being jake wood

It’s been about 2 years since me and Kim cancelled DirecTV and went without TV… well, sort of. About 2 years ago me and Kim purchased a Mac Mini and decided to go without “Live” TV/DVR. Our only source for entertainment has been online sources or direct movie/TV downloads. Since we have made the adjustment, we have loved it. Here are a couple of the bonuses we have seen:

1. No More Lazy TV.
   We still watch TV, but we only watch the shows we really want to watch. When we had regular TV, sometimes we would just sit down and watch whatever was on. Which inevitably led to more shows and more wasted time. When a show is really good, we hear about it from a lot of people and then decide to watch it.
2. Saved a Lot of $.
   With no monthly bills for cable or Satellite, we’re able to use that money in other places. Sure it was about $500 for the computer to hook up at first, but that paid for itself within the first year.
3. No More Kid’s Toy Commercials.
   One upside around Christmas time was that our kids never watched the 1,000′s of commercials for toy gadgets that they just “had” to have. They never bugged us about what toys they wanted for Christmas. It really is amazing how influential commercials can be on children (and us).
4. We Read More Books and Listen to More Music.
5. It Keeps My Idol In Check. I don’t think watching TV is wrong. But for us, it became an idol. Substituting family time or worse, time with God. Since the switch it has really put our hearts in check. I don’t just come home and unplug in front of the TV, but engage with my family.

Again, I’m not advocating that everyone get rid of their TV’s. But for us, it was one of the best things we ever did as a family.

JW

THE WEEK THAT WAS:
This last week was a busy one. I was in desperate need of some recharging. So Friday and Saturday my family did absolutely NOTHING. We watched movies, Biggest Loser, read books and just had fun with each other. I didn’t even bother showering Saturday… it was glorious and much needed.

FAVORITE VIDEO OF THE WEEK:
One of the funniest shows on TV now is Modern Family… we love it. Here’s a clip.

ON MY TO-DO LIST THIS WEEK:
There is a lot of preparing for March Madness next month and looking for to preaching Wednesday night from our new series “Identity Theft”.

BOOK I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF:

7 Practices of Effective Ministry
by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones

The War of Art
by Steven Pressfield

MUSIC THAT SEEMED TO CATCH MY ATTENTION THIS LAST WEEK:

Muddy Waters
Blue Skies: The Best of Muddy Waters

MY UPDATED SUPERBOWL PREDICTION:
Ok… so I’m betting everything on the Colts for the Superbowl win in 2 weeks. Why? Because the AFC is that much better than the NFC

JW

THE WEEK THAT WAS:

• Great week. We saw 3 teenagers make the decision to follow Christ this past Wednesday… that never gets old!
• Kim seems to be making more progress with her healing from back surgery.
• The first week of this 21 day fast is pretty brutal, but God always surprises me in the midst of it. Got the chance to preach this Sunday at both services, which is always a blast!
• And caped the week of with a movie. I heard some pretty good reviews about “The Book of Eli”, so I passed on “Avatar” to see Denzel Washington. Movie ended up being pretty good. About a 7 out of 10. Great story and even better quotes. To be honest, I’m still chewing on the content (it’s one of those).

MEDICINE OF THE WEEK:
Z-Pac. Yeah, it’s time to call in the big boys on this sinus infection!

ON MY TO-DO LIST THIS WEEK:
Graphic design projects for the church are number one.

BOOK I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF:

Eat This Book
by Eugene Peterson

MUSIC THAT SEEMED TO CATCH MY ATTENTION THIS LAST WEEK:

Generation Unleashed

Ben Lee

Klaus

MY UPDATED SUPERBOWL PREDICTION:
Still the Cowboys and newly added Colts with the Colts winning it all. GO JETS!

WEIRDEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK:
Taking a sleeping pill to fall asleep on an empty stomach and getting super loopy… half the stuff Kim said I did, I vaguely remember

JW

Ministry can be very hard on pastor’s children. Your kids will hear you criticized. Your kids will watch you hurt. Your kids may see you wrongly strike back. Your kids might see your hypocrisy up close. Your kids might reject the church because you’re always there. Your kids may enjoy the extra attention when they are young and despise it when they mature. No matter how healthy your church is, a pastor’s kid will likely feel a different sort of pressure. Here are a few things we do to help our kids grow up in the fishbowl:

• We put the kids’ activities ahead of the church calendar. If my girls have a ballet recital on Tuesday night, either I pre-produce the message or have someone else speak.
• I try not to compromise my day off with church needs.
• I don’t talk about my kids in a sermon without their permission.
• Kim and I work hard not to talk negatively about the church.
• We live our private lives with personal devotion to Christ.
• We pray and talk about spiritual things with our children regularly.

JW

I spent some good time in worship, prayer and reflection this morning (after the busyness of the past week) and God showed me three areas in my life I need to refocus on as I get back into the swing of things.

1. Physical.

I spent a good week “off” of my regular workouts. And with the vast amount of unhealthy food I devoured this last week I’ve added some extra weight.  But now that I’m back into full swing, I gotta lose the extra pounds and get back into the rhythm of exercising again.  Thirty minutes a day of exercise and 3 days a week of weight lifting.  I’m enlisting a new friend to help me out.  It’s a new iPhone and web app called loseit.com.

2. Spiritual.

I want to be more intentional about the quality of my quiet times everyday.  This year has taught me how important it is to be filled up spiritually everyday.

3. Emotional.

I recharge the most by spending time with my family.  The busier the schedule the more important it is for me to carve out time for my family.  Each week me and Kim will diligently schedule out family date nights.