bobfranquiz.com

My Week...

I realized I haven't blogged in almost a week, so here's what's been going on with me:

- We flew into Boston on Thursday evening and hung out at my sister's house.

- Friday I taught an assimilation seminar in Hartford, CT. Just over 60 church leaders were there. It was a great time. I'm from New England, so helping leaders that want to reach this area of the US is very rewarding. Also, hanging out with my buddy Bill was a lot of fun.

- Saturday we drove into New York City and met up with Mark as we were going to the Journey on Sunday. We ate at Carmine's (arguably, the best Italian food in America).

- Had a great time this weekend at the Journey in NYC. They were very kind to show us their A/V set up and it was great to see a church that's very similar to ours. Nelson taught a great message and it was great to hang with him for a bit.

- After the weekend in in NYC we drove back to Boston where I met with a couple of church planters. Very excited for them!

- Today is a day off where we're going to hang out with my older brother and sister (I need to pick up some new Red Sox gear while I'm here) and try to catch a Sox game if the weather doesn't foil our plans :)

- While I haven't blogged much, I've been pretty consistent twittering. You can follow me here if you're so inclined :)

Quick Hits..

- I had a great time hanging with about 20 Pastors in Tampa at a coaching network! Got to teach on Assimilation, which is something I'm really passionate about. Helping people take next steps is what our church is all about!

- I broke my GPS today on the way home from Tampa :( It fell off the dashboard and hit something and cracked! The problem: I'm going to be in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York in the next 6 days and I need it. So I bought a new one tonight. Frustrating!

- Stopped in Barnes and Noble tonight to pick up a book for my trip. Walked out empty-handed. I had read everything in the business best seller section. The Christian section looked weak, and I didn't have time to comb the store looking for my next book. I have a couple of books at home I haven't read, but I was hoping to get something exciting to take with me. (By the way, having a book that I want to read more than the one I'm currently reading helps me read faster)

- I'm looking forward to seeing my brother and sister while I'm in Boston.

- I'm hoping to catch a Red Sox game on Tuesday. Pray I can get tickets that won't cause me to have to sell my car to pay for them. If you aren't aware, the Red Sox have sold out every game for over 3 years. Tickets aren't easy to come by.

- I don't like the new Coldplay album. I can't get into it. It's depressing. After listening to it, it made me wonder if life was worth living at all :)

- I'm looking forward to stocking up on my Red Sox and Celtics gear! It's my yearly pilgrimage to Bob's Stores (no relation), who carry the best t-shirts, jerseys, shorts, hats, and pajamas (yes, I have Red Sox pajamas - don't you?).

- We've got a whole pile of church leaders coming to our Assimilation seminar in Hartford on Friday. If you remember, pray for me.

Quick Hits about the Last 2 Weeks...

- Glad to be home from my trip to So. Cal.
- Weather = awesome! I didn't get to hit the pool as much as I wanted to, but the cool weather was refreshing
- In n' out burger = the greatest fast food place on the planet. No question!
- Saddleback Conference - I had a great time meeting people. I learned a ton listening to Rick. Still processing everything that was said. But a great time.
- Loved hanging out with this guy and this guy during the conference.
- I saw James Cromwell at LAX when I was getting on the plane (read: almost missing my flight) yesterday. I wanted to thank him for inventing warp drive (OK - bad Star Trek joke)
- Took Mia to Disneyland - I think she loves Mickey Mouse as much as she loves her mommy and I. (btw - Disney World is far superior in every way)
- Learned a lot at a church I visited (yes, I go to church even when I'm on vacation - isn't that when Christians are supposed to do?)
- Personal highlight: Meeting Steve Harris in Newport Beach on Wednesday! Took a picture with him and talked about their new tour. I started playing bass almost 20 years ago because of Steve Harris, so it was an honor to meet him and take a picture with him.
- I read a few books while I was out of town. I read this one, this one, this one, this one, and I'm 1/2 way through this one. This one was the best in my opinion.
- All in all, I had a great time learning and then I had an even better time connecting with my girls.

How did you get here?

I was checking my stats last night (something I rarely do) and saw that google was the referring address. But the searches that people made to get here were what made me laugh:

#1 - "Bob Franquiz" - kind of weird that people are googling my name (I thought I was only one that googled my name :)

#2 - "Tipping Etiquette for curbside service" (this made me laugh out loud!) If anyone's got a definitive answer on this, I'd love to hear it. Here are some words of wisdom on the subject: "Why tip someone for a job I'm capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I did however, tip my urologist, because I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones." - Dwight K. Shrute

#3 - "Pastor Bob Coy criticisms" - sorry, you won't find any of that here. If Bob had a fan club, I'd join :) Bob's one of my heroes of the faith.

#4 - "Batting Clean up" - that must have been Manny Ramirez looking for a couple of tips before he hits home run #500

#5 - "is jeff bezos dave murray iron maiden" - this could be the weirdest thing I've ever read. I'm a big fan of both Amazon.com and Iron Maiden (and I've had the pleasure of meeting Dave Murray and having him all my Iron Maiden LP's in 1992), but does this person think that Jeff Bezos is Dave Murray? I'm confused. Makes me want to run to the hills (sorry, I could resist :)

Needless to say, I think I'll be checking the referring addresses a little more often because this really made me laugh!

3 Quick Hits

- Since we went to 3 services, I've had a problem with my voice. My the 3rd service, my voice was wasted. But I picked this stuff called Vocalzone called really helped me. I tried it for the 1st time this past Sunday and when I was done with the 3rd service, I felt like I could do 3 more!

- My buddy Nelson just put out a 30 page report on church systems. I had a chance to read it earlier this week and it's great. Also, it's free! Here's the link

- On June 20th, I'll be teaching an assimilation seminar in Hartford, CT at my friend Bill's church. It should be a lot of fun. If you don't know, I grew up in Boston, so it will be an opportunity to come home to New England, see some family and hang out with some church leaders. So if you live in the New England area, we'd love to have you join us!

Sunday Night Thoughts... (Monday Morning Edition)

- Great Sunday! Great energy in both services!
- Attendance was good despite is being a 5 day weekend for some schools.
- I loved teaching on the cross today. I'm still thinking about the phrase, "The cross is still saving me"
- The band was rockin' as usual.
- I've only got one more message left to finish the Gospel of Mark. We started on Easter of last year!
- Carey came to the 2nd service because she wasn't feeling too well in the morning, so I brought Mia with me when I came in. I had my backpack, her diaper bag, my fiji water, Mia's stroller, random toys... it was nuts!
- Looking forward to seeing Tampa this week for the Calvary Chapel Southeast Pastor's Conference. I'm looking forward to seeing some good friends
- Patriots 18-0. Eli doesn't even know what's about to hit him :)
- Totally shock about the Packers, by the way.
- Just finished this book. Good read. Review forthcoming.
- Our financial seminar is filling up. This is great news for a lot of families.
- This Sunday is Sy Rogers! Do whatever you can to get every human you know there. You won't regret it!
- Just finishing up a book proposal to pitch. Let's pray someone bites :)

Sunday Night Thoughts...

- Today was great!
- This was a great week.
- Mark, Tanya, and I were all having voice issues during church today.
- Taught on making great decisions from Mark 15. I think I could teach on this every week and it would be well received. It's an important topic.
- I'm still thinking about my New York trip.
- Took a few of our staff to an assimilation seminar. Great stuff. Looking forward to the one we're hosting in Miami in March!
- I got to record a podcast for Church Leader Insights. I don't know when it's going to air, but I was honored to be invited.
- Got to teach on Baptism to The Journey staff. Great group of people. Great discussion. God is doing a great work at The Journey! Plus, awesome pizza!
- It was great to se my good friend Bill in NYC.
- New England Patriots... 'nuff said!
- Sy Rogers on the 27th - it's going to be off the hook!
- Gary - I do know what yuca is. It's a pretty common thing to eat here in Miami. It's also a staple for a traditional cuban Thanksgiving :)

Sunday Thoughts...

- Today was awesome!
- Great turn out even though we had a bunch of peeps out of town.
- We were waaay up from this weekend last year!
- We kicked off a new series this morning - "Defining Moments"
- The message seemed to hit a nerve with a lot of people
- We started teaching the Gospel of Mark last Easter! I can't believe there's only 3 weeks left!
- The band was rockin' today!
- It was great to see some people I hadn't seen in a while
- There was a lot of people that really wanted to start the New Year right! I'm praying they follow through.
- Our systems are really clicking. They're helping people take next steps in their walk with God.
- We're teaching a financial seminar in February, so I'm reading a lot on finances. I've never been more convinced as to how much of an important subject this is.
- My daughter is inches away from walking. I love being a dad!
- I love my family!
- I think I've got my next book idea. Then again, I've thought that before :)

Sunday Thoughts...

- Today was great! I didn't teach :)
- John did a great job of teaching on the Last Supper and asking the question, "Is it I?"
- Communion is always a special time. I loved it.
- It was really good to walk around and check some areas of the church I don't get to see very often. We call it MBWA.
- I was great to talk to some servants in out church I don't see very often and see how they're doing
- Everyone was asking me about the Patriots. Yes it was glorious! But there's work to be done...
-My daughter turned 11 months old today. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone!
-It looks like I'm going to win 3rd place in my fantasy league. Not bad for my first time out, but if it wasn't for 1 blizzard weekend, I'd be in it to win it.
- Looks like Steve Carr is going to take his place as fantasy champion of the world. Congrats bro! I'm still hurting over you beating me due to bad weather. I'm going to hang out outside in shorts tomorrow in 80 degree weather, drink a lemonade and think it over :)
- I have grown more in 2007 than in any other year of my life. More on that later...
- 2007 was the best year of my life, hands down! I can't wait for 2008!

Sunday Thoughts

- Today had to be the weirdest day for me
- I woke up at 3:30AM and couldn't fall back asleep. So I got an early start and worked on my message
- Then my dad called me and told me my uncle died. I was closer to him than any of my other uncles. Needless to say, it was a rough morning for me.
- The new service times went really well. It worked well to add some people to our first service and open up seats in our later service.
- Our band rocked out some Christmas carols. It was awesome!
- I've been sick since Wednesday. I still can't breathe out of both nostrils.
- Carey almost broke her toe yesterday. It hasn't been an easy weekend for us :)
- My fantasy team woke up today. Thank you!
- The Patriots are 15-0! I can't wait for them to pound Eli Manning next week and seal the deal!
- I'm so thankful for having the next 2 days off.
- This week will be filled with "best of" and "Year in Review" posts. So buyer beware :)