Moved

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Time to check those bookmarks...
VASILATING HAS MOVED (again...)

You can still get to the new site by using www.brianvasil.com (as always)

If you have linked to me via the long address... kindly repoint your link to

http://bvasil.wordpress.com

This is just one part of an exciting new blog expansion I am working on...

Thanks everyone...see you on the other side!

BV

From the Shelf

Greetings Faithful Readers,

It's time to take a quick glance at the bookshelf and let you know what I am currently reading...

1) Mad Church Disease - Anne Jackson - Status: FINISHED - Rating 4.5/5 - I was a little afraid to start reading this book because I thought it was going to bash the church...that the church was the bad guy and I was the victim. Fortunately I was wrong. Anne does an amazing job at presenting a realistic look at a life out of balance. The beginning of the book reveals the trials of her life and how it drove her to write a book about burnout. After just a few pages you realize that she is more than qualified to lead her readers from the land of "I can relate to that" to a place of healing. Pastors and leaders like Bill Hybels, Craig Groeschel, and Perry Noble are interviewed and quoted throughout the book to support Anne's claims. I think the point that I took away was that it isn't church that causes burnout (although there are many elements contained therein that could)...it is a result of poor choices, lack of barriers and boundaries, the human elements of ministry, and a general unspecific tendency to drift away from disciplines we know we need. Thanks Anne for stepping out and writing about something that many deny publicly but battle in the trenches of their minds and hearts.

2) Killing Cockroaches - Tony Morgan - Status: CURRENTLY READING - A cool book on leadership written by a guy that has lived it out. I love the title...and when you think about why it's called Killing Cockroaches...it makes you want to follow Tony further down the rabbit hole. As a city manager, Tony was called in by someone who needed a bug killed in her office. He got up and did it...and then thought about it. Why did he get up and do that? He was the "CEO" of sorts... Was that the best use of his time and leadership? Was he leading out of the urgent..or did he need to lead more stratigically? Was he putting out fires or moving forward? Sound intriguing...then dive into this collection of cool leadership thoughts and strategies with me and let me know what you think.

There's a few others that I'm wrapping up as well and I will post reviews soon. Topics run the gambit from children't fiction (Kingdom Keepers 2) to Web 2.0 (33 Million People in the Room) to a re-read of a book for our Internet Campus book study (Traveling Light).

See you in the bookstore cafe,
BV

Amazing

Greetings Faithful Readers,

I just finished reading the book "Mad Church Disease" by Anne Jackson (full review coming soon) and really enjoyed it. There was one quote toward the end that really grabbed my attention and I wanted to know what you thought about it.

"People are afraid to be amazing."

People are afraid to be themselves...they have played the "role" of themselves for so long they are scared to reveal who they really are and what they really think. Also, people are scared to reveal too much about their hopes...their dreams...because what people know - they can use against them. Fear can be devastating.

Amazing requires boldness. Amazing demands discipline. An amazing life honors God.

I guess the question is... are you amazing? What is holding you back from being the you that God created you to be? Are you scared? Are you waiting?

So many of us stop just short of amazing...just short of the top...just short of what we could be...

Why?

BV

In Defense of Twitter

Greetings Faithful Readers,

Tonight was wonderful....and I have Twitter to thank for it. Yesterday I posted that I was fighting an earache, headache, and sore throat. Instantly, people that read my updated status began sending me well wishes and home remedies...and told me I was being prayed for. Tonight, as I walked from the Internet Campus studio to the control room, no fewer than 10 people stopped and asked how I was feeling... all Twitter followers or Facebook friends.

I returned to the studio and logged into the campus chat room. Several chat guests asked me if I felt better and volunteered to pray as well....from all over the world. They follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on our Internet Campus community page.

No matter what you think about social media, Twitter, or the like...there is real community happening online.

I am living proof. Thanks friends...you made me feel loved.

BV

Forward

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Just wondering...

What are you looking forward to right now?

Why?

BV

Ready to Go 'Back?'

Greetings Faithful Readers...

I guess I'm on some sort of a retro-theme here...although I hesitate to admit that mentioning the new DVD re-re-re-release of Back to the Future is "retro". I'm pretty anxious to see this new version of one of my all-time favorite movies. Here's what it has going for it.

1) Huey Lewis and the News not only do some of the music...Huey is in it as the nerdy teacher. They've always been my favorite band...
2) Michael J. Fox - "Teen Wolf" himself...in his prime...
3) Biff Tannen - A classic heel... Every school had a kid like that...
4) Doc Brown - Christopher Lloyd - Steals every scene he's in...
5) I've also heard that it has the entire BTTF ride video from Universal Studios on it!

Not to mention a flying DeLorean, Marvin Berry, the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance, Crispin Glover, the flux capacitor, the Twin (Lone) Pines Mall, Einstein, and Calvin Klein.

If you've never seen it...it's definitely worth your TIME. Get it. Time. The movie's about a time machine that.... never mind.

If you have seen it...what's your favorite part?

BV

Do You Know Ben Cooper?

Greetings Faithful Readers...

On the heels of yesterday's 1970s memory/confessional...I have one more. Did anybody else beside me buy and wear those vinyl Ben Cooper Halloween costumes? You know the ones...plastic mask with a thin rubber band that would break after about 10 minutes inside it... Vinyl non-fire proof suit with a poorly printed picture of the character you were supposed to be... good times, good times.

I was pretty much every character from Star Wars, Spider-Man, Batman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Devil. Yes, my parents dressed me up in a Ben Cooper devil outfit when I was 4. I walked around innocently (yet comically) as the prince of darkness begging for Pixie Stix. Thanks mom and dad....

Did you ever wear one of these costumes? If so, what character were you?

BV

Dented Lunchboxes

Greetings Faithful Readers...

If you were a child of the 1970s (like I was)...there were probably two things you did that kids today can't really relate to. When it came time to bring your homemade PBJ, more than likely, you rocked one of these metal lunchboxes (complete with hard plastic thermos).

I LOVED my lunchbox when I was a kid. Mom and I made choosing my yearly lunchbox a big thing... We'd drive to Zayre's and spend the better part of an hour looking at each design and picking the coolest one. Some of my lunchboxes included: The Six Million Dollar Man, The Super Friends, Star Wars, Land of the Lost, and Spider Man.

Problem with me and these lunchboxes were that they would dent easily. Mom would always wonder why my lunchbox would come home bent. I told her I dropped it a lot...but if she looked at the dents a little closer, she would realize that they were head-shaped. That's right. I used to clock my buddies over the head with my aluminum lunchbox. Hard. I wasn't trying to hurt them...but I was 9 and it seemed like the right thing to do when they wouldn't trade me for my sandwich. Give me some grace...I was 9.

What's the other 1970s thing we all did? Come back tomorrow to find out...

BV

B.V.

Greetings Faithful Readers,

Today, in my car, I found a water bottle with my initials on it. "B.V." Clear as day in black sharpie marker. Problem is, I don't remember ever writing them on that bottle...in fact, I don't remember the last time I've had bottled water. Then it hit me.

That was Brianna's bottle. B.V. are her initials, too.

I know that's pretty obvious to most...but this morning it hit me. I share initials with my daughter. Then it got me to thinking. What else have I passed down to her? My love of Christ? My perseverance? My character? My passion for learning?

Or has it been other things... my sarcasm, my temper, my fears, or my desire to please everyone?

I desperately want Brianna to discern what is good and what isn't good from me and incorporate the best traits into her life. Problem is, she probably won't be able to. Our kids pick it all up...the good and the bad...and become, in part, like us. What a huge responsibility we have as parents...to pass down more than just our initials...but a Christ-like example of what a good human being should be.

BV