Teleos

New Location

2010-05-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

My blog has moved over to a new location on tumblr.com:

http://joshbollen.tumblr.com/

I won't be updating this blog anymore, so head over there to stay in touch!

Josh

Ollie Crawling

2010-01-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

So a few days ago Oliver began his long journey of travelling under his own power. That's right . . . he learned how to crawl! It's still a little bit more of a scoot than a crawl, but he is still on his way to becoming fully mobile!

I captured a short video of his second day of crawling on my iphone you can check it out:

I'm still amazed at how much growth I see in him every single day. It seems like there is something new he is doing everyday that makes him seem older and less like a little infant. Karyss and I are just trying to soak these moments in as much as we can.

New Adventure

2009-09-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

This last week marked the beginning of a new adventure for Karyss and I. It is both scary and exciting! As most of you know, I have been on staff at Central Christian Church since June 2007 in the high school ministries. We love being a part of a ministry that is reaching a city that desperately needs Christ!!

Two weeks ago, Central launched a new service on Wednesday nights called Weekends on Wednesdays. It's really geared towards those people who work on the weekends (which is a lot of people in Las Vegas!)

What's really cool is that they asked me to lead worship for that service! So starting last week I began to lead and work with the team on Wednesday nights to really make that a great experience for anyone who is able to be there. My prayer is that this would not just be another service option for people, but that it would reach a whole new group of people that were not able to be a part of the weekend experience at Central.

The turnout and energy has been great so far, and I know God has big plans for this service and I'm so excited to be able to participate in it!

I will continue to be a part of the high school team at Central during the week as well as the weekends working with student teams to make that experience a great one for students in Las Vegas.

It's really an exciting time for Karyss, Ollie, and I!! We just wanted to give everyone a quick update!

Forgotten God

2009-08-25T23:10:00.001-07:00

Just read the introduction to Francis Chan's new book "Forgotten God" and I'm already nervous. The tag line of the book is "reversing our tragic neglect of the Holy Spirit." I'm nervous because I know that my intellectual understanding of the Holy Spirit as well as my experiencing Him is ... Hmmmm....lacking. Just from the intro I know Francis will be bold and clear and that pumps me up.

I know this isn't quite as easy a conversation as church production, but I know there are a lot of very different and very STRONG opinions and beliefs about the Holy Spirit out there and I would love to hear your thoughts/interpretations/experiences.

Interesting Conversation

2009-08-24T10:30:00.001-07:00

So, last week I wrote just a little note on facebook that sparked a great discussion about production in churches and the line between magnifying the "message" or the "vehicle of the message." My friend Sam and I went back and forth a little bit, and I would love to see if anyone else would like to chime their opinion into the conversation.

The particular production we were talking about was the Hillsong song "With Everything." You can watch the youtube video here.

So . . . I would love to hear your thoughts. This production (lights, video, live video stuff) is obviously VERY involved, but I would love to know where you stand.

Organizing for Control vs. Growth

2009-07-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

The Senior Leader at my church said this a few months ago, "You can organize for control or you can organize for growth. You can't organize for both!"

How true and difficult that statement is. I find that organizing for control is much easier than organizing for growth. In fact, that statement "organize for growth" is a little bit vague.

Control is easy. You run it, you call the shots, you are responsible for failures and successes, you do everything. It requires no leadership because you are DOING everything.

Growth is difficult. What does it look like to organize for growth? Is it a lack of control? Is it the opposite of organizing for control? Does it mean things are OUT of control? To be honest with you, I still don't really know. I believe that one of the elements of organizing for growth is trust. To release control, I must trust others to control. I must trust that other people will have the ability to carry out whatever I would normally do on my own. Organizing for growth requires an infinite amount of leadership. I will never be a good enough leader for my "organization" to cease growing and improving. If I stop growing as a leader, I believe whatever I am leading will also stop growing.

These are merely random thoughts that I am dealing with today. Anyone else have thoughts on how to organize for growth vs. control?

long leave

2009-06-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

it's been a long time all ye who read my blog . . . and I'm back. I got to connect with Rich from RKWeblog this weekend at Central and it was awesome! He is the one who convinced me to start blogging when we were at Re:create a few years ago and hanging for a bit has re-inspired me. Here is a quick update on my life:

karyss had a baby
he is amazing
his name is Oliver
we call him Ollie
got to take 2 wks off
it was amazing
he is now 5 wks old and the best thing that has ever happened to us
family/friends have been in town for 4 of 5 wks
it's been amazing
it's also been exhausting
We appreciate our parents now more than ever
I took a trip to LA to serve the homeless with Resonate
missed my family like crazy
but it was an amazing week!
we're still in Vegas
it's hot!
power bill is expensive . . . REALLY expensive

And now we are to today
caught back up
good friends again
it's like we never left each other

YouVersion 2.0

2009-04-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

Just discovered my new favorite Bible study website! I've heard people talking about it, but I never checked it out until this morning. I saw it on Chris' blog . . . thanks Chris!

YouVersion 2.0 was released on Friday. This great resource from LifeChurch.tv just continues to get better and better. Here are several links for more information.

Catalyst West | Perry Noble #2

2009-04-29T00:08:00.000-07:00

This post, along with the others titled "Catalyst West," is a way for me to process and record as much as I can about what I learned at that conference. Here is a brief explanation.

I could probably write all night long about what Perry Noble said at Catalyst, but here was another great nugget that had immediate impact on my life.

Perry talked about the struggle of knowing what to do next when it comes to God's plan and vision for your life. The thing that I struggle with, and I think many of us do, is the unknown and what to do "next." I struggle with it so much that I overlook the NOW while I'm looking for the NEXT. I lose sight of the task at hand and the current vision that God has given me because I'm worried about choosing the right path for the next time.

I loved this quote: "Do what I've told you to do, then I'll tell you what to do." - GOD

Do what God has lain out before me now . . . then he'll tell me what to do next. Not only is this completely common sense, but it is also one of the most freeing concepts.

These past few months have been difficult for my wife and financially, they have for everyone. But I've spent so much time being consumed with how I can provide for my family that I lost sight of how God wanted to use me. Now, I need to be careful because I want to emphasize that I need to work my butt off to provide for my family, but I was letting that consume my life. I lost sight of what God wanted from me NOW because I was too concerned about LATER.

Catalyst West | Perry Noble #1

2009-04-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

This post, along with the others titled "Catalyst West," is a way for me to process and record as much as I can about what I learned at that conference. Here is a brief explanation.

If there was one moment at Catalyst that stood out to me it was the second half of Perry Noble's talk at the end of the conference. He was talking about the size of the vision that we receive from God. He gave three reasons that we don't realize that vision in our lives. One of them stood out to me and has been ringing in my head ever since:

"I am obsessed with being noticed, not with being developed."

When he said that line I almost cringed. It was convicting thinking about how much time I've spent these past few months worrying more about people noticing what I'm doing than facilitating development in my life.

How much have I missed out on what God has for me because I'm more concerned about what God has for ME than who God wants me TO BE for him?

That is changing now . . . I can say that with honesty. These posts are actually part of my plan to facilitate growth and development in my spiritual life, along with reading every Andy Stanley book I can get my hands on! (more on Andy coming later)

Catalyst West Programming

2009-04-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well, it would be hard to talk about all the creative program elements without being able to show any, so I thought I would just point out one of the best ones. One of the speakers was Guy Kawasaki who used to work for Apple in the 80s. My guess is they used that for inspiration to create this hilarious video . . . a commercial for the iBible.

Check it out here!

Catalyst West

2009-04-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

Over the next few days/weeks I'm going to be processing some of the things that I learned from the amazing two day leadership conference called Catalyst West. I was truly blessed to be able to go and experience what turned out to be an incredibly inspiring weekend!! Jud Wilhite, the senior pastor at Central was the host for the entire conference and did an awesome job! It was so cool to see him up there . . . it definitely brought a sense of pride.

There was a group of us from the student team that were able to go and be a part of the experience. One of the best parts of the entire week was just being able to hang out with those guys. There was no meeting agenda, event to promote, numbers to count, or services to plan. We were just able to relax, eat, hang out, and be led. Anyways, I'll leave it at that for now and continue to write about what I learned.

These posts are mostly for me to process and put on "paper" my thoughts, but I hope that they bring some insight and encouragement to anyone who may read them. Feel free to comment, ask questions, challenge my thinking, or add insight to what you may see or read.

You know you're an adult when . . .

2009-03-31T22:06:00.000-07:00

So I'm starting to feel the pressure of becoming an adult. It's exciting, but difficult for me. I realize that a lot of responsibility comes with this! So I thought I would share this list with you so that you too can know when you are becoming an adult.

Here are the top ten signs that you are growing from "young adulthood" to just plain "adulthood"

10 - you get a cat because they are such little work, but still a sign of maturity (kinda)

9 - You get a dog of your own because you realize how boring and stupid cats are. You also think you are responsible enough for this, but not responsible enough for a kid.

8 - You get a Costco membership

7 - You use your costco membership to buy more than mac & cheese and soda (I'm talking the frozen chicken, fruit, toothpaste, movie tickets, make-up, gas for your car . . . as you all know, the list goes on)

6 - You spend more time going through the coupons in the news paper than actually shopping at the grocery store (but it's worth it!)

5 - You get excited about buying furniture for your house

4 - You get even more excited about buying furniture from a garage sale and talking the guy down to less than half of the original price

3 - Dave Ramsey becomes the 13th apostle and you follow his every word (because it works people!!)

2 - Having a kid becomes exciting and not AS scary as it used to be

1 - You stop talking about putting other people above yourself, and you actually start living that way.

Ok . . . maybe this is just my list, not everyone's (minus the cat, I would never in any situation agree to have a cat).

Anyone else feeling like they are growing up??

Summer Noise Project

2009-03-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday the High School team at Central took a quick day trip out to Los Angeles to check out our summer Noise Project location. It was a great trip that really opened our eyes! We are going through a great organization called CSM. They have been in LA for 21 years now. What I love about them is that they partner with other existing organizations in the city to give support, and also to build into the students that come and serve. We are taking 100 students this summer to the heart of South Central and Watts to serve on Skid Row and other "notorious" locations in LA.

CSM does a great job of breaking down the cultural walls between the students and the city by immersing the students in the culture in every way possible. Like I said, we will be staying in South Central and Watts, two heavily gang controlled neighborhoods. Also, every night the students will eat at a different ethnic restaurant . . . Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, Korean, and the list goes on.

It is obvious that CSM has two equal passions, the City/the students. I am so excited about seeing myself grow on this trip as well as seeing our students grow!!

2009-03-04T17:27:00.000-08:00

Just joined the TWLOHA Street Team! Great organization that I totally support. Check out their website and join the street team!

Single Ladies Vid

2009-02-24T16:50:00.000-08:00

Another great Central Video . . . kind of.

This one is much lower quality, but we showed it in our student environments. The girl who plays Beyonce is one of our high school leaders and the other people are the worship leaders from our 4 different student environments. The kids LOVED IT!! If you aren't familiar with the skit, it was an SNL spoof a few weeks back when Beyonce was the musical guest. Pretty funny stuff!

L2YL cont. . . .

2009-02-23T11:03:00.000-08:00

Alright, here is the video that I promised . . . pretty dang funny! Our video team at Central is so creative!! By the way, that is not me singing, I only wish I could sing like that . . .haha!

Don't Stop Believing

2009-02-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh . . . classic song . . . but SO HIGH!!

I'm singing this song tonight at our High School reach event . . . pray for me!

L2YL

2009-02-18T07:52:00.000-08:00

At Central, we have an amazing video team that is incredibly creative and very talented! If you haven't seen any of our videos, you gotta check them out . . . just check out Justin's Youtube page.

Anyways, we are in a relationship series . . . which always lead to some making fun of either guys or girl stereotypes. The video this weekend, titled "Listen to your Lady" is gonna rock the house. I don't want to give too much away because I have a feeling these three guys below me are going to be some memorable characters this weekend!!

I'm a painting man!

2009-02-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

So if you have been over to my house at all in Vegas you know that we have some very tall ceilings! I don't know exactly how tall, but we have a 20' ladder that doesn't get all the way to the roof . . . so they are TALL. Anyways, when we first moved in we painted like crazy for about a week and then never finished! There was a corner up on the tall wall that I never finished painting. Mind you, this was all a year and a half ago :) But this last week I was painting our loft for the baby room and just got a surge of motivation to bring back out the 20' ladder and FINISH!!!

I wish I had a camera to take pictures of the finished product, but it is still in repair at Best Buy (worst warranty ever!) It's been sent back 4 times with the same problem!!

That is besides the point . . . I feel fulfilled this week . . . I'm a painting man.

What projects have you been putting off for a long time that you need to FINISH?!?!

New Budget

2009-02-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

Well, Karyss and I have been on a new budget for the past two months now and it's going great! We started going through Dave Ramsey's 7 baby steps and it is really challenging us. One of my best friends got us started on this process and we have been going through the Financial Peace University class at Central. I'm telling you right now . . . IT IS HARD!! But we are finding that it is so worth it!! I really believe that God has brought this plan into our life to give us some discipline and perspective. We were never living outside of our means, but we are now able to feel that we are being the best stewards of God's money that we can be as a family. I strongly recommend going through FPU no matter where you are at in life and with your finances!!

I love to register!

2009-01-19T10:53:00.000-08:00

So one of the best parts of getting married was registering at some of our favorite stores. For those of you who have not experienced this yet, this is how it goes:

step 1: tell an employee you want to register at their store

step 2: they say OK

step 3: They give you a scanner (looks a lot like a laser gun or something)

step 4: You shoot every item that looks even close to cool with your scanner

step 5: Receive gifts that are awesome

It doesn't really get any better! I registered for a big screen tv, an xbox 360, an ipod . . . i didn't get any of them, but it was still fun to register :)

Now . . . this being my prior experience with registering for gifts, I got really excited when Karyss reminded me that we needed to make a baby registry. Naturally, I thought this would be just as fun and I would probably want to have a lot of babies, just so i could register over and over again.

However, I can promise you that trying to pick the right design and weight limitations for a car seat, crip, pack n play (i had no idea what that was before yesterday), and sink bath (seriously??) is not nearly as fun as registering for a big screen tv. We were at the store for about an hour and I was about to explode. There is NOTHING cool in a baby store . . . at least not for the dad!

But alas, I have a lot to learn. I have a feeling that is what life is going to be like in just a few short months . . . pray for me :)

5 year plan?

2009-01-16T10:35:00.000-08:00

I was hanging out with some great friends last night in the spa just talking about all sorts of things going on in our lives, and one of them asked me what my 5 year plan was . . . or where i wanted to be in 5 years. I was shocked that I really didn't have a good answer.

I came up with something to say that was true, but it was so vague. I feel like right now I don't have the "luxury" of a 5 year plan when Karyss and I have to take it one day at a time. But I found myself challenged by this question and challenged to really evaluate the goal setting in my life.

I've always been a more rational, in the moment, short term thinker. It works to my advantage in getting things done in the short term, but I also know that is something that will hold me back from ever reaching my dreams. Is this justified? Am I just making excuses? I don't really know the answers to those questions . . .

Elevation part tre

2009-01-09T08:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, so Annalise got upset at me for not posting more pictures of Elevation, our high school winter retreat that happened in November. It's actually quite funny because she is the one who took all these pictures and I got them off of her camera . . . but alas . . . here they are.

We were at UCYC in Prescott, AZ for three days. It was an awesome weekend for our students as we talked about what it meant to be a real man/woman of God. Some really powerful messages from our speakers and some incredible worship moments where our students were able to meet God in a real way.

2009

2009-01-07T09:10:00.000-08:00

Again, I apologize for the gap in the updates . . . I guess you'll just have to get used to it :)

Karyss and I have decided that our New Years Resolution every year is going to be a prayer. We did this two years ago and our prayer for 2007 was to be generous. In 2008 we somehow forgot to make the resolution . . . quite an interesting year for us anyways :) But now, in 2009, we have decided to once again make our resolution.

This year, our prayer is simple: GROWTH

In all aspects of our life, we are praying that we would grow. 2009 promises to be a year full of new experiences for us as individuals as well as a pair (and soon to be trio) of a family!!

- - -Just a quick update that everything is going really well with the pregnancy. We have decided to name our baby boy on the way Oliver Alexander Bollen. We'll call him Ollie!!

Elevation part deuce

2008-11-14T20:57:00.000-08:00

Quick little update on Elevation . . . sitting around waiting for the buses to arrive and Annalise had some time to take pictures of the set-up. I'll post some more pictures of the sessions later this weekend.

This is the main session room:

And this is me yelling at Annalise in the back of the room all by herself:

Elevation

2008-11-12T22:44:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna be gone this weekend at our Fall retreat.

Excited, but it's a TON of prep work. Pray that God does some big things in our student's lives. The theme is "Battle of the Sexes" and it's about becoming a real man or woman of God.

A lot of Teleos ideas . . . becoming all that we are created to be.

Training

2008-11-07T16:01:00.000-08:00

Today I finally did a run.

I've been "training" for a half marathon the past few weeks . . . although I'm not doing too well. I've done a few runs, but for the most part I seem to find excuses not to run. I do have a date to run a half marathon and I WILL be running in it (especially now that it's on my blog).

If you workout in any way, what's your normal routine and training schedule? I'm finding it hard to pick a consistent time to run.

More of my Peoples

2008-11-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

Over the past two weeks the visits to my blog has jumped in huge numbers! It's about 50/50 old readers vs. new readers. I would love to get to know some of you who are newer to reading my blog! Leave a comment, ask a question, and I would love to follow your blog if you have one!

No Shave November

2008-11-06T18:24:00.000-08:00

I hate to disappoint, but No Shave November is a No-Go for me :(

There are two important reasons i decided against participating in this fantastic tradition among America's youth:

1. I really can't grow a beard, so it would be more like "ugly, dirty, I'm scared to let my children around that guy" November

2. My wife said no . . .and to all who are married, you know the first reason does't really even matter at this point.

VOTE!!

2008-11-04T11:18:00.000-08:00

I know it's backwards . . . but it doesn't change the fact that I voted!

It's a pretty special feeling to carry out our freedom to choose the leader(s) of our country.

Karyss' Birthday

2008-11-03T11:06:00.000-08:00

Well, Karyss had a birthday a couple months ago . . . sorry for the late picture posts :) We had a party at our friends house, and the theme was "VEGAS BABY!" It was a big one for her . . . 25 years old. I make fun of her because now she is a quarter of a century old.

With none of us having a lot of money, people got pretty creative with their costumes. Karyss was a deck of cards, and I was carrot top!

Pretty fun evening with some fun people.

Youth Ministry

2008-11-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

This is why youth ministry is so fun . . .

THRILLER

2008-10-31T14:42:00.001-07:00

Prepping for a pretty large Halloween event today . . . tons of work . . . lots of frustration . . . praying that God would bring students! Join me in that prayer!!! I'll let you know how it goes :)

Becoming an Adult

2008-10-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

I've always been one to fight off "adulthood." Not in the sense that I don't like responsibility, or having a full-time job, or even being married. It's more that I anticipated what would come with those responsibilities.

This week I realized two things:
1. I love becoming an adult
2. I hate becoming an adult

Let me explain . . .

1. As many of you know, I have an amazing wife and we have been married for almost 2 1/2 years now. I am only 23, so you can do the math. We also now have been in our house (that we own) for one year! On top of that . . . we have a child on the way :) All of these things I would put under the umbrella of "adulthood," and I love it! I love being married, I love owning my own home, and I can't wait to be a dad. So . . . I love becoming an adult.

2. The reality that I no longer live with my college friends, sleep in til noon, and eat pizza and watch scary movies til 4am is starting to sink in. What really hit me was that one of my best friends from college just got a great job in Washington and moved away from Fullerton, CA with his wife to start their life there. I know I was the first one to leave cali, but now two of us have left. It is becoming more and more difficult to spend time with my closest friends. This part of adulthood I hate.

I guess it just requires more commitment and intentionality in trying to keep up with what's happening in each others lives. Thank goodness for ichat . . . i don't know what I would do without that!!

How do you stay in touch with "old friends?"

Alone again

2008-10-28T08:32:00.000-07:00

It is true . . . I am once again alone and without my wife. Her older brother had a baby girl a few weeks back and we have been trying so hard to get her out to Texas to visit them. We are all feeling it right now, but the flights were just too expensive. So when her mom offered to drive Karyss out there this past week it was a no-brainer.

So . . . I'm alone. BUT!!!! my good friend Matt is going to stay with me a few of these nights because the NBA season tips-off tonight and my Lakers are favored to go all the way this year!

Can't complain about some good bro time . . . so pray for me as I try and keep the house in order this week.

Sorry . . .

2008-10-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

I guess they took that Nickelback link down . . . all it did was prove that band was totally unoriginal. It played two of their songs at the same time . . . one in the left speaker and one in the right. They have the same exact dynamics and chord progressions. Even the melodies are oddly similar. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it :)

Nickelcrap

2008-10-21T21:27:00.000-07:00

So, I always knew there was something I just did not like about Nickelback . . . and I think this website nailed it on the head! Check it out . . . Thanks JVO.

quick picture

2008-10-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

We were a couple weeks off on the date in this picture, but once our camera is fixed we will be posting weekly (i hope) pictures of Karyss and her little belly! According to our ultrasound, she would only have been 4 weeks and a couple of days the date this picture was taken.

Big news

2008-10-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

Here it is . . . to all who don't know yet, there is some big news here in the Bollen(Vegas) household. It is true that Karyss, my wife, is now pregnant!!

We are super excited . . . scared . . . but excited!! :)

We found out last month and according to our first ultrasound she is now 8 weeks and 2 days along. She is experiencing a little bit of morning sickness, but getting along quite fine.

Please keep is in your prayers as this will be a very new experience for us!

Vote for Me

2008-08-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

I have turned over a new leaf . . . I decided that I need to really start to learn more about politics. We all know the best way to learn is to do, so here goes nothing!

Mob Wars

2008-08-23T15:54:00.000-07:00

So . . . I am totally addicted to Mob Wars on facebook . . . if you're on facebook you gotta try it! Then add me to your mob :)

You basically just do jobs around the city while trying to make money and attack other mobsters.

There is nothing better!

End of an Era

2008-08-23T13:50:00.001-07:00

Yesterday marked the end of an era in the Bollen household. Since April of this year, Karyss' sister, Kristen, had been living with us in Las Vegas. So for about 5 months, I was living in a 1600 sq. ft. home with 2 wild and crazy girls (if you know my wife or her sister you know what I mean). They are two of the most fun-loving and exciting people to be around.

Yesterday, Kristen moved back to Fullerton (what I now affectionately refer to as the "promised land"). Her ultimate goal has been to be back in Southern California, and just a few weeks ago God opened a door for her to move back.

We will miss her a lot, but we are very happy for her and happy to have spent the past 5 months living together!

Coldplay 08

2008-08-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since the concert, but I figure it's better late than never :) Here are a couple of pictures from the show as well as a video of some of the songs from the concert. The little treat at the end of the video is that I was able to record most of "Fix You," which is one of my favorite Coldplay songs.

If you can't tell, we had INCREDIBLE seats. One of our good friends from church helped us get those!!

If you get a chance to see Coldplay . . . DO IT!! They are great live (I've seen them 4 times now).

Goodbye Grandpa

2008-07-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning at 6:30am my grandpa went to be with Jesus.

I know he is telling "Cecil" jokes in heaven and nobody can understand what he is saying because of his Bajan accent.

I wish that everyone would have had a chance to get to know him . . . I wish that I would have known him better.

The stories he would tell (true or not) could capture anyone, and they always ended with a punch line that left your side splitting. Beyond his humor, was an incredibly deep and committed love for my grandma. Karyss and I got to see them just two years ago when we were on our honeymoon and it was so much fun to watch them interact. Grandpa would make a joke towards grandma and she would pretend to be annoyed, but you could tell she absolutely loved having all of grandpa's attention.

And even beyond that love was a love for the Lord. He has done so many things in his life to further the Kingdom of God. Building a church from the ground -- up in Barbados (his home country) is only one of the many things my grandpa will be remembered for forever.

I think that these two pictures really give a glimpse into the heart of who my grandpa was.

He absolutely loved life(being very patriotic on the fourth of July), not taking anything too seriously . . . and he loved his grandchildren(and great-grandchildren).

Grandpa, we will all miss you and we mourn our loss, but we celebrate your victory!

Learning

2008-07-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

When I was in high school I was passionate about learning information.

When I was in college I was passionate about learning about myself.

After I graduated I was passionate about learning who God has created me to be.

Now . . . I have become a little bit complacent . . . and have lost a passion for learning.

Realizing this is half the battle, now I need to get off my butt and push myself.

How do you push yourself?? Or do you??

catch up - post 3

2008-07-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

ok, so i'm not quite as caught up as I would have hoped . . . but we're on the road to renewing our friendships.

One of the main reasons that I was not able to catch up is because I spent a lot of time yesterday catching up on reading all of my friends blogs. One that I came across that really struck a chord in me was this post by my friend John Voelz:

For any of you who read this that are in leadership, soak in what John is saying! Recruiting, challenging, stretching, and expecting a lot from volunteers is something that has been lost in many ways.

The only reason that I am in ministry, or even learned how to play the guitar is because my youth pastor pushed me and stretched me. One weekend he asked if i wanted to lead worship . . . i said no . . . he made me . . . i lead worship every weekend from there on out until i moved away for college.

I have a Student Leadership Team for our worship arts ministry in Resonate and they have blown me away at how well they have responded to my challenges! Next year we are taking it to the next level!!

Catch Up - post 2

2008-07-18T17:14:00.001-07:00

This is the second post in my series of catch up posts. If you are new to my blog, i don't normally post several times in one day . . . but i also don't usually go several weeks without a post either. So this is me catching up :)

IGNITE!!!

June 23 - 27 was the biggest week of Central Student ministries year. Several months of planning went in to putting on a world class summer camp at UCLA. It was an absolutely amazing experience! I was a little distant from all the programming stuff this year, so i'll give ya'll a few links to check out:

Ignite Blog
You can watch the recap videos and see pictures from the week.

Annalise's Summary (very thorough) :)
Annalise wrote all about her week at Ignite.

As far as my experience goes, it was awesome! I lead a small group for the second year in a row and i had some of the same guys as last year. It really felt like they were able to bond and connect with each other so easily this year. I told everyone at the camp that I had the best small group ever, and i really believe that!

God did some amazing things in those students lives that week . . .things that I know will last the rest of their lives. I'm so excited about Ignite '09. We'll be back at UCLA and I'm sure it will be better than ever.

If you are interested in bringing your youth group, let me know: josh.bollen@centralchristian.com

Catch Up - post 1

2008-07-18T16:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, so going way back when in Resonate we went through a series called Deadly Viper Character Assassins. It was a great series for our church, and we were really able to do a lot of creative stuff with it because the ongoing theme was kung fu. You can see a little bit of what the main auditorium did at the Deadly Viper Blog.

One of the Character Assassins is the "Bling Bling Assassin." So we decided to do Weezer's Beverly Hills for our special that week. It was a blast!! The band all wore white shirts and black ties and we even did a little bit of simple choreography. The students loved it and it was a great connection point for new high school kids. Annalise also wrote a little bit about it on her blog.

Check out the video and please pardon the bad quality :)

First Things First

2008-07-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

So first things first . . . I got a hair cut. Seems totally unimportant, i know. However, the last time i actually went to someone to have my haircut was my first year of college.

I believe that would be about 4 years ago.

This was a significant moment for me in my life, even though my hair doesn't even look that different.

Props to Talitha for having the courage to take the challenge to please me when it comes to the mop on my head!! She's awesome!!

Long time no see

2008-07-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it has been far too long since the last post!! I am sorry for that. There is no excuse for my lazy blogging. However, there is something to be excited about . . . I am going to fill everyone in on all that has been happening . . . one post at a time :)

I'm not a huge fan of the "novel" blogs that take 25 minutes to read, and actually, I rarely read those. SO . . . i know that you all would greatly appreciate me breaking up the posts. I will try and do some today, and finish tomorrow.

Again, sorry for the delay . . . but we will be best friends again by Saturday morning :)

Lakers

2008-06-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh . . . the Lakers finally won a game . . . and I was not comfortable during this game. In fact, I was so uncomfortable, I forgot to go to small group tonight. I am a bad person.

Karyss' New Job

2008-06-07T09:47:00.001-07:00

Well, it is official . . . . my wife, Karyss, has now quit Wells Fargo (woo hoo!!!) and is working at the MGM Grand hotel pool. For those of you who don't live in Las Vegas, and even for some of you who do, this may come as a surprise . . . . that a pastor's wife would work at a pool on The Strip. However, my perspective of Las Vegas has really changed in the last year that I have worked here.

I want to preface all of this by saying that I do not by any means endorse what "The Strip" represents. It represents greed, lust, getting drunk, and just an overall materialistic culture. The old saying "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" represents that it is a place to come and make whatever choices you desire without any consequences. Again, I do not support this at all!

However, working at a church in Las Vegas, we are reaching people who's reality EVERYDAY is The Strip. At Central, we don't necessarily reach those who come in for a weekend fling and then leave. We reach the dealers, cocktail waitresses, dancers, musicians, DJs, artists, strippers, pit bosses, poker stars, gambling addicts, alcoholics, orphans, and EVERYTHING else that comes along with the culture that the Strip tends to produce. Not to mention working with the kids and students of those people. The reality of what takes place on the Strip is a daily reality to many of the people who are a part of Central, and this is why my perspective has been changed.

Also, what I have learned about MGM/Mirage through Karyss' orientation and a conversation with a good friend that works at MGM has been really healthy for me. The employees alone, not the company, donate 1.7 million dollars annually to organizations around the Las Vegas Valley. Also, any processing fees that go along with donations to non-profits (and they are out there) MGM will cover so that every dollar from the employee goes directly into the organizations hands. Also, a huge part of Karyss' orientation was education on gambling addictions and the harm that it can bring to a person's life.

Again, none of these things justify what happens on The Strip on a nightly basis, but it brings into perspective that there are real people . . . GOOD people, who work there. My friend who works at MGM has no family in Vegas (quite common), and he describes his co-workers at MGM as his family.

How has your perspective changed in the past year?

New Look

2008-06-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

So I played some kick ball with our high school leaders this Sunday and it was awesome! My team got beat to the ground, but it was still a lot of fun.

I'm guessing it was about 90 degrees this past Sunday . . . not too hot by Vegas standards . . . but my hair was all in my face, sweaty, stinky, hot, uncomfortable, stinging my eyes, and i was MISERABLE! So . . . . i decided to chop off the mop!

I am a new person! I sleep better at night, I get ready faster, I don't always feel so hot, I don't take showers anymore . . . just kidding!

Any other hot new Summer looks out there??

Weekend Thoughts

2008-06-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

Another great weekend! We started our "Deadly Viper Character Assassins" series this week and i think its gonna be a hit!

The Banzai game was hilarious! It was a contest to see whoever could fit the most clothespins on their face in 60 seconds . . . i tried for three and it was painful.

Robert brought the heat with his message this week! We were talking about the "Assassin of Character Creep" and how our character is destroyed by many small decisions. These small decisions erode our character little by little until it is much easier to make very bad decisions and choices. Robert did awesome!

My camera broke a week or two ago, and its been hard for me to go out and spend another 200 bucks on a camera, but i think I'm just gonna do it because i can't stand it any longer! I want to share pictures of some of these moments I'm talking about!

Well, that's all for now . . . this blog has definitely lasted longer than my previous blog! I'll try and keep it going :)

Great Day

2008-05-29T22:19:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day! It was busy, but very productive at work . . . but the best part is that Robert, my boss, is back in town! It has been a bit hectic as a high school team without him around. We are now really ramping up to Ignite (our junior high and high school summer camp). There will be many posts about Ignite coming soon . . . hopefully lots of pictures too! Also, band practice went really well! It was a fun group of students and everyone worked hard and focused . . . can't ask for more than that.

Oh ya, almost forgot . . . The Lakers won the Western Conference Finals!!! The pinnacle of a great day!!

Resonate Stage

2008-05-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the "Theater." This is the stage for our High School environment at Central Christian Church. It is pretty simple because we don't have a ton to work with, but we put LEDs all over the room to bring some color and energy to a pretty bland environment. New stage to come in July!!

2008-05-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

2008-05-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures of the white boards of prayer that I talked about this past weekend. I hope you can read some of the prayers that were written . . . so honest!! My favorite thing about the students out here in Vegas is that they don't try to hide what's going on in their life. For the most part, they are pretty transparent and authentic.

What a Weekend

2008-05-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I'll keep it short . . . We had an amazing weekend at Resonate. There was a sweet response time at the end where students were able to write prayers down on white boards . . . I'll post some pictures in a few days . . . it was incredible.

Then, I took my wife "away" for memorial day. We only went 2 miles from our house, but it was so relaxing and enjoyable to be on our own and away from the stresses of life for even a day and a half! Shout out to Monica for hooking it up!!

Ok, that's all . . . interesting to me, maybe not to you . . . again, pictures coming soon!

Backyard Photoshoot

2008-05-23T15:15:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone,

My good friend and old roommate Sammy is in town for a few days working with a photographer here in Vegas and he volunteered to take some pictures of Karyss at our house. He is extremely talented!! Here is a quick video of the "location" which is actually our back yard :)

Worship Mythbusters 4.3: The Role of the Worship Leader

2008-05-22T14:09:00.001-07:00

Hey guys,

Check out this post! It is a great post by my friend Rich who is a great worship leader. It is about the role of the worship leader, and i think it spills over into the role of the worship TEAM.

Worship Mythbusters 4.3: The Role of the Worship Leader

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one more thing before bedtime

2008-05-21T23:14:00.000-07:00

oh ya . . . i forgot . . . i have a really talented student that made this:

I figure since she is probably the only one who reads my blog it wouldn't be too big of a deal to post it :)

A Lot to Think About

2008-05-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

Well, these past few days have been pretty amazing . . . but not in the way that most people would expect. I have been REALLY challenged by some people in my life to step it up. Some of these challenges have come directly . . . like "you need to step it up" . . . and others have challenged me through inspiration and example. But both have been equally as challenging and difficult to handle. I feel like I am at a crossroads in my life right now and I want to make the right turns. So needless to say . . . I have a lot to think about. I am really trying to rely on God for strength and energy as I start to get tired. Please pray for me . . . I have a lot to think about :)

Wife-less weekend

2008-05-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

Well, the wife was in California this weekend babysitting the three boys she used to nanny for, and i was left at the house. I miss her a ton, but it was a nice relaxing weekend. Friday night I got to hang with the guys . . . which rocked. Saturday and Sunday were awesome because i got to sleep a lot!

Resonate went fairly well. I thought Matt Vairetta did an amazing job speaking (as he always does). Worship went ok . . . i still feel like there is a gap somewhere, like something is missing from our worship experiences that I can't quite put my finger on. The band always sounds great, but there is an attitude of worship and reverence that we are missing. I'm trying to figure out how to change that at Resonate. I'm going to spend some time tomorrow processing that a little bit . . . maybe I'll post some thoughts to see what ya'll think. If you do go to Resonate, comment and let me know what you think!

Long day

2008-05-14T22:06:00.001-07:00

So today was a long day . . . I had a pretty good day at work . . . lots of meetings, but i had student leadership today! I love my student leadership team!

I had a bunch of bouncy balls thrown in my office . . .
small groups were cool, but i couldn't stop thinking about the Laker's game on tonight . . .
and then when i got home, my dog had gone to the bathroom all over herself and the bathroom, so i spent twenty minutes cleaning that up . . .

I guess it wasn't such a horribly long day, but it sure feels nice to be resting right now!!

21

2008-05-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

Karyss and I just went and saw the movie "21" . . . pretty entertaining movie, a little predictable, but entertaining.

The big takeaway . . . I really want to learn to count cards :)

First Post

2008-05-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

I've tried blogging once before and it didn't really work out all that well for me. I hope this time it goes better. This blog will serve a few different purposes:

1. To talk about my life
- I'll leave updates on things that are going on in my life with my family, friends, and job
2. To communicate with my team
- I hope a lot of the readers will be the high school team members at Central and they can check out my blog and see what is happening at Resonate
3. For me to express myself
- I've felt like there has been no great avenue of expression for me in my life recently, and this blog could be a tool for my expression and growth

I hope you guys check it out frequently or even subscribe to my blog. I'll try and post something at least once a week.

Let me know if you are reading my blog by leaving a comment on any of my posts. Thanks guys!!