In light of yesterday’s post, I highly recommend this book.  Although this resource is not exhaustive and it does not cover everything, it is a helpful tool in processing what it takes to be a spiritual leader in your home.

I have enjoyed the past two days at home (on vacation) as a part of Warren’s Spring Break.  It’s been quite nice being around the house a for a few days.  Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the Nashville Zoo.  It was the perfect day for being outside, and we had a ball.

Today we have an afternoon meeting with the Wesleyan Publishing House.  Tomorrow I will be at the PCPA Conference (Protestant Christian Publishers Conference) here in Nashville.  It’s essentially a meeting with other Denominational houses to discuss common themes in our ministry & operation as well as to learn from one another.

Friday and Saturday I will be attending the Connecting Church and Home Conference in Brentwood, TN.  In many respects, this event is a lot like D6, just much smaller.  They even have two speakers who will also be sharing at the D6 Conference.  I look forward to this event and to making many new relationships/contacts.  I hope that in some way I can be enriched and that D6 can also make a contribution to the ongoing conversation at this event.

I traveled to the Youth Pastors Summit this week in Orlando (Jay Strack event) and had a great time representing the D6 Conference and Randall House.  After the event I spent a day with some Youth Pastor friends talking about relevant challenges in local church ministry.  Some of the highlights from my time in Orlando were:

• rooming with Allen Pointer and getting to catch up…great conversations
• listening to real challenges that youth pastors face in working with Sr. Pastors
• watching Steve Greenwood’s video!
• talking with student ministers about the D6 Conference, D6 Devotional Magazines, and C2 DVDs
• listening to Steve Greenwood & Alan Hines talk about Elements Children’s Church Curriculum (NEW  from Randall House – Releasing September 09)
• late night double-cheeseburger at Waffle House with Tommy, Steven, and James
• listening to Francis Chan speak for the first time
• trying to figure out the “now what” after listening to Chan speak…this made for some great conversation
• talking about Crazy Love

Going to the YP Summit was a blessing…and being able to listen, share and learn from my youth pastor friends was incredible.  I look forward to next year.

A few people asked me yesterday what we decided from our trip last week, so I thought I’d send out an update. 

We are praying hard (and have been) over which venue The D6 Conference will be held within.  However at this point we do not have anything new to release. Hopefully by the end of the week we will be able to make an announcement.  Please pray with us that God continues to guide us with his unending wisdom.

On another note, my meeting with Neal and David of Dave Ramsey’s office went well yesterday.  I always enjoy my time with Dave’s team members.  They have a solid team that is proud to work for/with him. They were impressed by the D6 Conference Promo Video and are excited about the event…there was some definite synergy in the room after the video. After seeing the promo piece, they are now excited to show it to Dave.  We are thankful for our working relationship with their world changing organization.

We will be in touch.

I just read a wonderful write-up on the new CEO of Zondervan, Moe Girkins.  She seems like a wonderful leader.  The web post on her was well written and placed together nicely.  However, I would like to point out one item.

About a quarter of the way through the I read this quote from Moe’s Mother “I didn’t send you to all that school so you could stay home and have babies.”

Obviously Moe is quite gifted.  God has a plan for her and I assume this new role at the big Z is a part of that plan.  I would even like to meet her one day to learn more about her journey.  

I just think that it’s appropriate to point out that many mothers do have extensive education, executive leadership roles, and a wide range of influence in the corporate world and still choose to give it up to be a mother (exclusively).  I don’t want to imagine a world where this doesn’t happen.  

I found some of Moe’s remarks near the end of the article quite interesting.  Especially this one where she is reflecting on a time where she was in between executive positions in her career: ”In the winter of 1999, I went to 120 basketball games,” she says. “It was the most fun I had in my life. To be there, and be there for every minute of it, was a gift. I wouldn’t have figured this out if I were working full time.”

I also realize that not every family can do the “one income thing.”  Some people just don’t have that choice and have to have both parents working, and many single moms work just to survive. I know a few ladies at Randall House who are also in this position.  

If I am going to have a blog, than I should keep up with it. I have certainly failed at this the last two months. I’d love to give you an elaborate excuse about all of the projects and traveling and everything else that I have had my hands in. Although that may explain part of my situation, it still doesn’t excuse it.

With that behind me, take a look at this.

Recently we signed a deal to publish a product for Michael W. Smith and Seabourne Pictures (Michael’s feature film company) called C2: Giving Movies a Second Look. This is a product that is designed for Small Groups, Youth Groups and Young Adult Groups, etc. In our efforts to creatively and effectively get the message out, we did something a little interesting. You can learn about it by listening to Doug Fields, Simply Youth Ministry podcast (which is  apparently an award winning podcast with about 2.3 Billion listeners…that’s about 1/3 of the planet…can you believe that!

http://content.simplyyouthministry.com/podcast/082.mp3

About 5 minutes into the podcast, just after the spandex, it gets pretty funny.

Hope you enjoy!

Randall House is releasing a new resource in early March that will help Churches and Families: the D6 Family Website. The purpose of the D6 Family website is to inform and inspire dads and moms to be the D6 Parents they need to be. A D6 Parent is a mom or a dad that takes responsibility and leads their children spiritually in the home. Much more info will be coming about this website, but let me tell you briefly about two key, free resources that will be available.

D6 Stories – We are all faced with opportunities in life to seize a teachable moments with our children as they arise. D6 moms and dads even create and plan these opportunities. We call these moments D6 Stories. You probably have one, or two, or seventeen D6 Stories tucked away in that head of yours. The cool thing is, they can be uploaded to the D6 website so you can share them with the world via Video, Blog or Podcast. Many of these are funny, and all are inspiring. We can’t wait for you to see them and for you to be able to contribute.

Splink – Simple ways to connect your family together. We have been working on Splink for months, but we just gave it a name last week. One of our Star members came up with this brilliant name (if we do say so ourselves), and it truly defines what a Splink can do for your family. Essentially, a Splink is a simple, spiritual link. Looking for a way to talk to your kids about creation, grace, sin, redemption, transformation, Romans 8:28? The list is endless.  This kind of interaction will strengthen your relationship with your kids. The point is, we will provide a free weekly email resource that will go out to families across the world that choose to subscribe to Splink. In this email you will have 8 Splinks to choose from to use through out the week. Use all 8 Splinks if you choose, or just use one or two. Let this be a helpful resource to connect your family (or the families of your church) together. BTW, all of these Splinks will be archived on the D6 Family Website so you will be able to search for additional ideas as well.

That’s it for now. Be looking for the D6 Family Website in early March. More details will be coming soon!

Wow…that was probably one of the best movies, I had never heard of.

We just stopped of at Red Box and picked up this Fox Faith title The Ultimate Gift and we were pleasantly surprised. Jason, the self-centered leading character in the film is in-line for the largest share of his grandfathers inheritance. However, instead of receiving a lump sum check, he is actually in store for a life changing journey that challenges and shapes his character.

Great drama. Well written. Well casted. Funny. And I shed the appropriate amount of tears!

Refreshing entertainment. I highly recommend this film. Fox Faith…keep it commin’.

Two weeks ago, Randall House and exhibited at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, GA. We lead with our D6 campaign and our Devotional Magazines for the whole family. It was a huge hit, if I do say so myself. The interest level was high. D6 has struck a cord with the Church…personally I think it’s because the need is so huge. Tomorrow we head to San Diego for the 2007 National Youth Workers Conference (Youth Specialties).

We plan to build many new relationships and to share our Teen Magazines with hundreds of potential first time customers. It is so easy to take for granted what we have. I am so familiar with our products…both of my boys use CLEAR Devos and I use one as well. The thing is, tons (literally) of Christians out there do not have a Bible Study resource or a daily devotional tool.

Youth Pastors and youth workers are looking for resources to help plug their students into the Word, and we have a tool that can help. We are honored and excited to have the opportunity to go and share with these potential customers. Each time we go to an event like this we always get to hear comments like “I have been looking for something like this” or “I didn’t realize there were resources like this out there…and you have one for each age level, and they all study the same Bible theme together!” It is encouraging when you can supply a customer with a resource that connects their students to God.

We will be sharing:

Explorers Guide II – Our Devotional Magazine for 4th, 5th and 6th graders

CLEAR Direction Devotional and Bible Study Magazine - for 7th and 8th graders

CLEAR Horizon Devotional and Bible Study Magazine – for 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th graders

If I don’t catch you in San Diego, maybe some of my buddies will see you at the Atlanta event coming up in November. I better get some sleep…

Back in March, Randall House held it’s annual vision retreat…but with a different twist. Six pastors were invited to answer questions, give feedback, share about their needs, and give suggestions about Randall House products and resources. The results? Amazing…remarkable in fact. We learned a lot about the current needs of pastors. So much, that we decided to take this show on the road.
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