Carie and I love to play the game Boggle.  Okay, I love to play the game Boggle and Carie tolerates it. So I got this idea.  What about seeing who in the Martyholman.com world would win in a big nasty internet game of BLOGGLE – or the art of playing the game Boggle on my blog.  So here are the rules:

*Be the player with the highest score card at the end of a 3 minute time period.  Please keep your own time and be honest.  You score by listing words of the highest point value you can find in the four rows of letters. 

*You’ll just need to go back and forth between the comment section of this page and the letters and type your found words as a comment.

*Letters in words must always connect, although they can connect in any way possible (back and forth, up or down, etc…)

*Proper nouns (Smith, Ohio, France, Heinz, etc…) and abbreviations are not allowed.

*Point values  3 letters=1; 4 letters=1; 5 letters =2; 6 letters=3; 7 letters=5; 8 or more letters=11

*Don’t look at the other peoples answers who might have played before you!

*3 MINUTES ONLY; Be honest.

Todays Cube:

L   I   U   T
A  E   E   U
G  I   O   T
N  A  H   F

Here we go!

Sometime in 2005 I took a test to find out what my strengths were.  I found that my top 5 were as follows: 1.  Ideator, 2.  Positivity, 3.  Connectedness, 4.  Competition, 5.  Developer

I noticed as several of my friends took the same test that several of us had one of those in common.  Out of the 7 people I know that took the test, 5 of them had connectedness as a strength.
Some qualitites of someone with this strength – “That I gain confidence from knowing that we are not isolated from one another or from the earth and the life on it;  I am part of a larger picture, and I must not harm others because I will harm myself;  and I am a bridge builder between people of different cultures.”

Enter the beauty of web 2.0 to people like me. 
I’m not a fan of compartmentalizing my life.  I like things, whether it’s people in my life or web sites I go to, to all be connected to one another.  This makes my mom and google both very happy.

How does this affect me?
I like it when my family and my friends and all the people in my life meet.  What makes this interesting is when they don’t get along.  I think everyone should get along.  Not like each other, just get along.

I like using google and itunes.  My friend Clay swears against itunes, and probably rightfully so, but I like when things connect together easily, so I use it.  I know, I know Clay, I sacrifice things to use itunes.  Google connects a lot of things in my web life, like my Calendar, my way to find where I might be going, my blog reader, my connect with Fellowship Church podcasts, and even my weather, not to mention my documents (I don’t have to pay for Microsoft office again!)

Weather

Holden, MA

58°F
Cloudy
Wind: N at 0 mph
Humidity: 84%

Today

74° | 54
Fri

74° | 58°

Sat

79° | 61°

Sun

76° | 61°

I like learning from anything or anyone.  Whether it’s a great pastor, a marketing expert,
or a book that gets me thinking.  This is probably why I fare better in New England than I
might have in the midwest.

I don’t like to keep people that are an important part of my life apart from each other. 

I think that there is a terrific connection between Don Miller’s “Blue like Jazz”, Vince Antonucci’s
“I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy T-shirt“, and Gregg Easterbrook’s “The
Progress Paradox”

What can I say, I like being connected.  Do you?

This has been a cultural post with Randy Elrod’s Watercooler Wednesday in mind.

This just about says it all.

Okay, nothing like a Wednesday afternoon Quiz. 

Today’s topic:  U2

In your humble opinion, what’s U2′s best song?

I thought of a lot of things.  I thought of the times my dad used to turn on the television on Sunday afternoons and we’d watch the Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish dominate everything that moved on the old parquet floor of the Boston Garden.  I thought of the times immediately after when I’d run outside, pretending I was their point guard Dennis Johnson (I was pretty short as a child) and dribbling through orange cones and chairs and anything else that could defend me.  I thought of the countless number of times that I would go out as a young teenager and practice my turn around jumper ala Larry Bird, or my baby hook ala Robert and Kevin (I had grown a bit at that point).  I thought of the Wheaties box I bought the first week I moved to Massachusetts – July 9, 1998 – with a commemorative picture of Bird on it.  I have yet to open it.

I also thought of the playoffs in 2002 when Pierce and Walker took the C’s to the semifinals, and I would sit in my pastor’s house and watch the games over chinese food and ice cream with Lonnie and Ruth Snell.  They almost did it then, but they definitely were not the best team, and typically in the NBA, the best team wins.  Ironically enough, that year Shaq and Koby were the leaders of the best team, the Lakers.
And then I thought about what Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers must have gone through last year.  The worst team in the league.  The joke – and they were a joke – of this great professional sports area.  To bring your team from that to win the world championship is a feat that not many people’s psyche would have allowed.  But quitting, losing, and ultimate defeat were words that were not even in the dictionary when Ainge pulled off the trades that would ultimately bring them to win it all.  Not just bringing in Allen and Garnett, but also Posey, House, and Brown, and still made them a team, something even this Celtics fan denied could happen in a year.
“Two years, maybe, but I’d give it three, and even then, the new “big three” will probably be showing their age too much to win a championship.”
And then last night happened, as the Celtics destroyed the Lakers in a fitting end to their dominant year, and as I sat with my friends, some old friends, some new, (A shout out to Jay, Al, Steve bramlett, Jon, and Ben inserted here) I thought about this moment,and I thought about what it takes to be a champion.
It takes a team, committed to something more than personal glory, committed to something more than a “me first” mentality, to show up on a regular basis, and admit in their action, I will do what it takes to accomplish the task at hand.
That’s what I want to be a part of, and the vision may be different for me (no trophies for this one), but the end result wil be so much more satisfying.  To see people connect into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.  And I love the team I get to accomplish this goal with.

What’s your Championship?

This post was written with Randy Elrod’s Watercooler Wednesday in mind.

Relevant Magazine has asked several religious leaders (most of whom I highly respect, specifically NT Wright) about their views on homosexuality and the church.  Here is the article should you be interested in reading it.

Your thoughts?

John 15:13
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Depending on who you are, you like to be in certain kinds of relationships.  You’ve probably said or heard things like this:
“I like having lots of good friends who I can be around all the time”  or
“I only have a few very close friends, who I share my life with” or
“Wow, I hate people, and especially you Marty.”  (please don’t say this, as I would be greatly upset)

Your relationships make up the person you are, and this is not a bad thing, but no matter which one of these (preferably not the last) you are, let me challenge you to go beyond a cultural mandate and do what people don’t expect of you.
For instance, the first statement is where I live.  I used to have tons of friends, and none of these relationships were very deep.  Then a friend challenged me on this, and I “worked on it” – developing closer ties to individuals.

“sorry, she doesn’t count in this question, but she can cook up a storm.”

Or if you are one of those people who have a few close friends (not counting your computer, your mom, or a bottle of Jack Daniels), it might be worth going outside of your comfort zone to reach out to more people.

How do you like your relationships cooked?

I just had lunch with this guy, who pastors the First Congregational Church in Hopkinton, Mass.  It was a great lunch and I learned a lot just by chatting with him for a short while.  He has a lot more experience than I do, and I was able to pick his brain about ministry in the great territory of New England. 

Do you have people that you’ve met in your line of work or through a hobby that you might have that help you do what you do and do it better?

This week, Fellowship Church continued the church (small c) wide series “One Prayer” with 1493 other churches and 849, 036 people (at last count).  We represent a small portion of that numerically, but I feel like our church is coming together to pray and to fellowship in ways that I could have never imagined.  I’m so excited about the direction of “the FC” and how our people are stepping to become part of the “One church” God wants us to be.

This week’s service is one I won’t forget for a long time, from beginning to end, as there just seemed to be a spirit of humility and unity in the entire room.  I can’t of course speak for everyone, but I’m just sharing my perception of the morning.  I spoke on my “one prayer” for the church-at-large – “God, make us lead.”  I thought I would share my outline with you in this post, in case you missed it or were interested.  Later I’ll share the podcast.

“Make us lead”

“Leadership is not reserved for those in position power. The leader is the one who cares most about the mission or endeavor.”- by someone.

Our mission – “To lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

How do I make other people want to lead?  Dont teach them bullet points, or that it’s cool to lead, teach them to care with all their hearts about “Leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.”

As a church, what I want for us is to be successful at our mission, “to LEAD”

To lead is to care.  This is not about personality!

If you don’t “care” about your (Family, job, time, finances) someone will “care” (lead) for you.

My testimony – Good kid.  Went to Christian school, Christian college, bought Christian t-shirts, and I didn’t care.

The story of Samson, the judge who God had a purpose for, but didn’t care.

Hebrews 12:1a - 

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith,

Sexual sin
Pride
greed,
gossip

And then there are the things that probably aren’t sin, but just hold us up.  What are those things in your life?

“sin takes you farther than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and costs more than you want to pay.”

 “And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

 Hupomones – “the characteristic of a person who is not swerved from his or her deliberate purpose and his or her loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.”

I’m afraid for some the hardships are too hard and the discipline it takes to follow Christ is too great, and so we’re not willing.

Hebrews 12:5-11
“No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening!”
We have to be willing to overcome. Willing to go through adversity. (email 1)

Usually what we do is complain, gossip, and worry. 

“People become our heroes because they fight through things and overcome circumstances, not because they’re glorious.”

Become somebodys hero!

and here’s how we do that (run with endurance), the writer of Hebrews says,
“by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.”

 So this is how the author finishes the thought in Hebrews 12:12,13

 12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those follow you, the weak and lame, will not fall but become strong.

Because what you do will be effects those people who follow you – your kids, your friends, your loved ones.

1.  Heroes seem to be in the right place at the right time.
2.  Heroes fight through adversity.
3.  Heroes don’t have to tell everyone what they did.
4.   Heroes work on it, or they stop becoming heroes

 Become somebodys hero!

 Here’s what this looks like for the church - creating environments for people that are relevant and focused for people to connect and grow in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

How you can be a part:
Do what you can do.
Build real community in the life of your church.  (why I believe in small groups)
care about the mission.

I don’t even want to waste words writing a review on “The Happening“, the worst movie I’ve ever seen in a theater, so I’ll let you read this extremely accurate synopsis of the movie.  I loved the first four M. Night Shamalayan films (Sixth sense, Unbreakable, etc…), but this latest movie actually will put a stop to my movie going for the rest of the year.  It was that bad!  If you’re going to be a self-promotor, (written, produced, and directed by ME!!!) you might as well give yourself a good name, because that is rather to be chosen than great riches.

Goodbye and Good M. Night!