5 Places to Eat in West Las Vegas

Posted on 02/28/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | 2 Comments

It’s Sunday morning and I am tired. It has been a long week and a frustrating one at times. Buying a house, maintaining a strong work ethic, serving & supporting my pregnant wife, and digging into the topic of social injustice is just about as much as I can handle. Honestly, I need a break. So instead of posting about the relational, spiritual or leadership principles I might have learned this week I thought I would post something else completely random: like my 5 favorite reasonably priced restaurants in West Las Vegas. There are tons of great restaurants out there, but these just happen to be a couple of my favorites:

#5. Hussong’s – Okay well this place isn’t quite in West Las Vegas, but it is on the west side of the strip! Located in Mandalay Place (in between Mandalay Bay Hotel/Casino and Luxor Hotel/Casino) with a very easy access, this replicate of Hussong’s in Ensenada Mexico is a phenomenal place to get authentic Mexican food! The prices are amazing for the strip. It has only been open for a little over a month, but it well worth the visit. I think they have locals specials on Mondays.

#4. Yogurtland – Yogurt is all the rage in Las Vegas. New yogurt shops are opening all the time all over the valley, but my favorite chain is Yogurtland at the I-215/Flamingo exit. Sure they have a few less flavors than some of their competitors but the prices are as cheap as they come. My wife and I always feel like we spend $2-$5 less when we eat at Yogurtland in comparison to any other yogurt shop. They have chain stores in 6 states and 2 other countries so check the website to see if there is one near you!

#3. Lindo Michoacan – Voted the best Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas for the last 6 years, this is probably my favorite local “chain” (they have 4 valley locations). This place has phenomenal bean dip, a huge menu selection and is definitely a fun atmosphere for any occasion. I think my favorite thing on the menu are the chicken enchiladas or the fajitas.

#2. Jamm’s – My wife and I love breakfast food, we tend to eat out for breakfast as much as dinner if not more. Why? Because of places like Jamm’s! It is located next to Albertson’s on the corner of Rainbow and Charleston, this little gem has won numerous Best of Las Vegas awards. I highly recommend the pot-a-bread, as well as the french toast!

#1. Create – Hands down this is my favorite place to eat in Vegas! This custom order burger and custard shop is located at Tenaya & Lake Mead Blvd just off US 95 North. I absolutely love eating at Create, here’s why:

The owner, Lance Gaulich, is a phenomenal guy who is almost always there and treats customers like guests in his own home.

Nothing is over priced and the portions are perfect.

They have different types of burgers for different types of peeps: regular, turkey, vegetarian (homemade & amazing!), & mushroom with everything “customizable” or select from a pre-created menu.

Create specializes in “gourmet” burgers at just a few dollars more than In-and-Out, which I am willing to pay to get a great burger.

They have great custard too!

Those are just a few of my favorites in West Las Vegas, if you are ever in town, or have time to drive across town to try something local to Las Vegas I highly recommend that you give one of these a try!

Action Takes Effort

Posted on 02/26/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty, Other | Leave a comment

Here is something that I recognize from this week: action takes effort.

All week I have been talking about social injustice and different organizations/causes you could get involved with. I have been convicted as I take a deeper look into my own heart about what I care about and what I am willing to sacrifice.

Truth be told: I am not willing to sacrifice much.

Action takes TOO MUCH effort.

And I am COMFORTABLE.

Or at least I justify it that way:

“I have too much going on to pray for that organization”

“I have too much to get done to volunteer for that cause”

“I have too much to pay off before I can donate to that mission”

BULL.

Today I called and canceled my gym membership. Monday we start sponsoring our first Compassion child.

I am tired of talking.

It’s time for action.

Will you step up and do something?

Help a Ugandan Refugee village

Sponsor a Compassion child

Buy some tents for homeless Haitians

Give clean water to Africans

3 Causes For the Long Term

Posted on 02/25/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty, Other | Leave a comment

On Tuesday I posted about the 3 causes I believe everyone should get involved in: community, church, passion. Yesterday I posted about 3 causes that need our help immediately: Village of Hope Uganda, A Home in Haiti, and Verve. But if you are anything like me, and I am guessing that a few of you are, the vast amount of organizations available out there to support leads me wondering if I am supporting the best thing for a particular injustice. I want the best bang for my buck. How do I figure out who is the best and how to partner with them?

Here are 3 simple things I try to do when evaluating a cause I want to support:

Does the cause meet a need in the world in line with my passion?
How long has the organization been around, who is running it and what is their track record?
Does it build up the local church?

Simple questions, but easy ones to find out. Research a cause! I am sick of religious organizations scamming people out of money and making financial profit rather than followers of Jesus. Take your time when diving into supporting a cause for the long term, make sure that they line up with what you believe and what you value. A few years ago I was getting ready to support a particular organization only to find out that they were not willing to partner with local churches in a particular country, they only wanted to make their organization more famous, for me that was enough to pull the plug on donating.

I, like many of you are swamp with things to do so I have compiled a short list of 3 organizations that I personally want to support. Currently my wife and I do not have the funds to do so, but as monies come available these will be the causes that get our financial support, because they already have our prayer support:

Compassion International. I can’t wait to sponsor a child through Compassion. I just know that initially I have the money to do so, but I want to make sure I have the money for the next few years so that we aren’t just one time givers but lifetime investors.

blood:water mission. What seems like a millennium ago, I worked in East Africa building a primary school. The workers and villagers would walk miles into town to get clean water. A few years later I went on a month long trip to Southern Africa and saw the devastation caused by HIV/AIDS. Deep inside my calloused heart there is a passion for people to have clean water and be saved from HIV/AIDS. I can’t wait to partner with blood:water mission to make a difference on the only other continent I called home.

Three Square. Locally I really want to start partnering with Three Square, an organization that works in the Las Vegas Valley to feed underprivileged families as well as the homeless of our community. I am making excuses, but I still haven’t found a time that works to regularly volunteer, but I really want to make this happen soon.

Simple. Intentional. Outreaching.

Changing the world takes a plan. What is yours?

3 Causes that need YOUR help TODAY

Posted on 02/24/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty, Other | 2 Comments

Yesterday I mentioned that there are millions upon millions of Non-profit causes in the United States that are fighting against social injustice around the world. I tried to ease us into the conversation with 3 causes that you could support immediately: your community, your church, and your passion. However, sometimes easing into a conversation has little effect and doesn’t really challenge one to take action.

TODAY WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION!

A few weeks ago when the tragedy struck Haiti, I was overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness. I wanted to go and do something, but what could I do from thousands of miles away? Enter Shaun King. Shaun is the pastor of Courageous Church in downtown Atlanta. The things this young church are doing are incredible and one of them is a project called A Home in Haiti.

Did you know that Haiti has a rainy season? It does! And it starts in 4 DAYS!!! Want to make a difference in the world? Buy a tent or donate money to buy a tent! Because by the end of this week it is going to start getting miserable in Haiti for the hundreds of thousands of people who are living in makeshift tents and under plastic tarps. SO DO SOMETHING NOW!

Even though Haiti has dominated the news recently, there are still millions of other causes out there, one of my favorite people in the world Cindy Cunningham is doing her part to fight against injustice everyday by helping Ugandan Refugees find a safe haven to grow up. Right now as we speak Cindy is in the middle of a 72 day campaign to raise funds and awareness for the 72 orphans they are working with currently. Read their stories and you will be moved to do something! They need all kinds of stuff, from $5 water jugs, $10 mosquito nets to $25,000 for a home in the Village. What can you do to help? Because these beautiful faces need our support and help!

Check out this post by Christian musician Britt Nicole from her recent trip to Village of Hope! Partner with Cindy and I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Lastly but most importantly I know that there are a lot of causes out there that need financial help. Finances are tight these days and every ministry is pushing the flat line, but there are things you can do besides give money. In Las Vegas there is a great new church starting next month called Verve. They need help! I truly believe that the pastor, Vince Antonucci will do a ton of great things to help the Las Vegas Valley and fight injustice here. Here is an excerpt from his blog yesterday:

If you are here in the Vegas area and would be willing to help us put door hangers on doors, we could REALLY use your help. It could be you, you and your family, you and your small group, you and your church, you and your harem, you and your army. Whatever. It’s very easy, basically you just go for a walk. No interactions with people…

The weeks we need help the most are March 22 to 27 AND March 29 to April 3.

We would give you a map to do, and the door hangers to put on. You could do it at a time that’s most convenient for you. You could volunteer for an hour, or two hours, or two hundred hours. Your choice.

If you’re willing, please e-mail me at vince@vivalaverve.org. Thank you!

Fighting injustice can be as simple as hanging door hangers or as complex as spending your hard earned money to buy tents or mosquito nets. Whatever you decide to do, do something TODAY!

3 Causes for Right Now

Posted on 02/23/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty, Other | 1 Comment

Yesterday I mentioned that social injustice is happening all over the world at all times of the day. Because the world is experiencing so much heartache on any given day it would seem like it would be easy to get involved and make a difference. But the task seems so overwhelming that myself and maybe you as well, find all the excuses not to do something. It is really easy for me to talk myself out of one thing and into another.

Let’s change that.

When I was thinking about what I wanted to write this week, I tried thinking about all the different causes I have partnered with in the past and I was going to try and sell you on my favorites, but that got me thinking, “Maybe you don’t care as much about this injustice or that thing as I do.” Reasoning with myself I decided the best thing I could do for all of us is ease us into this. How do you do that?

Put things into perspective.

In 2008 there were over 80,000 causes on Myspace & Facebook combined. In 2009 there were 179,000 just on Facebook. There are over 1.5 million non-profit organizations in the United States. Everybody in their brother has a cause. My wife and I seriously contemplated starting one and now I own a couple unused websites because of it. The point is that there is a cause on every web page and on nearly every street corner. There are millions of things you could get involved in. Here are three that I think are the most important:

Your local community. Want to change the world? Start in your own backyard! In Las Vegas there are thousands of homeless adults and almost as many children. There are dozens of organizations working to feed these children as well as adults. In the past few years my wife and I have partnered with the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, Club Christ and Caring 4 Kids. Every community in this country has non-profits that could use your time and your talents. If you don’t know of one, call the local Chamber of Commerce and ask for a directory!
Your local church. Want to change the world? Partner with an organization that already is! It may come to a surprise to a lot of my readers, but in Las Vegas there are a lot of churches and most of them are doing something to change the world for a better place. My wife and I choose to donate 10% of my income to Central Christian Church because we believe that Central is doing the right things to help change peoples lives. Every single community in the United States has a church and most churches are doing something positive. How can you either partner with a local church or help start a program in your local church to fight against an injustice that is near to you.
Your passion. Want to change the world? Write down what you are passionate about and find organizations that help your passions meet the world’s suffering. For me that means organizations like Soles4Souls, African Inland Mission, and VOX United have received extra financial support and prayer support in the past few years. The best way you can serve the world and injustice is to find the place where your deepest passions and the worlds deepest needs intersect.

There are millions of organizations and causes out there, but changing the world starts with small, simple and intentional acts: partnering with organizations in your community, partnering with your local church and finding organizations where your passions are meeting the needs of the world.

So what are you waiting for?

Social Injustice

Posted on 02/22/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty, Other | 1 Comment

Social injustice is more than the buzzword of the 21st century. Social injustice is more than just becoming a fan of a cause on Facebook. Social injustice is real and it is happening every single second of every single day. Millions are dying from HIV/Aids, millions are dying from a lack of clean water and millions more are being sold into sex-trafficking.

Every single second of every single day there is more pain and heartache around the world than we will experience in a whole lifetime. It is hard to understand, let alone comprehend the pain the world goes through every second of every day.

I was listening to a sermon recently by Tim Rotman a pastor in Vriesland Michigan. He was teaching from Richard Stearns book, A Hole in Our Gospel. During the sermon Pastor Tim mentioned that 25,000 children die everyday from preventable causes. Tim thought that number seemed really HIGH so he dug deeper. . . To be honest, I don’t like what he found. Every single day 25,000 thousand children UNDER THE AGE OF 5 die from PREVENTABLE causes.

Oh dang. Seems overwhelming doesn’t it?

A hundred thoughts race through my brain: “I can’t pay my own bills, feed my own family and survive in this (spoiled) economy we live in, how am I going to make a difference in the world?”

Truth be told I want to make a difference in the world. But how?

This week I am going to post about different causes that are worth your time and immediate investment. I am not talking about just becoming a friend on Facebook, but really getting involved, leading out and calling others to action. The posts will be set-up like this:

Tuesday: 3 causes worth supporting right now and I how I do that

Wednesday: 3 causes I want to support in the near future and what you can do to support them now

Thursday: 3 causes I hope to support in the long term and when I plan on doing that

Friday: Recap

What is my goal? My goal is to challenge, to inspire, to encourage and to maybe help you take a step towards making a difference in the world. Because no matter who we are or what we have been through there is always someone who needs our help, our time and our financial assistance. You can make a difference and it doesn’t require an empty bank account.

My Baby

Posted on 02/21/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | 1 Comment

Although the ultrasound did not quite turn out as we had planned (our session was cut short, we didn’t get what was advertised and our baby wouldn’t cooperate) we were able to get some new pictures in 4-d of our baby Alexis Grace due the first week of May. Amazing what technology can do now that it couldn’t do just 20 years ago:

Amazing! I absolutely love that little face. If you don’t know my wife, the bottom two pictures are exact replica expressions that she makes when she is sleeping and has her eyes closed, which is a great sign because my wife is gorgeous. I am so blessed to become a dad and I can’t wait for Alexis to get here.

My wife is 29 weeks pregnant and has somewhere between 10-11 weeks to go. Truth be told my daughter Alexis is a very big baby and she is making life very uncomfortable for my wife Ashley. If you have a moment to pray for my wife and Alexis I would appreciate it.

And the Winner is . . .

Posted on 02/19/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | Leave a comment

Thanks to all who stopped by and commented on the blog this past week. A week ago we celebrated our first birthday, so we decided to give some books away! 3 to be exact:

Primal by Mark Batterson
Guerrilla Lovers by Vince Antonucci
A Million Miles in A Thousand Years by Donald Miller

Well thanks to IntenseDebate comment threading and a random number generator here are the winners:

Primal goes to Kyle Reed
Guerrilla Lovers goes to Josh Burns
A Million Miles in A Thousand Years goes to Zack Williamson

Congratulations to the winners! If you won you can shoot me an email me with your mailing address and I will get them out in the mail next week!

Option 1 or Option 2

Posted on 02/18/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | Leave a comment

A couple of days ago I had the privilege of meeting with Curtis Templeton and Jon Michell from First Christian Church of Huntington Beach. Their church is in the process of building a new cafe & bookstore inside one of their buildings. They were seeking help & advice about things that work and things that don’t. I was more than happy to help answer some of their questions. Over the past two years I have partnered with about a dozen churches to help them get a bookstore opened in their church as well as a a couple coffee shops. *(side note: see below)

One of the things that I was reminded during my meeting with these great guys was some of the simple truths of making a business work. I have always felt like our business model was built on an old platform. After this week I am pretty confident I am right. I love reading Seth Godin and I just started his newest book Linchpin and it is phenomenal. In the book he basically gets to a place in the opening chapter where he says business (and individuals) have two choices:

“Win by being more ordinary, more standard and cheaper. Or win by being faster, more remarkable, and more human.”pg. 13

Option #1 become Wal-Mart (A cheap and easily reproduced model). Option #2 become Trader Joe’s (More expensive than other competitors, but human, engaged and memorable). Which of the two defines your church? Your NPO? Your workplace?

I know that Central Christian Church is living out option #2 but the two42 cafe & bookstore is practicing option #1. That frustrates me. One of the great things about Jon and Curtis visiting this week was the questions they asked. Being a learner is a tremendous upside to being option #2. These guys will win and be a huge success in their church and in their community because they want to learn. You can tell how much they want to learn by the questions they ask. Some of the things they said triggered some questions I wanted to get back to asking:

Who is our target audience? How are really trying to help them?
Where can we cut things out and become more unique?
Are we reproducible? If so, we are going to be under bid by Amazon and others.
Are we cheaper or human?
Are we standard or faster?
Are we ordinary or remarkable?
What am I offering that no one else offers? How are we different?

When you think about it, these are some easy questions to ask, but some hard ones to really be honest about. Over the next few weeks I am going to be digging deeper into how the two42 cafe & bookstore as well as Central Resources can make some changes to become more strategic, more unique. In the meantime what are some of the questions you ask about your own business, NPO or Church?

*I am secretly hoping that someday Michael Trent, aka, The Church Bartender will put me on his payroll, then again I am making the assumption that I have something to offer his creative genius. But if you need professional help starting a store, he is the guy! Okay that is enough plugging and ego stroking for the day.

It’s Not the Church’s Job

Posted on 02/17/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty | 2 Comments

Sometimes you can’t say things better than some one else. Today’s post is NOT written by me, if I was a great writer I would have written the following:

It’s Not the Church’s Job

I love the church. I have given my life to the church. I believe, as is often said, that the church truly is the hope of the world.

But that’s not the church’s job.

Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here you go:

Make me close to Jesus!

It’s not the church’s job.

Save my marriage!

It’s not the church’s job.

Raise my kids!

It’s not the church’s job.

Give me friends!

It’s not the church’s job.

Feed me!

It’s not the church’s job.

It is not the church’s job to give you the life you want, or hope for, much less the one that you are expected to forge through a relationship with God through Christ under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The church cannot ensure that all goes well with you. Most of life is your responsibility.

Why do I say this?

To defend the church.

Why do people often come to a church? To get fixed, find friends, renew faith, or strengthen family. All well and good, and the church can obviously be of enormous assistance in all four areas. But the church can’t be held responsible for these four areas of life, nor should you expect it to.

Let’s try and drive this one home:

The parents of a middle-school student drop their child off at a middle-school ministry. The child does not change into a model Christian student. The parents immediately search for a new church with a more effective middle-school ministry.

What is wrong with this picture? What is wrong is the complete absence of any sense that spiritual life is the responsibility of that middle-school student, not to mention that spiritual leadership within the family is the responsibility of her parents.

Instead, we have a mentality of “drop-off parenting,” which is just part of the mentality of a “drop-off church.” We drop our wives off at a women’s ministry to get them to be the wives or mother’s we want; we drop our husband’s off at a men’s Bible study to get them to be spiritual leaders; we drop ourselves off at a service or recovery group to fix our problems, or a Bible study to renew our lukewarm faith.

It reminds me of the sixties and Timothy Leary’s famous line regarding not only the benefits of LSD, but the spirit of the age:

“Turn on. Tune in. Drop out.”

That is not the way to approach the church.

There comes a time when personal responsibility kicks in.

The church exists to coalesce and enrich; to coordinate and inspire; to provide order and leadership. It exists to pull together the collective force and will of those who follow Christ in order to fulfill the Great Commission given it by Jesus Himself. Yes, it serves the family trying to raise a child; it seeks to heal those who are broken; it provides the richest of communities for relationships; it offers the necessary resources for a vibrant relationship with Christ.

But it cannot circumvent the choices and responsibilities of the human will.

It cannot do life for you.

That’s your job.

James Emery White

So what do you think about what White wrote? Agree? Disagree?