Blooming Possibilities

Believe it or not, these are Knockout roses. I've discovered if you catch them in bud, they look almost like tea roses in a bouquet. Of course, they're not as pretty after they open fully, but hey, with Knockouts, there are almost always more to pick in a couple of days.
The flowers are in preparation for an overnight visit from Wendy Wagoner tomorrow evening. And because we'll be busy with her then and with Dan and Cindi Cooper Wednesday evening (our weekly shared dinner and viewing of our favorite TV show, Major Crimes), I needed to prepare my Thursday-morning Bible study this evening. That Serendipity New Testament for Groups was my ally in this week's preparation.
Two outstanding events of the day: had lunch with Mark Haas, former art director at Standard, to catch up, hear about his work with Rebel Pilgrim Productions, and talk about our long list of shared concerns, friends, and interests. Was proud to show him our new digital edition available on our new app. Was glad to hear how fulfilled and challenged he is by his current work.
Later talked with Dave Empson who graciously allowed me to have a table/display at the upcoming International Conference on Missions in exchange for a free ad in Christian Standard. Marketing budgets have been cut (again) at Standard, and the new marketing director had decided Standard wouldn't be going to ICOM this year. I can't blame her, but I'm very glad Dave and I worked out this deal so there can be at least some presence for Christian Standard at this large convention. We need to do whatever we can to keep this app in front of people.
The ICOM people want me to do some interviews, like those I did for NACC, with missionaries and others at ICOM. I'll enjoy that, and it will add to the video archive available to us for links from upcoming digital editions.

ICOM and WebEx

Dave Butts will be the president
of the 2014 ICOM  in Columbus.

Yesterday morning began with an area minister's meeting at White Oak Christian Church. Dave Empson, Keith Wood, and Dave Butts were there to promote the International Conference on Missions in Kansas City this November and its meeting in Columbus in November 2014. The men at White Oak cooked a wonderful breakfast, and I enjoyed hearing news about the upcoming gathering and seeing the passion, especially of Dave Empson and Dave Butts, about what this conference has accomplished and their dreams for it in the coming years.

Yesterday morning I did a trial run with something new we're going to try tomorrow: "Beyond the Standard," a call-in webinar offered to select subscribers to Christian Standard. The WebEx interface has been a bit confusing for me to navigate, but our test went well, and I feel mostly confident that I'll be able to host the event without looking like a dork tomorrow.

Dave Faust (left), Dave Empson, and Keith Wood posed before we enjoyed the breakfast

buffet served by the men at White Oak Christian Church.

"Deep Change"

John Caldwell, 2012 ICOM
president, helped host
the meeting.

A busy day. Christian Standard's weekly e-news this morning. A bunch of correspondence about the upcoming Brazil trip and outstanding assignments. Spent the middle of the day at the Cincinnati edition of the Reset Tour, sponsored by International Conference on Missions at Christ's Church at Mason. A challenging discussion about how to respond to "deep change."
From the paper we read before the meeting: "We are living in a season of deep change that is both exponential and irreversible."

Dave Empson, director
of ICOM talked
about the future.

The subject was missions, but I kept thinking about the Christian churches, Christian Standard, and how the latter can serve the former. It's a cinch our little 16-page weekly hasn't adequately responded to today's "exponential and irreversible" changes.
It's late, and I'm tired. I'll keep thinking, and maybe have something to report here later.