I’m pretty stoked. I love seeing the things that God is doing. Not just with us, but with his kingdom all across the globe. When we began eXchange over 10 years ago (man, time flies), little did we know that God was birthing similar gatherings of people all over the globe.

A couple of years ago, we were led to start getting serious about making a difference outside the walls of the Church. We prayed and God answered. Crash was born. The coolest part is that you can’t trace Crash back to a book or a seminar (OK, the term we ripped off from Mosaic and Erwin McMannus), but the whole exchange Crash movement was torn from the pages of Bart Anderson’s Life Journal. So we started getting serious. God has been keeping after us. He has been asking, “Are you REALLY serious?” Several of us have been sensing that God is asking us to up our commitment outside the church, to get our hands dirty. No, filthy. He rocked us through several different avenues. From scriptures to books to conversations, the Holy Spirit is whispering. The question is: Are we listening? And, will we DO anything?

Jack the Fox catches wind (instead of giving it for once) that there are 2 nut-jobs heading out on a tour to challenge the church to get off their seats and out into the community. Sounds like what we are doing and what we want more of. Fox tracks them down and they agree to stop in eXchange on Sept 3. Craig Gross and J.R. Mahon are currently touring the country in an RV. 40 cities. 40 days. No food. These guys are the real deal and are set to stretch and challenge us as we continue to do what we can for the overlooked and ignored. If we just sit in the seats, sing some songs, hear some chatter, go home and do nothing, aren’t we just starving Jesus?

For the lowdown on these guys, check out Starving Jesus.

See you Sunday!

Like a blow of the dice at the craps tables in Vegas, luck strikes the Longyear’s once again. And luck was a lady. Sunday, Aug 13, while at Disney’s MGM Studios, we stopped by to view “Who Wants to be a Millionaire (Play It Edition).” This is just like the real deal except that the prizes are not monetary in form and the top prize is not a million big ones, but is a cruise on a Disney Cruise Line (not too shabby). About 400-600 people attend each show. It is professional, flashy, high tech and high energy. Everyone is eligible to get in the hot seat.

The first question is a fast finger question. The fastest person out of the audience gets invited to the hot seat for a chance for fame and prizes. Each person has a keypad in front of them and when the question is asked, they enter the answer. The fast finger question is always a question that has to do with putting the answers in some certain order (like “order these books from earliest published to latest”). To be honest, there is no way to look at the question and put them in order in time, so most of the audience hits four letters at random and hopes for the best. The chances of getting them all in order and being the fastest are, well, highly unlikely.

So, today the host throws some question up about putting Kevin Costner movies in a certain order. When they reveal the answers, I know I am out because I hit the wrong order. They show the correct order and the fastest person, “Seat Number 413″ says the hostess. The crowd goes nuts. I look at my seat number to see if I am sitting anywhere close to the winner. I’m #410. Mariah and Madison are to my right (#411 and #412). Stephanie (#413) jumps up “Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.”

She immideately turns red and makes her way to the front. I am laughing like crazy. Steph’s biggest fear is speaking in front of groups and her she is, in front of a few hundred people, face on the big screen, answering questions, and hoping for the best. Ahh, it was too much. All this and the added bonus that she would win some prizes for a little kick in the gut to the mouse. All told, she correctly answered eight questions,won a hat (which Maddy wore all around the park), a lanyard , and some rare Disney Trading Pins. Obviously, nothing to cripple the mouse, but again, we take what we can get!

Steph on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on Vimeo

Technorati Tags: Disney, Disney World, Walt Disney World, Who Wants to Be a Millionare, vacation, Orlando, MGM

For the family vacation this year, we loaded up the family truckster (metallic pea with the optional rally fun-pack) and headed to Orlando. We scraped some money we had been saving and handed it all to the mouse. Since we travel as much as we can and as cheap as we can, we look for every opportunity to save a few coins with the whole Disney experience. Sidebar: free ice water at counter service mixed with some cheap single-serve lemon aid powder packets snuck in and you can enjoy a cool cup of lemon aid. It’s all part of my mission of sticking it to the mouse.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I hate the mouse, I just don’t want to give him anymore money than I have to. Anyhow, on our third day at the parks, we headed to EPCOT and started the day. When I say “started the day,” what I should say is “deployment of operation Stick Mick.” My wife Stephanie is our travel guru and resident Disney expert. With some intense planning we watch the crowds zig and we zag. While others are standing in line, we are riding the most popular attractions for a second time; again, stickin’ it to the mouse. On with the story. On Monday, we went to EPCOT and were one of the first 500 people in line (of course). We walked thought the gates and headed to a fountain just beyond Spaceship Earth (the giant ball at EPCOT). At the fountain we were stopped by a rope as well as several employees (cast members) from Disney. An expected barrier. Cast members hold the crowds so that there is not a mad stampede to the most popular places. We strategically located ourselves at a pre-determined point at the rope for maximum zagging.

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