Happy 1st Birthday Alexis Grace


Milestones define most of our lives: The moment I met Ashley. The day we got married. The day she walked into my work to surprise Read more

Lent Recap


By a show of hands, how many of you knew that Lent was 47 days? Okay you can put your hand down now & Read more

When It's Your Turn


A few weeks ago I posted about: what is the hardest thing you have endured? A few days later we watched and prayed Read more

Be encouraged.


In Paul's first letter to the church in Thessaloniki , he offers some closing words in chapter 5. "For God chose to save us Read more

Creating Doubt


Lately I have been thinking a lot about . . . DOUBT. Do you think it is healthy for churches, pastors or Christians in Read more

Lent - Day 20


Well, we are halfway. 20 days in and 20 days to go. How has your fast for Lent been doing? I last wrote on Read more

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The Drip

Posted on 04/08/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty, Personal | 1 Comment

Last week my wife started having contractions. At a future time in the pregnancy this could be an exciting sign of things to come, however, last week was too early to have contractions. Slightly panicked we rushed off to the hospital. After an initial check-up from our doctor it was decided that we needed to spend two days there under observation. During the first day my wife was hooked up to an IV to make sure she was getting enough fluids. The first night as I laid in the pullout chair-bed while we both drifted asleep I remember looking up and watching the slow steady drip . . . drip . . . drip . . . drip . . . drip . . . and on and on it went.

All of us are addicted to something . . .

. . . I like to call it the drip.

All of us have a drip in our life. The drip can make you feel numb, happy, safe, tolerable, comfortable, intoxicated, out of control, in control, apathetic, lethargic, anxious, insecure, secure, sad, up and down all in the matter of a few minutes or a few hours. The drip is different for everyone: your drip might be the weekend shopping you do to mask your insecurities, it might be the five dollars you spend everyday in my coffee shop to get the caffeine you need to make it through another day, or maybe it is something with even deeper roots like gambling, drugs use, drunkenness or extra-marital affairs.

We all have hang ups, hurts and habits and that includes the people who heap the hot coals on our heads when we have stumbled along the road of life. No matter who we are we all are going to face something we don’t know how to deal with: unfortunately that is the moment when most of us choose the drip. When life is at a crossroads it isn’t always obvious which way leads to the drip and which way leads to life.

Many seasoned Christians want to put the crossroads in a nice little box and say that the choice is easy, but for someone like me who wasn’t taught what to do when life gets hard it makes the choices seem all that more blurred. Many of you are in the same boat. High school, college and life in general did not teach you how to deal with the hurts, habits and hang-ups. Right and wrong are easy to teach but pain and brokenness are hard lessons to deal with and can only be learned through experience. Do you find that the drip rarely shows its ugly head in the right and wrong but is almost always present in the pain and brokenness?

What does the drip look like in your life? What is the drip covering up? The root of the drip is the hardest place to go to emotionally but if you do the work you will be rewarded. The drip seized my life for years but with hard work it makes unplugging the IV so much easier.

Drip . . . drip . . . drip . . . the drip can go on and on until we unplug it.

What about you? Is it time to unplug the IV?

Am I the Same?

Posted on 03/22/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty | Leave a comment

Yesterday I mentioned that I had the chance to sit down with Grant Fishbook, lead pastor of Christ the King Community Church in Bellingham Washington for a few hours and talk about life and ministry among other things. It was a life enriching  experience for me both personally and spiritually. One of the things that stood out to me about Grant besides his overwhelming passion for life was the fact that Grant appears to be the same person off the platform as he is on the platform.

As a leader or influencer it seems like it could be easy to be one thing to the people on stage but someone else behind the scenes. Grant isn’t that type of person. He is the same on stage and off. Jud is the same off stage as he is on. What about you? What about me?

On Saturday Grant mentioned to me that he snooped around my blog and read a bunch of my posts. I was honored that he would the spend his time reading what I had to say, but Grant said something that stood out to me, “It was nice to read some of the behind the scenes stuff.” At the time the statement didn’t mean much to me, but a few hours later it left me hanging. Thoughts bounced through my head, “Behind what scene? Am I a scene? Am I a different person on-line than I am in real life?”

Am I the same person on the stage as off?

Are you?

Bleeding Passion

Posted on 03/21/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Spiritual | 3 Comments

The score is close, UNLV is on one screen battling against UNI. On another screen Washington is mounting a comeback against Marquette. The Buffalo Wild Wings is packed with sports fans glued to their seats. The testosterone in the room is thick and drama is unfolding everywhere you turn.

And then there is Grant Fishbook.

In the middle of all the March Madness drama is a guy from Canada who is pouring out his heart to me. While sitting with Grant you can’t help but notice the passion in his voice and compassion in his eyes. He cares more about people than any of the guys on the big screens will ever care about basketball. Grant wears his heart on his sleeve every minute of every day. Grant’s passion supersedes basketball and it drowns out a testosterone filled room.

For the better part of four hours Grant and I sit swapping stories, sharing ideas, listening to each other, engaging and learning. As a young catalyst in life I consider it a great privilege to sit with Grant and learn from someone who has been through the fire and came out white on the other side. If wisdom comes from being close to the fire, then you want to be close to Grant because he radiates passion.

After a UNLV loss and a Washington upset Grant and I part ways and I am left with my thoughts as drive home. The questions race through my head: “How much passion to do I have to extend radical grace to hurting people? Am I caught up in the systems or do I still care about people? Why is Grant so stoked to be off the grid when it comes to social networking? Who am I not listening to that God wants me to listen too?”

Jesus was known for responding to those who asked him questions with a question. Grant’s wisdom has challenged me ask myself dozens of questions. Who in your life is bleeding passion? I am pretty confident that if you sat down with them for four hours you would walk away with hundreds of questions about what you are doing with your life and what are you putting your time, talents and treasures into?

Who do you need to sit down with this week? For me it was Grant Fishbook.

Nesting

Posted on 03/20/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | Leave a comment

The day of Alexis birth is fast approaching. As of today my bride is 33 weeks pregnant, which means that Lexi’s birthday is just seven short weeks away. . .

<insert pause>

. . . Okay I am back, I just stepped away from my computer and did a little dance (the dance could have been out of fear or it could have been out of celebration, but for now I am going to keep that to myself and let your imagination wander). Life couldn’t be more exciting (stressful?) around the Zimmerman household. We are a few days away from closing on our new house and weeks away from the arrival of our new baby. I am busy trying to wind down my responsibilities at work so that I can take a much needed vacation with my wife and daughter.

As I finish tasks at work I am constantly reminded of the ever changing stages of pregnancy when I get home. My beautiful bride continues to change and adapt to all the ups and downs of a first pregnancy. Honestly I think she is doing an amazing job. One phase that hasn’t happened is the nesting phase. The phase where the maternal instinct kicks in and the urge to reorganize the closets, alphabetizing the spice rack, and scrubbing the bottoms of all the kitchen cabinets takes over.

The nesting phase hadn’t started until late Thursday night when I could see the glistening of my wife’s eye and she said, “I need to clean this closet out.”

And so it begins.

Have you been through the nesting phase? What is the craziest thing that you or your spouse became obsessed about?

Social Networking Follow-up

Posted on 03/18/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | 1 Comment

Regardless of who you are or what you do, you have two brands: your personal brand and your business brand. For most of us who work in a church or ministry these brands overlap a lot. For the guy working in corporate America this might not be true, but for Christians especially our work life & business life are quickly becoming one in the same with a million watchful eyes not only on us when we are working, but when we are living.

Are you living everyday with the thought of 6 billion people watching you? I know that might sound a little over the top, but the truth is this: no matter who you are or what you do, anything you post on the interwebs has the ability to be accessed by someone else. I can hear you saying, “But Benji my profile is set to private.” Private-schmivate, I am your friend and I can Retweet anything you say and copy and paste almost anything you do. Just like that 6 billion people have the potential of seeing it. In fact, this week it was announced that Facebook has surpassed Google as the most trafficked website in the world. Your information may not be seen by a lot of people, but it has the potential to be seen by everyone. Do you keep that in mind when you blog, update or tweet?

The last week has been a great progression of conversation with a dynamic team of people here at Central about the uses of social media based on the five questions I posted on Tuesday. Personally the flow of conversation has led me to a place where I was leaning but I wasn’t ready to jump into. That place revolves around others. On the anniversary of this blog last month I posted that I wanted to write more about others and less about myself. That hasn’t happened. I really need to brainstorm up some appropriate ways to shift DWH from being about me to being about you. Your stories are just as powerful, transformational and insightful as mine.

The golden nuggets of information that have flown out of the pot at the end of the rainbow this week have been nothing short of challenging to both my personal brand but also my ministry brand. I have come to value some of my staff with a greater appreciation and this whole process has humbled me a lot. While working through these different things I kept thinking to myself: “I am not as personable as I can be.” Social media is about relational connection not marketing. I utilize Twitter and Facebook too much for marketing and not enough for social and relational connection.

That has to change or I might as well turn all of this off.

How do you find the balance between work and personal brand? How about the balance between social marketing and social media?

Social Networking Answers

Posted on 03/17/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | Leave a comment

Yesterday I posted 5 questions I was hoping to get some feedback on. Most of the feedback I received was with interactions with people I know here in Vegas, but as promised I thought I would share some of my own thoughts about social networking:

What do you love about social networking?

  • I think what I love the most about social networking besides all the great points that everyone has mentioned thus far, is the idea that anyone can connect with anyone. Very busy and very influential people whom I would never had access too in the past have all sent me messages at one point or another when I had contacted them about something. Social networking makes a huge world a very small 6 degrees of separation.The second thing I love about social networking is that it allows life to continue in real time. When I head back to Michigan to see my family or friends I don’t have to spend hours “catching up” but our friendships can continue as is. We can go out and make new memories and share new experiences rather than spend all our time catching up on things that we missed out on. There is no lag time between visits. My friends have been following my tweets, my Facebook or my blog and they know what I am up to and vice-versa.

What drives you crazy about social networking?

  • Maybe it is just me but one thing that drives me crazy about social networking is the fact that because it allows people to stay connected in real time it leaves a lot of room for feeling left out. When particular friends hang out, post pictures or a department goes bowling, etc and you are not invited, you feel left out. The online real time of social networking can create a disconnect with actual relationships.

What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve seen people make – specific anonymous examples.

  • I think I made the biggest mistake of my life when I first started Down Write Honest. I had been blogging on Xanga/Myspace/Blogspot/Wordpress.com for nearly 5 years when I started DWH, but to be honest I wasn’t a “power blogger” who knew what to do or what not to do. I was young man who was hurting. 3 days into DWH I posted a blog that received almost 10,000 hits in four hours (post has long been removed). It lead to meetings with my leadership team and I almost lost my job here at Central. I blogged my garbage to the world. Some of you read it, some of you didn’t but it was a mess for others to oversee and for me to clean-up. Being on staff at a church does not put me on a pedestal, but it does mean that there is a watchful eye on me. I learned a lot from that post and the aftermath, but the most important thing I can say to a church staff person who interacts in social networks and blogs is to think about your audience as write. Your audience is one that looks up to you even when you don’t think so and there is someone always watching to see what you are doing or saying. I found this out the hard way.

What advice do you have for people who are new to social networking?

  • Here is what I say to people who are starting Facebook/Twitter/Linkedin/Blogging -> Add value to people’s lives. Social networking can seem like a rat race of information that is constantly progressing. In that progression there are ultimately two types of people, those that take from others and those that add value to the lives of others. Do you want to be the kind of person who adds value? Or takes it? (And by adding value I don’t mean sending me gifts for my imaginary farm!)

What are good ways to use social networking for your church/business/ministry?

  • Social networks can be leveraged towards amazing connections, especially for a church. It is hard not to use these things for marketing if you are business, but as a church/ministry you are more of an embodiment of the person of Jesus so being “social” shouldn’t be too hard, after all Jesus spent most of his years in ministry interacting with people, not marketing to them.

Do you have any more thoughts about social networking? Any thing stand out to you that you would disagree with?

Social Networking Questions

Posted on 03/16/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | Leave a comment

I have been given the opportunity to chime in on a working document about social networking. Tomorrow Central will be having an all staff meeting about branding, marketing and social networking. Here are just a few of the questions I have been asked about:

What do you love about social networking?

What drives you crazy about social networking?

What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve seen people make – specific anonymous examples.

What advice do you have for people who are new to social networking?

What are good ways to use social networking for your church/business/ministry?

I would love to hear your thoughts on any of these. Tomorrow morning I will post my replies to these specific questions.

Turning It Off

Posted on 03/15/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty | Leave a comment

Last week there were a couple of posts that caught my eye. Tony Steward from Lifechurch.tv posted about the Input Zen. The basic idea is that we all need to spend more time on the things that add value to our lives (exercise, solitude, spiritual disciplines, reading, fellowship with others) and less time on things that take value from our lives (Twitter, Facebook, Google reader, Blogging, etc). It was an extremely challenging post to read and an even harder one to practice. Because if you are anything like me, your life looks something like this:

(borrowed from this post by John Saddington from 8bit)

Add in check Twitter & Facebook some where after “write replies” and you have summarized my first 2 hours of work everyday. This picture is really tough when I really think about it. My life is better when I do none of these things. Do you find yourself struggling with this stuff? Does this resonate with you?

I guess the part that I wrestle with the most, is there a way to have balance with these things? Or do I need to be extreme and shut off my Facebook & Twitter and just concentrate on blogging or reading blogs.  Can you turn off the cycle or are we infinitely trapped?  I think the hardest part about all of this for me is that deep down inside I somehow feel the need to stay connected to the information that is available from my Google feeds, and Twitter/Facebook updates.

But the reality hits hard when someone like Grant Fishbook shows up. Grant is the senior pastor of Christ the King in Bellingham Washington. Grant visits Central a few times a year and he is always a pleasure to have in town because his heart for hurting people is enormous.

One of the things I love about Grant is that if you Google his name you will find very little about him. He isn’t on Facebook or Twitter and he doesn’t have a blog. The guy is off the radar. Most of the links about Grant are related to his trips to Central! Despite the fact that Grant is off the grid when it comes to social media, he is dead on when it comes to serving people. His church is meeting the needs of thousands every week in Whatcom County and he is leading the way to make the world better place in the Pacific Northwest.

Unlike me, Grant doesn’t live in the infinite loop. This week I am going to be meeting with Grant a couple times to talk through what he does to maintain a loop free life. What about you, do you struggle with the infinite loop? What kind of things do you do to keep it from dominating your life?

Must Love Food

Posted on 03/14/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago I posted my five favorite places to eat in West Las Vegas. I received a bunch of emails and recommendations from readers and Central staffers for other places to eat. For fun I thought I would post some of my favorite meals throughout the valley. I love good food and I am sure most everyone else does, so I would love to hear some of your favorites. Here are just a few of mine:

  • Favorite Appetizer: Santa Fe Spring Rolls at Bj’s Brewhouse (Multiple Valley Locations)
  • Favorite Soup: Corn Chowder at Mimi’s (Multiple Valley Locations)
  • Favorite Chicken: Mac Chicken at Kona Grill (Rampart/Charleston)
  • Favorite Veggie Burger: Kilauea at Islands (Charleston/215)
  • Favorite Burger: Western Bacon Burger at Kilroy’s (Grand Canyon/Flamingo)
  • Favorite BBQ: Pulled Pork at T.C. Rib Crib (Desert Inn/Durango)
  • Favorite Burrito: Chicken Burrito at Cafe Rio (Mulitple Valley Locations)
  • Favorite Breakfast: French Toast at The Coffee Cup (Main Street Boulder City)
  • Favorite Dessert: Chocolate Chip Calzone at Claim Jumper (Multiple Valley Locations)

Those are just a few of my favorites, do you have something to recommend? I would love to try something new! (So would my pregnant wife, so please make some recommendations, even if they are chains!)

Feelings

Posted on 03/11/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Personal | 2 Comments

A week ago I posted that I was going to try an experiment where each day I would try and write down 10 feelings I was having to try and help me explore why I get angry so often. Prior to starting this self imposed homework assignment I expected this exercise to be enlightening and fairly easy to do. I am not really sure where I got the idea that it would be easy, because it has turned out to be anything but.

Feelings are extremely hard to identify, especially if you have never spent time trying. Asking yourself questions like: how did that make you feel? What are you feeling right now? What is making you angry? etc are tough questions for me to ask. These are not typical questions for my life and I am guessing that they are not very typical of your life either.

If I had to give an overview of what I have learned so far I don’t know that I could come up with brilliantly written paragraphs that give a summary adequate to the experience thus far, so instead here are a few bullet points:

  • Studying my emotions and feelings takes time; because it doesn’t come naturally I need to make more time available to studying my feelings
  • The more I started to look at my feelings the more disappointed I got because I always seemed to be frustrated or angry
  • I have limited “feelings” based vocabulary. I only know basic words: happy, sad, etc.
  • I am slowly learning that I have a right to feel. I have been told all my life to stuff my feelings, so I have, but by doing this exercise I am realizing that I have a right to feel something, the next step is learning how to manage those feelings in a positive interaction with others.

The study of my feelings hasn’t yielded the results I was honestly hoping to find, so I am going to continue putting more effort into learning my feelings and studying them. Expect more updates to come in the future.

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