Jeff Ferguson

Super Bowl Takeaways

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 07:51:13 -0600

Every year the Super Bowl takes on a different identity. The ironic thing is that this has almost nothing to do with the two teams playing in the Super Bowl. It seems to be that the conversations come Monday morning center around the commercials and the halftime entertainment. Let me share with you some of my Super Bowl takeaways from 2010.

1. So the theme this year for the commercials was underwear? I saw a few commercials back to back where people were walking around in their underwear. Before you go and youtube it, let me remind you that they were mostly middle aged overweight men in these commercials. One had them walking around in a field together. I have never tried this before, but I am sure this resulted in a pretty severe case of chiggers.
2. The Who? I am not going to take credit for these next few statements. They definitely speak for themselves. During the game this guy tweeted these statements. “The Who halftime show felt more like a Saturday Night Live skit than a halftime show, man that was flat.” “I’m not a Who hater. I think they were amazing in the mid to late 1970s.” “How great would it have been if girls as old as the Who were dancing on stage during the show? 65 year olds getting down.” Enough said!
3. I missed the Tim Tebow commercial! Actually...I thought I missed it. I tuned out and started talking to someone next to me once it looked like an e-harmony commercial. I actually watched it later online and felt pretty bad that I dismissed it. I am sure all of the naysayers surrounding the commercial were happy since the message seemed to be lost in the midst of other more engaging commercials. I expected something totally different. It was definitely not worth all of the hype!
4. “Even though you feel like throwing something and saying things at the TV you wouldn’t be proud of remember that students are watching you...you are their pastor...act like you are happy for the saints even though you are not...be a gracious loser even though you’re not...don’t let your students see your emotion...besides you have a baby in your hands...don’t drop her!” This is what I thought when Peyton Manning through the interception to seal the game for the Saints. For those literary types reading this, I don’t think the MLA handbook has strict guidelines about punctuating thoughts. My thoughts often have very poor punctuation.

There you have it. Some of my thoughts concerning the 2010 Super Bowl. I look forward to next year. What were some of yours?

Talking Less and Listening More

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 09:17:58 -0600

I have really been challenged to talk less and listen more. To be more specific, in my prayer time every morning I feel God telling me to stop talking so much and just listen. So as a result, I am just going to post something that stood out to me as I was reading my Bible this morning. It is a “well known” scripture to be sure. Nonetheless, it is powerful. Here it is with absolutely no commentary from me. My prayer is that you would think about these words and let God speak to you through them apart from your daily distractions.

“May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”
Psalms 19:14 NLT

Dug Down Deep

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:45:48 -0600

Joshua Harris was responsible for single handedly ruining many a youth group relationship. When a girl in our church started reading “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” that was the beginning of the end of her relationship with her boyfriend. Needless to say, most of my friends didn’t sign up for the Joshua Harris fan club. I believe the year was 1996 and I have grown up since then.

On a serious note, his latest book called, “Dug Down Deep” is an excellent read for anyone wanting to go deeper in their faith. Joshua takes the reader through the process of how he came to know God on a deeper level than ever before. He talks about how theology and doctrine are not things that should only be discussed in stuffy lecture halls, but things that can actually help someone dig down to the truth so that they can build their lives on a real knowledge of God. This is a must for anyone wanting to live authentic Christianity. Anything other than true orthodoxy according to Harris is empty ritual. This is what many people experience and why they do not live their lives on a solid foundation.

“What makes it difficult for us to see the truth about God, I think, isn’t his overwhelming immensity but our overwhelming self-centeredness...Instead of looking through the window of God’s self-revelation and seeing him, we find it easier to admire our own reflection or to place on him the constraints of our own existence. We judge him by our standards of justice, fairness, power, and mercy. We even measure his greatness by our own ideals of greatness.” This is one of my favorite quotes in the book and reflects just a little of what the rest of the book is like.

I would highly recommend getting this book. It challenges your faith and forces you to dig just a little deeper than what you may have in the past.

To purchase the book, you can click on the following links.

Random House
WaterBrook Multnomah
Amazon

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

To Save A Life

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:32:48 -0600

I just wanted to put something on the radar that you will want to see. To Save A Life opens in theaters this Friday. This movie is about a student in High School who is moved to action by a sudden tragedy. Jake Taylor...a popular teenager with a bright future who has basically everything he wants begins to ask the question, “What do I want my life to be about.” This question leads him on a journey to reach out to the outcasts and the lonely on his school campus. These actions begin to cost him his place in the social hierarchy of his world. Through this he begins to realize what his life has been about up until this moment.

I have not seen the movie but I have heard nothing but good things from those who have previewed it. I would encourage you to go and see it. From all accounts this could be a must see movie!

The Male Factor

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:32:46 -0600

“The Male Factor” written by Shaunti Feldhahn was released today. Shaunti is the author of the popular “Only” series that I have found in many Christian bookstores.

The book focuses on the unwritten rules, misperceptions, and secret beliefs of men in the workplace. After much research and thousands of interviews the author exposes eye opening facts about how men approach the workplace and how many women unintentionally shoot themselves in the foot because they are not aware of the unwritten rules of the business world. There are many talented women in the work force today. However, some of this talent can be overshadowed by how women communicate in the workplace. Feldhahn seeks to inform women how they may be perceived so that their full potential can be realized. Some of the chapters include...

• “It’s Not Personal; It’s Business”: Two Different Worlds, Two Different Laws of Gravity
• The “Natural Laws” of the Working World
• “She’s Crying--What Do I Do?” How Men View Emotions in the Workplace
• The Little Things That Drive Men Crazy

Throughout these chapters there is so much information and insight that I found myself constantly amazed by what I was reading. Even though this book was generally written to inform women, I found myself learning things that I didn’t really know. I had assumed that both men and women knew all the rules of the working world. Was I ever wrong! I would recommend anyone to read this book who truly wants to communicate effectively to the opposite sex. There is so much to learn in this area. There is a lot of research in this book but it is packaged in such a way that is also interesting.

To purchase the book, you can click on the following links.

Random House
WaterBrook Multnomah
Amazon

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.