that are easy to tackle ourselves. Two upgrades we can do that make a huge difference are RAM and Harddrive. If you find your aging computer slowing down, make sure you have the maximum amount of RAM your computer can handle. If you don’t know the maximum amount for your machine head over to Crucial.com, and run their memory scanner and they will tell you how much your computer can take. You can also buy the upgrade from them, and their prices are some of the best around. Another upgrade that can make a [...]

simplyurbanministry.com

Soul Food! If you love yourself, feed yourself!!!

collegeministrythoughts.com

Holiday Connection

Over Thanksgiving you may have connected with some students who came home for the holiday. If you were able to do so those times could’ve been great…or a bit awkward. And, maybe you weren’t able to connect. The time is often short and filled with family traditions…and any time with friends they could fit in during their short stay at home.

But, winter break is usually different. They’ll have up to a month at home. And even if they hold a job back at school, they’ll likely have a couple weeks or so. That to say, connecting with them during this time is more probable. Plus, most are looking forward to just being at home and doing “nothing.” About this time of the year they’re overwhelmed by the end of the semester, papers being due, and finals coming up. But the light at the end of the tunnel is that break at home.

So, this is a great time to connect with them. But there are some things we need to be aware of and one in particular – potential relational awkwardness. So, I recently wrote a little article on some things to keep in mind when we’re re-connecting with students over the break. For that article, click here.

marriedtoayouthpastor.com

God runs through it!