bitter sweet day

Hey everyone,

It’s kind of a bitter sweet day on this here blog.  Bitter because this is one of the last posts at this blog location.  It’s been a great run since May of 2006.  It almost seems as though it were yesterday that I was starting this thing off.

Now onto the sweet news!!!  The new and improved mark-stegall.com site is up and live.  At our new home, you will still get the blog but along with the blog you will get a podcast section (to hear great conversations of people making a difference within their community) and a media section (a chance where I can put some of my talks up on the site).  In all reality, this is going to be a full fledged website built for you!  You are still able to leave comments on the site and tell me what you are thinking.  I also have a “click” page where you can catch up with all my blog friends, some great sights I am looking at and some great resources/books I am searching through as well.

Take a jog over the the new site and let me know what you think.  Shoot me an email and be sure to let your friends know about the full multi-media site.

This journey is not over…it’s just starting!!!

See ya on the flip side!!!

-Mark
www.mark-stegall.com

exiles

I am reading through a book by Michael Frost entitled, Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture.  It’s really killing me, especially the chapter on community (chapter 5).

Here are a few quotes that I put in my moleskine that nearly made me cry regarding the state of community within the church:

“Building  community for its own sake is like attending a cancer support group without having cancer.  It’s like asking soldiers you haven’t fought with to imagine that you are their father.  And it’s like your church demanding your allegiance and your weekly attendance without giving you a cause to work toward.  It’s no different to the church holding enless bible study groups or hearling countless sermons for the purpose of learning information that will rarely be utilized.”

“Too many mainstream churches are trying to get their so-called internal life right before reaching out to others.  They’ll find that they’ll never get the internal stuff right.”

-Michael Frost

Revolutionary thinking for the church’s present & future existence!

Thoughts?

a face lift in progress

I’ve been thinking about giving my blog a face lift for a while and I am in the process of developing a new site.  The blog will actually be a part of a brand new website that will have podcasts, video & my blog.  Keep watching for it.  But for now, here’s a preview…

Let me know what you think!!

my cat digs me!

I’m not sure if this matters, but, my cat really thinks I’m cool.  Coincidentally, it also thinks I’m a pillow!

Nice!

meet & greet: blog friend revealed!

Hello All,

I just got home from the airport.  Nope, I wasn’t dropping anyone off to catch a flight.  I was actually meeting someone on a layover to get some coffee and meet for the very first time!  Wanna know who it was?

And the blog friend is…..Mandy Thompson!!  It was great to finally meet her!  Mandy had about an hour layover today in the great land of Cleveland, Ohio.  Hopefully, I will be able to meet more of my blog friends in the near future.  In fact, I may make a list and check it twice (ok, that was dumb!).  Anyway, it was great to meet you Mandy and hopefully I will be able to meet Drew someday too!  He seems like a class act!!

is buying a car on craigslist worth it?

So, if you live close to me you probably hear my car coming a mile away.  The poor thing is on its last prostetic strut and the little guy keeps plugging away.  It’s been a trooper of a car but it is time for me to seriously start looking for another mode of transportation.  A few weeks ago I was searching the internet and found this great deal on a 2005 Honda Civic.  Here is what the email said that was sent to me when I expressed interest:

Hello and sorry for my delay,

I’m Sgt —. The 2005 Honda Civic LX 4 Cyl Automatic is in perfect working condition.This vehicle engine runs very, very smooth.This detailed vehicle makes the exterior look like it just came off the assembly line.The car has only 49,727 highway miles.

As I know that my current situation is pretty special I want the deal closed only through eBay’s Buyer Protection Program in order for you to be 100% protected. You will make the payment to eBay and they will hold the money until you receive the car. ONLY AFTER you receive the car and you inspect it(for 10 days) eBay will release the payment to me; in this way we are both protected. Anyway i am sure that if you will don`t be satisfied about the car i will surely find another buyer in your area and there will be no need for you to ship the car back.
I am located in Zagreb,Croatia and I was sent here to improve the military relationships between USA and Croatia.  One months ago, my wife moved here with me and brought the car with her, but now we have to sell it back in the United States because we can’t register it here; it has US specs and everything, and registering it here in Europe will take for ever. My final price on it is US 2,960 $.  If you will take it for this price, I am willing to handle the shipping. It will be shipped from here by plane with US Air Military Cargo so it will not cost me anything. You will get it to the nearest airport in your area and then it will be trucked forward to your place. You will receive the car in about 3 days.  Please get back to me asap if you decide to buy, and include in your e-mail your full name and address where you want it shipped so I can start the deal with eBay. You will receive all the transaction payment and shipping details from them.
Thank you and have a great day,
Sgt —

Now, I didn’t act on the vehicle because after doing a carfax history report, it came up with a whole host of problems with it.  Yesterday, I started my search again and found a 2003 Toyota Camry.  Here is what the email text included when I expressed interest:

Hello and sorry for my delay,
I’m SGT —. This Camry XLE is in perfect working condition. This vehicle engine runs very, very smooth. No electrical problems on this beauty. This detailed vehicle makes the exterior looks like it just came off the assembly line. The car has 42,369 miles.

As I know that my current situation is pretty special I want the deal closed only through eBay’s Buyer Protection Program in order for you to be 100% protected. You will make the payment to eBay and they will hold the money until you receive the car. ONLY AFTER you receive the car and you inspect it(for 10 days) eBay will release the payment to me; in this way we are both protected. Anyway i am sure that if you won`t be satisfied about the car i will surely find another buyer in your area and there will be no need for you to ship the car back. I am located in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and I was sent here with my department of peace maintenance. One month ago my wife moved here with me and brought the car with her but now we have to sell it back in the US because we can’t register it here; it has US specs and registering it here in Europe will take for ever. My final price on it is 2,960 USD. If you will take it for this price, I am willing to handle the shipping. It will be shipped from here by plane with US Air Military Cargo so it will not cost me anything. You will get it to the nearest airport in your area and then it will be trucked forward to your place. You will receive the car in about 3 days. Please get back to me asap if you decide to buy, and include in your e-mail your full name and address where you want it shipped so I can start the deal with eBay. You will receive all the transaction payment and shipping details from them.
Best Regards,
Sgt —

Now I know that was long, but IT WAS THE SAME EXACT THING AND THE PRICE WAS THE SAME TOO!!!!!

Fishy?  Peculiar?  Suspicious?

Chime in!!

meet & greet: blog friend

Tomorrow I have the privilege of meeting a blog friend that I have never actually met in person!  This will be my first experience at that.  I am very excited to meet with them for a few minutes while they are in town for a layover.  I was honored when asked if I could swing by the airport to chill with this person.  They are doing some pretty spectacular things on their blog.

Now some of you may be asking, “who is it?!”  Well, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for the mystery person to be revealed!

Is the suspense killing you?  It should be!  More to come later!

where did the midwest go?

Courtesy: Google Earth

It’s one of those days!!

the new…me?

I love haircut days!  I actually like to try new things.  Here’s a taste:

Pre-haircut [tuesday]:

Post-haircut [thursday]:

Now if I could only get it to stay the way my stylist does it!

go yearbook yourself!

Many of you may know of this already, but I just came across it today.  The sight is called yearbookyourself and it is amazing!!  For all who are wondering, I graduated from High School in 1998 but for laughter sake, I superimposed my picture in a 1974 yearbook picture.

Behold…

Oh yeah!!!!  Loving the hair!

Go try it!!!  It’s an awesome waste of time!!