Under the radar I started working, 7 months ago, full-time to help launch a tech start-up here in the heart of New York City.  I can’t say much about it until we launch, but I can give you a few hints.

• We’ve already launched our product privately and we are aiming to launch publicly on April 17th.
• We are launching with an iPhone app, an Android app, and a full web platform.
• It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever worked on and I’ve worked on some big stuff.
• We just hired this amazing guy.
• Including all of our amazing contractors, we are employing 12 people already.  This excites me for sure.
• We have four very famous clients that will be launching with us and are in intense negotiations with about 10 more.
• Our Board of Advisors is one of the best I’ve ever seen.
• Nothing like it exists.
• We are filing patents on new technologies that we’ve built and should have them in place before we launch.
• We are about to close our second of funding.

That’s about all I can say for now!  Here’s a very cool video about our logo we shot on a RED cam in our office…

(This post has not been edited for errors.  These are my raw thoughts.  I apologize in advance if the word “boobies” offends you.  If it does, lighten up.)

UPDATE :: This is the first blog post in FOUR YEARS that I’ve enabled comments on.  Hoping to have a lively discussion.

—-

If you noticed in the title, “Instagram Boobies” was sandwiched right between “Me” and “Happy Wife”.

That was on purpose.

Last week, I handed my wife my iPhone to show her a hilarious picture of Kevin Hart on Instagram.  After she saw it, she decided to simply scroll through my entire Instagram feed. No big deal.  We have an open book policy where we always have access to everything the other does, so I didn’t think twice about it.

But, low and behold, with just a little bit of scrolling, there they were… Instagram Boobies.  More than just boobies to be all the way real.  Before I knew it, my happy wife was no longer happy and I had some explaining to do.  Nobody wants to see T&A on their husband’s phone.

WARNING :: I am about to REALLY put myself out there.  Feel free to judge away!

Online boobies are like kryptonite to me.  I’ve never had an affair.  I don’t look at offline boobies.  I don’t have a porn problem, but when I see boobies online I have a hard time not looking.  It’s my weakness.  I don’t google search them, but if they pop up somewhere in my social media feeds, I take a look.  I’m not saying it’s ok.  I am way better than I used to be but they get me everytime.

2 years ago I got in pretty big trouble with my wife for this and I pretty much just stopped using Facebook because of it.  Long story short: women that I was “Facebook Friends” with had booby pictures up and I checked them out.  Not cool.

I stopped the behavior.  I knew better.  I wasn’t going to let any Facebook boobies get between me and a happy wife.

So – let’s get back to Instagram boobies.  This is where it gets tricky.

• In part because of my Facebook booby problem, I mainly follow men on Instagram, but I always feel like this is a bit weird.  Know what I mean?  Plus – dudes post Instagram boobies too.

• How do I choose if it is ok for a woman to follow or not? Do I search her pics first for booby shots to see if the coast is clear? That would also be weird and kind of self-defeating.

• So, I follow my wife, other women in my family, my daughters, some old female classmates from Spelman or from high school, some women from the church I used to pastor, and some women that have been supporters of mine online.

• I intentionally don’t follow (or have any honest interest in following) porn stars or booty models or women that are known for showing off.  I just follow family and women that I know somehow.

Then, women that I know, think of myself as being friends with, start posting booby shots and provocative poses.  99% of what these women post has nothing to do with boobies.  Let me just show you what you I’m talking about and then ask some questions.  We’ll discuss it all in the comments section here.  Maybe I can even get the women who posted the photos to join in…

Here are the 3 pictures that got me in trouble.  They are public and all 3 of them were shared publicly.  I respect all 3 of these women , got permission to post these photos from each of them, and think of them as my friends on some level or another.  After I show you the pictures I want to ask some questions…

1. This was from a classmate of mine from Spelman when I attended Morehouse.  So witty.  We wrote together for the Maroon Tiger. Just a random shot for St. Patricks Day I guess.

2. This lady has been a huge supporter/defender of mine online.  A great person.  I honestly don’t know the backstory of this shot.

3. This young lady used to attend my church. I know her parents.  She was in high school when she attended our church.  Now she’s in college. Born leader.

Sooooooo….

It is true. I follow these women.  I respect them.  They posted these shots.  I saw them. Blah Blah Blah.  I didn’t follow them for these types of shots and didn’t expect them when I followed them. I didn’t unfollow them when I saw these shots either.  That’s how my wife saw them in my feed.

Here are the questions I have for you all…

(These questions are not that well thought out.  I don’t think anybody ever called me sexist. I’m a pretty progressive dude, but forgive me if my questions are the wrong questions.  I’m just trying to have an honest discussion.)

1. Is it OK for women to post these types of photos?

2. Is it inconsiderate for women to post these types of photos if they know married men are following them?

3. Should a married man follow women on social networks at all?

4. Should a married man unfollow a woman on Instagram (or elsewhere) after he sees they post these types of photos?

I have thoughts of my own on all of those questions.  They aren’t as easy to answer as they seem. All I know is that real boobies trump Instagram boobies any day and I can’t jam up what I got going on offline for something goofy online.  HAPPY WIFE = HAPPY LIFE

What do you think?

(This post has not been edited for errors.  These are my raw, honest thoughts. In a hurry?  Scroll down for my 10 observations.)

I didn’t grow up in church.

It wasn’t until I was assaulted in high school and required several spinal surgeries that I even knew I needed God.  But from 1996-2011, from the time I was 16 until I was 31, church was CENTRAL to my life personally and professionally.  I became a church insider almost instantly.  Here is a bit of my church history…

• At the age of 16 I was baptized @ Antioch Baptist Church in Lexington, KY by my best friends dad, Willis Polk
• At the age of 17 I was licensed to preach by Willis Polk at his new church, Imani Baptist Church
• At the age of 17 I moved to Atlanta.  My first mentor in Atlanta was Howard Creecy, the chaplain of the city of Atlanta and pastor of an urban church – St. Peter Baptist Church.
• At the age of 18 I decided I wanted to be like a man named Dr. Aaron Parker.  I revered this dude.  He was a religion professor @ Morehouse College and a local pastor of Zion Hill Baptist Church.
• At the age of 18 I started preaching all over the country and became active @ Zion Hill Baptist Church
• At the age of 22 I visited Union Theological Seminary in NYC and thought long and hard about going there for my Master of Divinity.
• At the age of 23 I started attending Total Grace Christian Center after several friends of mine from Morehouse and Spelman insisted it was an amazing place.  The pastor, Johnathan Alvarado, whom I have since spoken out against very strongly, was actually great to me during most of time there and put me on the fast track to leadership.  I was ordained as a pastor by him, became his personal assistant, and eventually helped launch a new campus of the church.
• At the age of 25 I was approved and trained by the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination to become a church planter.
• At the age of 28 I was approved and trained by ARC (Association of Related Churches) to become a church planter.
• At the age of 29 I launched Courageous Church in downtown Atlanta.  I thought I’d pastor there forever. It sounds crazy to me now, but I loved that church and the people.  I’d do so many things differently if I could do it all over again. We had something special there.
• In 2011 I stepped down from my role as Pastor of Courageous Church.  Man that hurt. 

—

In the nearly 2 years since then I’ve visited a lot of churches with my family.  We’ve visited churches we’ve heard about for years, places we just learned about on the fly, we’ve sat in the balcony and down front, we’ve been to churches of all cultures and backgrounds, we’ve tried out all of the children’s ministries, we’ve seen church every way you can make it in America.  

We’ve lived in California, Kentucky, and New York these past 2 years and have pretty much seen it all.  All of that considered, I have 10 observations that I’d love to share.  I like to always give this stipulation when I offer what may sound like a self-righteous critique of church.  I love the Church.  I love God.  I am flawed.  This is not me saying I’m perfect and that the church sucks.  With that said, here goes…

10 Honest Observations of Church Now that I am an Outsider

10.  This is going to sound terrible, but I’m surprised how little church means to me now that I’m not a church insider. When I was a church insider, I operated under the assumption that what we were offering people was going to fill some deep gap that they had and knew that they had, but now that I am a church outsider, I’m a perfectly content guy.  I don’t feel like something is missing.  Maybe it is, but it doesn’t feel that way.  I think pastors and church leaders too often assume that people that don’t show up on Sunday are lonely or deficient in some way, but it’s just not the case in my world and probably isn’t the case with others.

I listed this first because I think if I knew that people felt that way when I was a pastor I would have offered them something different and talked to them differently.  It changes everything.

9. Most church nurseries stink.  I mean like outrageous funk hits you in the face right away type of stink. They smell like crap and instantly make me not want to drop my baby off there. Listen, I know diapers are changed there, but I’ve seen it done where it doesn’t smell like an old man crapped on the floor.  Dropping a baby off to strangers is already a weird and difficult proposition – please dispose of the diapers in a close container and use air freshener.

8. I’ve gotten lost in every church I’ve ever attended.  I can’t find the bathrooms, I can’t find where to drop off the kids, and when I find the bathrooms and where to drop off the kids, I can’t find my way back to my seat.  Directional signs are SO DOGGONE CHEAP.  You can seriously go as cheap as laminating some paper and taping them on the walls or go super fancy and have them professionally done.  Just do it.

7. The sermons are rarely memorable.  This is a huge problem because in every church we’ve visited the sermon is clearly designed to be the crescendo/centerpiece of the entire service.  I won’t tell you where we went last, but I can’t tell you even one sentence from the sermon and I listened the whole doggone time.

6. In my church training, I always learned that parents will go to a church that they like just a little bit if the kids LOVE it, but that parents will leave a church they like a lot if the kids don’t like it.  It’s true.  I preferred one church in New York personally but the kids didn’t like it at all.  We went back one time.  The kids didn’t like it again.  I love it.  We never went back.  DOUBLE DOWN ON WHAT YOU DO FOR KIDS. Make it even bigger and better than what you do for adults!!

5. I honestly don’t remember if I acted this way when I was a pastor, but I’ve had a few pastors act really weird over their church members volunteering to help with something I was leading outside of the church.  Each time it baffled me.  Don’t act like you own your members.  I’m not going to start a church with them.  They can volunteer outside of your church.  It’s healthy.  Don’t be weird and don’t act so insecure fellas.

4. When I pastored Courageous Church we spent an outrageous amount of time on announcements.  I was slightly aware that we spoke of our announcements too many times.  Now that I am on the other end of things, IT IS CRAZY.  Don’t have an announcement video, then an announcement flyer, then have the pastor restate all of the announcements, then have a host come do it at the end.  Cut almost all of it out.  Do it once and have flyer.  If the pastor has to emphasize something, have them only say something about one thing, but my guess is that unless it’s urgent, let the pastor just preach.  It goes in one ear and out the other, it drags the service on an extra half an hour, and it’s just not effective.

3. I feel like I’m going back in time when I go to most churches.  Listen, I know God is unchanging, but the world changes.  I hear pastors make illustrations with references from the 80s that go right over people’s heads.  I hear music that was popular in the 90s (which is getting to be a long time ago).  A ton of churches make zero references to social media during the services, but it’s a big part of people’s lives.  I hate to say this, but when I visited some churches, it felt just like it did when I visited them 10 years ago and gave me very little motivation to go back.

2. Most churches have NO IDEA what to do with the true skills and gifts that men and women have if they don’t involve singing, doing camera work, or running lyrics on a laptop.  I rarely feel challenged in church and rarely hear of any opportunities to use any of my skills, gifts, or talents in a remotely meaningful way.  I am sure people felt this way when I was a pastor as well, but it totally went over my head.  Your church is full of smart, experienced, skilled people.  It’s OK for them to be ushers and greeters, but if somebody is an expert at something, take the time to figure out how to use that.  It will engage them on a deep level and make the commit like never before.

1. All of that said, I’m still so proud of you pastors.  Your work is so important, but so hard and it can be nearly impossible to get outside of your bubble to know what the world truly thinks and feels.  I am rooting for you in every way!  Keep getting better.  Figure out how to have regular, unbiased feedback from visitors or even from 3rd parties that you bring in.  It will keep you sharp!

I don’t post prayer requests often, but I really need your prayers right now.

• If you never pray, can you try this time any way?
• If you have a small group, can you include these requests?
• If your church takes prayer requests, can you include these?
• If you have prayer circles or prayer chains, can you include these?
• Can you share this post and ask your friends and family to include us?

Here are my prayer requests…

1. Our 10 year old daughter, Kendi, was recently diagnosed with scoliosis and has been in more pain recently than normal.  She’s the sweetest girl ever and it is breaking me in to pieces that she is in pain now and that it could get worse.

Kendi begins treatment for her scoliosis next week.  Could you please pray for her? Prayer for healing. Pray for great doctors and nurses.  Pray for her to be in little to no pain.

2. My wife is going to kill me for this, but I have to do what I have to do.  On January 23rd my wife has to undergo a very serious surgery to address ongoing problems that Rai has had since we had our last baby nearly 4 years ago.  Rai is my best friend, the rock of our family, and we all not only need her, but we need her to be well and whole.  Would you please pray for her? Please pray that her surgery is routine.  Please pray that her doctors and nurses are masterful.  Please pray that her recovery is perfect.

3. As we have been for the past 18 months, my family is facing several big decisions about our future.  We’re living in Manhattan and Kentucky, we have a new baby we’re caring for and loving, I’m a part of a new startup.  A lot of things are a bit unsettled.  Could you pray for wisdom? Would you pray for clarity?  Please also pray for peace.

–

Thank you all so much!  I will keep you posted on how everything goes, but to be on the safe side – just keep on praying.

Your Friend,

Shaun

(This blog has not been edited for errors. These are my raw thoughts.)

—

From 1997-2011, I served 3 different churches in some pastoral or ministry role – including 3+ as Senior Pastor of Courageous Church in Atlanta.  It chewed me up and spit me out.  I’ve written about most of the highs and lows here on my blog.  All things considered, I still love and believe in the church.

I admit, though, that I now only attend church occasionally, speak at churches rarely, and am still recovering and struggling to find my way in the contemporary church.  I’m wide open to the possibility that the problem is me.  This is not a post on how the church is ugly and I’m not.  

I have a few rather random thoughts on the church that I want to share.  While they do come from my own personal experiences, they each could transfer to your context.

• Too few people care about the mental and emotional health of pastors.  If you attend a church I am almost 100% sure that you have a pastor dealing with more stress than you can imagine.   People dump all of their secrets and troubles on pastors and daily come to them with gut-wrenching requests for money, support, advice, and much more.    I bailed people of jail, saw couples through physical abuse, listened to secrets of molestation, served as a surrogate dad to fatherless children, wrote checks for bills that folk couldn’t pay AND still had to oversee the daily grind of running and managing the church.  When I got very stressed myself, I got the feeling that very few people cared – particularly the members of the church.  Even my “coaches” had little to say other than “hang in there”.

• Very few pastors get paid too much money.  I worked 60+ hours per week.  The job rarely had an off switch for me.  For most of the time I was pastoring Courageous Church I made between $40,000-$60,000 including health insurance and travel costs, etc.  However, somebody was always around to make me feel like I made too much money.  Nobody hates the idea of a pastor driving a Bentley and living in excess more than me, but very few pastors are living this life.  Most of them are struggling just to make it from month to month.   You should read the book, Uncharitable, on how people who do good get paid too little and are often made to feel like crap for the little they make.

• Pastors who advocate innovation and new models of ministry are very lonely.  I could say more here, but I just really want the point to be known.

• Pastors not only have feelings, but probably feel deeper than most people.  It hurts when people leave your church.  It hurts when people you prayed for and worried about talk crap about you.  It hurts when folk treat you like you owe them something because they decided to give a good offering some random Sunday. As a pastor, you lead with your heart and it is so hard to lead with it out in the open and for it to not get hurt.

• New church plants, often envious of mega-churches, make the mistake of trying to do everything like the mega-church does it.  This path is full of landmines.  Furthermore, mega-churches sometimes do other churches a disservice by teaching what ends up amounting to “how to be like us” seminars that rarely work.  Each church has to chart its own path and one way to fail is for you to listen more to your favorite mega-church pastor than you do to God.  At the very least, do both, but always be open to God leading you down a unique path for your church in your town with the people God has called you to serve.

• I’m still shocked at how clumsily churches and denominations continue to deal with issues of race & sex in church leadership.  It’s a mess really.  Most ethnically diverse churches still have a white pastor and too often have all white senior staffs.  Furthermore, it’s just outrageous how few women serve in senior and executive roles in churches in 2013.

• The men at the Thursday prayer meeting I attend in Manhattan have convinced me that churches and senior pastors have no idea how to empower and unleash the businessmen and women of their churches.  I was guilty of this when I was a pastor as well and businesspeople now tell me that they are tired of being asked to just count money or help raise it when they could do so much more to help grow and build the church.

The older I get, the harder I’m finding it take huge risks.  I have so many people counting on me – family, employees, etc., that I have grown more risk averse than I ever imagined.  Maybe it’s maturity – I don’t know, but this week I took one of the biggest risks of my life to pursue a huge dream.

This week I moved to Manhattan.  Nearly 10 years ago I considered making the move there for grad school, but decided to stay in Atlanta instead.  I couldn’t have imagined that I would end up in New York City under these circumstances.

I am the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of a new tech/media company called Upfront.  We just closed our first seed round of funding this week and have started hiring our first employees and developers.  We’re launching in March.  We have an unbelievable world class team of advisors and our first clients are almost too good to be true.

Of course I should think this, but I sincerely think it is a game-changer and that this platform we’re building could shift paradigms online.  That’s about all I can say right now.  I can’t wait to tell you more.

I want to thank my amazing wife, Rai, for believing in me more than anyone else in the world.  Rai – you give flight to my dreams and I will always love you and remember this time.  Thank you so much baby.

Rai and the kids were supposed to move to New York with me after Christmas break, but we decided  together that we wanted our kids to finish the school year out.  We’ve moved so much recently and they love it where they are.  This means that I am in New York without my family – which tears me into little pieces – but it’s only until the summer. As crazy as it sounds, I’m coming home every weekend to be with Rai and our babies and they will come up to NYC to stay with me every chance they can.

I gotta run – catching a flight to be back with the family in Kentucky for the holidays.

(This post has not been edited for errors.  Also, as your friend, I ask that you read this post with an open heart and not be easily offended.  My only attempt here is to begin framing a dialogue that allows our country to move forward.  Love you all. -Shaun)

—

I have spent most of my life as a bridge builder and mediator between warring factions and people groups (rich & poor, black & white, gay & straight, Christian & non-Christian, rural & urban, liberal & conservative, etc.) that don’t get along.  As you may know, when I was 15, I was brutally assaulted and missed nearly 2 years of high school recovering from my injuries while enduring 3 painful spinal surgeries.  Amazingly, I came out of that hell, not with bitterness, but with an open heart that wanted to help people through their pain.  18 years later that is my passion to this very day.

Today, I hope to use my lifelong skills as a bridge builder and my heart for people in pain to begin a conversation on how we move forward after the amazingly ugly and painful slaughter of 20 kids and 6 staff members from the Sandy Hook School in Newtown, CT.

—OVERWHELMING PROBLEMS

Overwhelming problems, like this shooting in Newtown, cut and hurt so deeply, that they can freeze us into a state of inaction and cause us to be burdened by a sense of helplessness.  I have seen this very sentiment expressed, quite literally, by thousands of people on Twitter since the shooting on Friday.  People are bewildered.  They know they want change, but they aren’t sure what these changes are or who they will come from.

In the wake of the shooting we’ve also learned that the United States has a larger, and quite outrageous, macro problem with guns and violence.  The problem is actually gargantuan, and those of us that live here, have a hard time comprehending that it’s nearly as big as it is.

Last year, the United States had TWENTY TIMES the deaths by gun homicide of the average industrialized nation.  TWENTY DAMN TIMES.  Over 10,000 people were shot to death in the United States last year while our closest allies, like the United Kingdom had 20 and Japan had less than 5.  This gap is so gaping – we had 500 times the # of gun homicides as the UK and over 500 times as Japan – that it is almost too hard for our minds to comprehend.  I actually cannot even imagine so few people being shot to death because it is just that common for us.

The problem is overwhelming, but we must not despair.  Let me tell you what I don’t think the solution is – then I will get to some possible solutions that we should all be able to agree on.

—RELIGIOSITY IS NOT THE ANSWER TO GUN VIOLENCE

Listen, I love Jesus.  Until last year I had served as a pastor for most of the previous 10 years.  I want to preface what I am about to say with those thoughts.

America does not have a problem with gun violence because prayer was taken out of schools.  That’s crap.  Back when folk prayed in schools, African Americans were being lynched (kidnapped, publicly hung, mutilated, discarded) in at least 24 different states.

Furthermore, in heavily populated countries that are widely viewed to not only have close to zero gun violence, but very few homicides of any kind, like Japan or France, very few people are Christian at all.  If having more Christians that prayed made a country safe – the United States would be the safest country in the world.

The prevalence of religion in a country does not make it safer. Period.  While it may be true that if the shooters in Aurora or Newtown were devout Christians (or for that matter devout anything) that they would not have done these things, the truth is that in countries that have little religion these things rarely happen.

I am all for the advancement of true faith, but it is not the solution to our epidemic of gun violence.

—PARTISAN GRIDLOCK

Partisan gridlock, on the state level, but particularly within the United States Congress and between them and the President of the United States, is downright embarrassing.  Congress has a national approval rating of 9%.  Very few Americans trust that they can get much of anything substantive done.  The constant fighting and lack of progress is doubly discouraging because, when we are in a national time of need, almost nobody trusts that Washington, DC can actually help.

This is leading to an abiding national cynicism and even hopelessness regarding politics (and politicians), but here’s the thing – we need people in power to stand up and make a difference and if we, the people, don’t demand, it will never happen.  The answer to partisan gridlock is not cynicism, but organized agitation from the citizenry.

I believe that the deaths of the 20 babies and 6 staff members of the Sandy Hook School has caused a tipping point, giving the people of our nation the will to demand change in ways that we’ve previously never demanded.

—BRAVE SOLUTIONS

Overwhelming problems (slavery, segregation, women’s suffrage) require brave solutions and brave people to advance those brave solutions.  I want to suggest 7 core thoughts on how we, as a nation, as divided and hurt and violent as we are, can plow forward to make a real difference with gun violence that will save the lives of men, women, and children all across our country and put our rates of homicide on par with other nations.

1. As a nation, we have to admit that the outrageous number of deaths due to gun violence in our country is the most serious problem we face.  It is an epidemic.  If we cannot admit this, across party lines, across ethnic & economic lines, we cannot move forward. Period.   More people were killed last year in our country due to gun violence than were killed on 9/11 and  in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.  This is insane.
2. After we accept the gravity and scope of this problem, we have to accept that solutions are possible and that pursuing them, even if uncomfortable and costly for all of us, if they will save lives, must be done. We must done be overcome with analysis paralysis where we just debate and analyze in an endless cycle.  Solutions are possible.  Australia, after an awful mass shooting that killed dozens, made major changes that have drastically reduced gun crimes and mass shootings there.  Solutions may be hard as hell, but they are possible.
3. The most influential, bi-partisan, diverse commission ever formed on the eradication of gun violence in the United States should be formed right away.   It should be multi-generational, multi-industry and include such a powerful group of influencers that the people of our nation respect this group from start until finish. It cannot be the same old people.  It should have hard and fast deadlines and be the most transparent commission of its kind in modern American history.  I would personally like to see Jack Dorsey – Co-Founder of Twitter and Square on this commission.
4. Every side on this issue has to be willing to give up something they love.  The vocal extremists on this issue will not be pleased.  Everything outside of the elimination of the right to bear arms must be on the table.  We must study how nations with comparable demographics, comparable mental health issues, and comparable access to violent media/games/etc. are able to have such astoundingly low death rates due to gun violence and be willing to do things done in those nations that we , heretofore have not been willing to consider.  In the end, I guess it will be better for everyone to be pissed because I just don’t see a way for everybody to be happy with any sweeping solutions.

After these 4 thoughts, I want to suggest 3 concrete solutions that should happen right away.  I don’t give a crap about partisanship here and I could care less of who wins any political battles attached to this conversation.

1. We should reinstate the national ban on assault weapons (and their ammunition) and have an aggressive national buyback plan of epic proportions to eliminate a HUGE volume of these weapons from public circulation.  It is our understanding that it was the assault weapon that killed all of the babies @ Sandy Hook and it is generally assault weapons that are used in most mass shootings.  While limited, it is my understanding that the banning of assault weapons and their eventual buyback happened very successfully in Australia.  I do not think it is a cure-all.  I am well aware that many of these guns will still exist, but banning them and then making every attempt at eliminating access to them is a strong step in the right direction.
2. We must immediately consider drastic measures to protect our schools and public places.  Public confidence has been lost.  Children are afraid and parents are nervous.  Just as every airplane in the country now has reinforced doors, armed pilots, and we must go through advance x-ray style screenings, and we all have to take our shoes off – comparable measures must now be taken in other places in society where people are at risk, but particularly on school campuses.  I am venturing off into new territory here, but I would approve an armed police officer at every school in our country from open until close.  How much would this have helped at Sandy Hook?  I suspect a lot.  My understanding is that the Sandy Hook shooter shot his way through a door – maybe this means we have bullet proof doors or gated driveways with key fobs to schools or something else, but I am open to drastic measures to protect our most vulnerable and most valuable citizens.
3. We should drastically increase our local, state, federal, and private budgets to deal with the holistic/comprehensive implications this issue ranging from the enforcement of new and old laws to mental health issues, and to retrofitting our buildings to be more secure.  It is clear at this point that it is an issue of NATIONAL SECURITY.  10,000-12,000 people a year being shot to death in our country is not only terrorism, but it is the absolute epitome of a Homeland Security issue.  It is WAY MORE LIKELY that you will be shot by an American citizen with a handgun than you will ever be blown up by a terrorist, but the disparity between how we treat the seriousness of those two opposing viewpoints is egregious at best.  When we have a congresswoman shot in the face, people slaughtered watching Batman, people shot at the mall or worshipping in a temple, kids shot on the streets, or our babies killed in Kindergarten & 1st grade, it’s time that our budget matches the pain this is causing.

—-CONCLUDING THOUGHTS 

My 7 ideas for how we move forward is far from a manifesto, but is, instead, a jumping off point.

I spoke very little of the role of mental health or violence in pop culture plays in the violence of our nation – in great part because my understanding is that every other industrialized nation has these exact same challenges, but they just don’t have our rate of murder.  The problem, primarily in my opinion, lies elsewhere – although mental health and violence in pop culture must be considered as a part of any comprehensive movement moving forward.

I’d love to be included in any national dialogues on this and will give you my personal email address: shaun@hopemob.org and phone number (678)641-5016 if you ever want to connect.

Let’s move forward boldly.

Your friend,

Shaun

For weeks I have had a very particular thought on my mind, but I didn’t know how or where to best express it.  I don’t even know if this is the place, but I’m sure that I am supposed to say it.  I hate blaming God for the crazy thoughts in my head, but sometimes I feel like God is inspiring me to say something or take a stand – this is one of those times…

Somebody reading this has committed a crime, maybe many crimes….

You were never caught and never paid the real price.  It may have been recently or so long ago that it seems like a different lifetime.

Well, I want you to know that God is giving you a second chance.  Don’t blow it.  Whatever you do, don’t do the thing that God spared you from paying the price for.  God has a plan for you and wants you to live a life like a person that has been shown grace and mercy.

Listen, I don’t want to know your business.  However, I’d love to know if this message is for you. Please email me @ shaun@hopemob.org.  It’s my private email address.

I’m rooting for your success.

Shaun

(Please forgive any errors.  This post has not been edited and these are my raw, real-time thoughts.)

Do not bother any of these people unless you are prepared to help right away. They are swamped, stressed, and don’t have time for BS.  If you don’t have to call them or email them at all, don’t.  Just follow my instructions.  If you have to reach out to them, OK, but treat them like gold.

If you need to contact me, email me @ shaun@hopemob.org.  This is best. You can also text my cell @ 678.641.5016.

—-

QUEENS

Over 100+ homes were burned down in Queens.  The families there need SO MUCH help.

“We need:  Clothes, boots, underwear, socks.  It wasn’t that cold last week but now it is.  People evacuated and didn’t bring warm clothes.

I’ve made a trusted contact there.  Her name is Katie Honan.  Her email address is katie.honan27@gmail.com.

All supplies can be taken directly to St. Frances De Sales Parish and directions can be found here.

—

LOWER MANHATTAN

Bowery Mission (I love this place and these folk)

Our team rallied to help the mission get a generator yesterday.  They do awesome work here and have a ton of needs currently ranging from food, clothes, batteries, and so much more.

See their needs and the drop off locations by clicking here.

—-

Community Access Housing

400 formerly homeless people in desperate need.

“Your help over the next few days will be much appreciated.  While we would love to organize volunteer programs, the communication situation makes this impossible.  Instead, we would welcome donations of basic items, such as bottled water, flashlights, blankets, canned goods, peanut butter, tuna fish, granola bars, bread, fresh fruit, nuts, crackers, juice, and other items that don’t require refrigeration or a lot of preparation.

We are accepting food donations at our East Village Access program site at 242 East 2nd Street (between Avenue C and B) on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday between 10AM and 3PM.

More info @ http://www.communityaccess.org/ways-to-give

—

New Jersey

Families in Newark have run out of diapers, wipes, and basic baby supplies.  If you can take them today that would be awesome.  My friends @ Covenant House are amazing.  The address is: 330 Washington Street | Newark, NJ 07102

You can mail them these diapers from our Amazon registry here.

(This post has not been edited for errors or political correctness.  These are my raw thoughts.)

—-

Yesterday, within minutes of me posting this great news about HopeMob, my wife informed me that our family would, any day now, be welcoming a newborn baby into our family.  The mother is in early labor now.

Throughout our 11+ years of marriage, my wife and I have adopted a child and parented three foster children in addition to the three biological kids of our own.  We have tried to live out James 1:27 that says “pure faith in the eyes of God is caring for orphans.”  It has never been easy, but Rai and I feel strongly that God has continued to keep and protect us, in great part because of our willingness to welcome kids into our home at the drop of a dime.

Can I be real though?

At first, I didn’t receive this news well.

• We no longer have any kids in diapers for the first time in 11 years.
• All of our kids can talk.
• Our family fits neatly into our mini-van.
• My wife and I, for the first time in our entire marriage, feel like we can run errands or even have a quick date without actually having to pay for childcare now that our oldest is a teenager.
• It is now a rarity for a child to get into the bed with my wife and I at night and I sleep SO MUCH BETTER.

For the first few hours after my wife gave me the news, I want to confess to you that I was salty about losing those conveniences.  They were hard earned.  However, I realized that the true victim in this story wasn’t me and my petty frills, but a baby – born to a mother that the courts have said cannot keep her.  She didn’t choose this life.  She deserves love.  My family is full of love and here’s the thing…

As I started to reflect on all of the doors that God is opening for HopeMob, I realized that it would be outrageous for me to expect God to continue opening these doors while my heart was not right about caring for this newborn baby girl.  If God cannot trust me to be obedient with this responsibility, why should God trust me with anything at all?

I want to live my life like I’m grateful…grateful to God, grateful to my dear mother who cared for me so well when she had no help at all, grateful to the people that look up to me as an example.

So…we weren’t really expecting it, but any day now we will be welcoming a sweet newborn baby girl into our family.

Would you please pray for us?

I hope our example encourages each of you somehow to step up and give life your best shot by being there for a child in need.