Man vs. Food

Greetings Faithful Readers,

I've got a confession to make. Recently, I started watching a show on the Travel Channel called "Man vs. Food"...have you seen it? If not, it's a show about a guy named Adam who travels around the country looking for the greatest eating spots....and samples some of the local specialties. In Boston he eats the "Fisherman's Plate" or in Atlanta he tries the "Midnight Train" (4 HUGE chicken wings and some waffles on the side). You get the idea.

What got me watching it was a show he did while in Columbus, Ohio. He ate at a place in the German village called Schmidts...complete with a spicy sausage called the Bahama Mama. I have eaten there myself! A great place that's been there forever...I remember it even had a sausage buffet (and some of the best cream puffs I've ever eaten). Good times... good times...

The crescendo of this ode to dining is at the end of the show. He tries to take on a local eating challenge. For example, one show has him eating a 12 egg omelet with sour cream and chili (weighing in at over 5 pounds)... another show has him trying to devour a 13 pound pizza...or downing a true dagwood sandwich (larger than his head) in Ohio...or a 72 ounce steak...or a 5 pound hamburger...

I know this sounds gross...but it is strangely mesmerizing. I love shows that reflect local culture and cuisine and this one certainly does that. Have you seen this show? What do you think?

BV

Moving Forward

Greetings Faithful Readers,

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney

I love this quote from Walt. It absolutely defines who he was as a man..always pushing the envelope...challenging himself to go beyond the obvious stopping points of life.

Yesterday in staff meeting, Pastor Scot Mendendhall said something that made me think of the quote listed above. Scot said that when he runs marathons, there is always a point in the race where it becomes mental...where you have to decide whether or not you are just satisfied with finishing...or if you want to better your time and push yourself harder.

I love and hate that at the same time.

I love the fact that other people want to coast sometimes, too..just get through life. I feel like that occasionally. I feel like coasting...my knowledge, my spouse, my weight, my parenting, my ministry, ...there are many more. I wonder sometimes how far I could get with just revving my life up really hard...really go after it...and then just coast a few years. Not very far I would guess. That's like sprinting the first 5 miles of a marathon and then crawling to the finish line. Yes, I'd be done (same result)...but my time would stink.

I hate it because I come up against that thought a lot. Every fiber in my being wants to pause...to rest...to somehow convince myself that I have worked really hard and deserve it. Sometimes I have to force myself to do what I don't want to do to prepare myself for what God has gifted and called me to do...and it's hard. Growth hurts sometimes. Changing myself, while necessary, can feel lonely and painful...but it has to be done.

I'm going to stay curious, driven, and focused on what's really important this year...and thereafter. I can promise you this... I will keep moving forward. How about you?

Words

Greetings Faithful Readers,

I have written and re-written this post a few times... It talks about something that I regret sharing in the first place. One time, while I was teaching on the weekend, I mentioned that I suffer from OCD (Obsessive Complusive Disorder). Not terribly bad, but it does affect me. I check the stove knobs for 5 minutes to make sure they are off...and check the door locks at least 7 times to make sure they are properly closed. I have struggled with this for years and have basically come to terms with it. My case is not severe...on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being a debilitating case, mine is about a 2-3.

But that's not the point of this blog post.

In the past couple of weeks, it has come to my attention that many people think OCD is something of a joke. I've been doing a task with them and they just casually say "Oh, that's just my OCD kicking in" or "It's just my crazy OCD brain" They don't really suffer from it....it just seems to describe their detail-minded tendencies. I fake a smile and keep on going...but you know what...it hurts. I wish I didn't have to deal with it....that I could somehow convince myself that checking to make sure things were done once was enough...but I can't. I know people don't mean it when they say things flippantly like that... they probably don't realize the impact of their chosen words.

How many times have I insensitively used words like "crazy" or "retarded" in my everyday speech? Too many. I sometimes forget that people are hurting...and I don't know what they might be dealing with for real. Are they struggling with mental illness? Do they have a learning-disabled family member? I don't really know... but I use those words anyway. Our word choice can hurt even when it isn't intended to. I've begun to focus on this verse:

"Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them." Ephesians 4:29b

I'm really making an effort to choose my words more carefully. I know I have hurt people in the past unintentionally with my comments and I regret it. I know how it stings.

Sorry if this sounds like a rant or a sermon...I just really felt convicted to share my thoughts on this. Please don't ask me to elaborate on my OCD...I don't understand why I have it...and can't really help others get through it yet. I feel like I should be able to just flick a switch and turn it off...like I'm a prisoner in my own mind sometimes...and I hate it. Just pray for me...and try your level best to think through your words before they come out. I'm trying too.

BV

iPhone finds

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Once in awhile, somebody will ask what I'm running on my iPhone...not sure why...but I guess they figure the iPastor would be in the know for the best iPhone apps...

Here are a few standouts that I really love on my phone:

Vlingo - an amazing program that lets you search maps, update your twitter status, dial contacts, and perform Google searches...all with your voice! (FREE)

Facephone - sync people's Facebook photos with their contacts on your phone...always know who's calling by their Facebook photo! ($2.99)

Multi-photo - Email multiple photos at one time! If you email a bunch of photos, this is a cool app. ($2.99)

USA Today - Great news, sports, weather, etc. and FREE!

ToDo - Synced with my web-based task management app, Toodledo...keeps my to-do list in perfect sync between my phone, computer, and the net. ($9.99)

Instapaper - Install the free instapaper extension to Firefox and it puts a bookmark on your browser. Then, if you see an article on the web that you can't read right away...simply click "Read Later" and you can read it on your iPhone! Very convenient! (Basic- FREE / Pro - $9.99)

That's just a few...

Enjoy!

BV

Darth Daddy

Greetings Faithful Readers...

I present to you for the first time... Princess Leia's birthday cake.

If you get the reference, you earn +2 geek points.

Is it just me, or is the image of the dark lord of the sith holding an innocent child made of frosting a bit disconcerting? Just me? Alright.

BV

It Came...

Greetings Faithful Readers,

It finally came. I've been waiting for it since 2006 and it arrived yesterday. The harbinger of doom...the signal flag of seniority...the evidence that it is no longer cool to reference Back to the Future....the dreaded 20th high school reunion notice.

Don't be offended if this has already come and gone for you...didn't it sting a little to open that envelope? 20 years? Seriously?

As I held it in my hands, I began to reflect on what has come and gone since then... I've come to terms that the Cavaricci's that I always wanted will never be in my closet... or that Six Flags Atlantis will never reopen...or that Max Headroom will never re-appear on a Pepsi commercial... or that my hair will never again be that thick. I mean seriously...why didn't somebody tell me I looked like a hybrid of a microphone windscreen and Ronald McDonald? (see photo)










What does the 20th high school reunion signify? Mid-life? Quarter-life? I'm not sure. I do know that I'm not going to the reunion. I never really made many friends in high school....and if I did go, it would be a lot like the last Indiana Jones movie.... all the recognizable characters were older, wider, and slower than I remember them 20 years ago.

At 37, I have a lot more wisdom and perspective than I had at 17. I'm married. Have a beautiful family, a mortgage, and bad knees. I get to serve at an unbelievable church with great leaders...pastor the most amazing team I've ever been a part of... and have the satisfaction of knowing that out of all the graduates that left Nova High School that year, I'm probably the only one with more toys now than when I attended there.

I guess I should look at it positively... I have my health... they still want me to be a part of the class... and it didn't come attached to an application to join AARP.

BV

Did you?

Greetings Faithful Readers,

Did you experience last weekend? A great lesson to kickoff a life-changing series!

Here's the pre-teaching intro...


Pre-Teaching - The Family Series Week 1 from Flamingo Road Church on Vimeo.

Also, a great voiceover...

BV

I was in a rock band.

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Yesterday was a very odd day for me on Facebook. I woke up as I always do and check my iPhone...schedule for the day, ad for new hard drives, Google alerts... and then I saw them... 2 Facebook friend requests from names that I recognized...my bandmates from my old Rock Band, Forte! Tim and Doug... the heart and soul of one of the greatest bands that has ever played in the courtyard of Nova High School. That's right...the juggernaut of music that was the band Forte was back together. The world has been calling out for a reunion tour, but we had lost touch and moved to all different parts of the country... Viva la Facebook!

Tim (the guitarist) got married and moved to Maryland. He still plays guitar regularly but took a regular gig working at a school. Doug (the drummer) also got married and moved to the Carolinas where he took a job as a newspaper writer. I hadn't really talked much with them over the years..it's one of those "we'll always be buds" things that ends up drifting and eventually falls apart... But now here we are...reunited thanks to the Internet...and ready to melt some faces with a sound that's one part rock and roll and one part approaching-40 wanna-be garage band legends.

But we weren't quite complete. There was one more member of Forte that had yet to be found...arguably the most talented musician in our band, Ken (the keyboardist). So I went to work...and found him on Facebook as well! I sent him a friend request and he accepted it...along with a very cool note talking about our past glories. NOW we were a full band again (if only in the computer)

Will Forte every play again? Should Forte ever play again? The world only knows...but just to think that I woke up yesterday morning and was but a lonely bass player with memories of a rockin' day gone by...and now I have been reconnected with three guys who went through it all with me... amazing. Thank you Facebook... thank you Tim, Doug, and Ken... and thank you to all of the fans that prayed this would happen... our first song on the tour is dedicated to you.

BV

Internet Campus Baptisms

Greetings Faithful Readers....

Last night was GREAT on the Internet Campus! The Lidster family came to get baptized! They have been a part of the Internet Campus since we began 16 months ago...and were ready to take that next step of obedience. Pastor Arturo and I were honored to baptize such a wonderful family of 4! Congratulations Lidster family!!!

BV

This Weekend...

Don't forget...a new series begins this weekend!


Family Series Promo from Flamingo Road Church on Vimeo.

Does the narrator sound familiar? I love that little voice-over artist!

BV

A Public Prayer Request

Greetings Faithful Readers,

I come from a very small family. How small? Basically, all that is left is me, my brother, my mom, and my grandmother. I have a few uncles from my dad's side around, but we have lost touch over the years and I very rarely ever hear from them. I would say that the entire remaining Vasil family could fit comfortably in a hospital elevator.

Time has not been kind to my family. Many of them have lived self-destructive lives....ending way too quickly. I've done several funerals for my own family members and said goodbye to people I've loved long before I expected to. They made poor short-sighted choices that I wish I could go back in time and change or influence so that I could benefit from their wisdom today.

Then there are those in my family who have just battled illness. Which brings me to the reason for this post...my Grandmother seems to be dying. She is 80 years old and is currently battling dementia, Parkinson's disease, and epilepsy. I visited with her last week at her assisted living facility and it absolutely broke my heart. She isn't talking...barely eating...and battling near-pneumonia (on top of everything else).

Last week, I sat with her as we watched President Obama's inauguration. I held her hand and fed her some soup broth (or as much as she would tolerate). I'm not sure she even knew I was there. She hasn't recognized me for awhile now...but that is to be expected. She is under hospice care. The hospice nurse told my mom that there is a slight possibility for her to recover but to begin preparing things for her death.

I know God can do miracles. I know my Grandmother can recover. But something inside me knows what is about to happen. My small family is about to get smaller. My last living grandparent is about to go home. It might be 2 days, 2 weeks, or 2 months..but Grandma isn't going to beat these three huge illnesses. I would ask you to please pray for my little family. Pray for healing, wisdom, strength, and peace for all involved.

Sincerely...thank you for your prayers and support.
BV

Lessons from a LOST Party

Greetings faithful readers,

Last night I was invited to join an entire room of LOST fans for the kickoff of season five. I heard that they had done this in previous seasons, so I was anxious to see what exactly would happen when 30+ LOST fans got together to watch an episode...and I wasn't disappointed.

As I approached the house, I knew I was in the right place because of the fully-burning tiki torches out front. That wasn't all...the Garcias went the extra mile and actually had those whispery spooky voice noises coming out of the bushes...a nice touch. I knocked on the Dharma logo on the front door...and the night began.

I was greeted by a polar bear (Olivia). Yep. A polar bear. I knew right away that my Dr. Marvin Candle scientist garb was definitely not going to win best costume. Passing the polar bear, I was greeted warmly by the black smoke monster (Roberto) and someone dressed like Hurley. At this point, it didn't matter whether or not I even saw the show...I was already having a good time!

I grabbed a Dharma water and sat down for a night of LOST-y goodness (It is important to note here that there were many Dharma products available...water, corn, dip, soda, etc. all over the counters. The attention to detail was astounding) I sat in front of Scott/Steve (convincingly portrayed by Stacie and Stacey) and behind Juliette (Rebecca as a blonde). To my right, an extremely accurate Faraday (a bearded Yoel) and to my left an equally convincing Mikhail (Carlos) The HD screen was huge and the anticipation was growing more and more as the magical hour approached.

The plan was to pause the show for 30 minutes to allow commercial-skipped viewing during the show. At 9:08PM, somebody hit the wrong button...and began playing the new show live. The room erupted and people searched frantically for the remote to pause it and rewind. With that sorted out...the show began (for us) at 9:15PM. Two episodes later....the LOST faithful in the room had a few of their plot questions answered, and a few new ones to chew on.

We took our group photo and said our good-byes. I had a great time and was thankful for the invitation. The shows were good...but the group I got to enjoy them with made it even better

Namaste!

BV

Congratulations

Greetings Faithful Readers,

Congratulations to the Obamas and the Bidens. I am praying for both men to lead with faith, courage, and strength.

BV

I like caffeine, but...

Greetings Faithful Readers...

I'm into the occasional blast of caffeine...but how about this from the website:


CRACKHEADS2 Candy
Each box of Crackheads²® contains the same caffeine in approximately 6 cups of coffee, 7.5 Red Bull® energy drinks, or 11 cans of Mountain Dew®!.


7 1/2 Red Bulls? Does it come with a defibrillator? If you eat these, please do me a favor, take your pulse. Let me know if it sounds more like machine gun cover fire or the opening drum beat to the song "Orange Crush" by REM.

I'll just stick to the occasional pop rocks and diet coke.

BV

Online Student Ministry

Greetings Faithful Readers,

Just an amazing night last night from the online student ministry....we had two rooms full of energy, some awesome games (with iTunes gift cards as prizes), and a great time of learning and personal development.

The photo to the left was sent to us by "Turbo" and "Little Turbo" watching from Illinois... They told us that it's the way they spend every Wednesday...connecting with students from around the world!

How cool is that?

Pastor Scot and his team have been doing an incredible job at developing this online experience. There are some exciting changes just ahead for "The Rush" online... stay tuned!

BV

A few thoughts from my dad...

Greetings Faithful Readers...

In honor of what would have been my dad's 69th birthday, here are a few of the sayings that he used to tell my brother and I that made absolutely no sense...

1) "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?"

2) "What did you wash your hair with, a Hershey bar?"

3) "You'd be mad if somebody peed in your ice cream."

4) (When we ate too fast)... "Easy there, Henry...the beheadings aren't until 7"

I never understood any of them...when he'd say them, my brother and I would just look at each other and shake our heads. I do find myself saying them to Brianna every now and again, though...

Even though they didn't make sense, I'd give everything I have to hear him say them one more time.

Happy birthday, dad. I miss you.

Love, Brian

What I'm Reading

Greetings Faithful Readers...

It's been a while since we've taken a stroll over to Brian's bookshelf...here's what is currently stimulating my brain:

Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell) - An interesting book about the reasons for success. I enjoyed blink...but I think Outliers is better...a very interesting read

33 Million People in the Room (Juliette Powell) - A great study of Social Networking and it's effects on connectivity and growth for business. Many of the principles apply to ministry as well!

Don't Make Me Think (Steve Krug) - What do people feel like when they visit our Internet Campus website? Where do their eyes go? What are they thinking when they click a button or fill in a form... this book lets me know...

iPhone Fully Loaded (Andy Ihnatko) - A hilarious look at the iPhone and what you can do with it. It isn't an average "how do I set up push email" type of book...it maximizes the iPhones potential...a cool read!


ON THE RADAR FOR THE NEAR FUTURE

Enough - John C. Bogle

Facebook Marketing: Leveraging Social Media to Grow Your Business - Steve Holzner

SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World - Douglas Estes


That should keep me busy for a little bit...what are YOU reading in January?

BV

Christmas Residue

Greetings Faithful Readers,

I just looked through my iPhone picture file and found a couple of disturbing images that I photographed during the holiday rush.

First is this Santa beard...you're supposed to put it over your face and look like Santa...but from the looks of this mask...it's more like Satan.



B/t/w does it seem odd that you'd have hair on your forehead and cheeks as Santa/Satan?










Next is an interesting Christmas item that I found in one of those "claw" toy vending machines...you have your usual collection of teddy bears, cute mice, a doll or two, and a wise man with his myrrh. Can't you just hear the conversation?

Child: MOM! Can I have 5o cents?
Mom: Why honey?
Child: I want to win a stuffed toy!
Mom: No, you have so many of those at home...
Child: Not like this one...it's bearded and ornate!


There...got that out of my system...and out of my iPhone.

BV

WHEW! What a holiday!

Greetings Faithful Readers,

Happy New Year! Wow! What an amazing last couple of weeks! Two weeks ago, I was preparing the lesson for last weekend...and, oh yeah...Christmas! Here's a quick recap of the last fortnight in the life of your iPastor

1) I got the chance to meet Paula...one of our Internet Campus members visiting from Long Island, NY! What a sweet lady!

2) In addition, I got the change to meet (in the studio)...Manfred from Innsbruck, Austria! A very cool cat indeed!

3) The Internet Campus was AMAZING during the Christmas Services...including our exclusive Christmas Day service! What a team I am blessed to be a part of! Our Christmas Day service was off-the-hook... we had 175 computers connected from around the world and a room full of teammates to share it with in the studio! It was a very cool time! 2625 COMPUTERS CONNECTED!!!

4) Thanks to all of you who encouraged me before, during, and after my chance to teach last weekend at the Cooper City Campus. I am humbled by your words. I was completely honored to be up there closing out the Gift Revolution series. It is my prayer that those that came left with some hope for 2009...

5) I am on vacation this week....so I won't be hosting the Internet Campus this weekend... who will? You'll have to join us to find out! :-)

6) One of my favorite gifts from this Christmas? My Chuck Norris page-a-day calendar...favorite so far... Chuck Norris is like one of those Russian nesting dolls...if you open him up, there's another a smaller and angrier Chuck just inside...

7) Got my iPhone replaced at the Apple Store... only took 90 minutes... but they replaced it because of the broken switch...





8) Took this photo of myself in the War Room during the Gift Revolution. I know. I know. Mindy's a lucky girl...







Happy New Year! Let's have another great year together on Vasilating!

BV

Want to laugh?

Greetings Faithful Readers,


Bloopers from Flamingo Road Church on Vimeo.

I laugh every time I watch this video. I remember shooting some of these...and we couldn't stop laughing.. I think my favorite is the butchered Spanish translation close to the end...

Good times, good times...

BV