It's Been a Great Year

Brad put together a short little video montage of stuff from the past year at Discovery.  Unfortunately, the original music track (How Far We've Come by Matchbox 20) caused it to get flagged as a copyright issue when uploaded to YouTube so here's the remix.  Enjoy.  And thanks for making this a great year at Discovery.

You can find all of the Cabbage videos a few more Year in Reviews, a video on How to Wash A Cat and some other stuff at the Discovery Church YouTube Channel

EDIT:

Here's the original video found on Vimeo (thanks Brad) - you can also see most of our services there on our Discovery Church Vimeo Channel

Discovery Church - Year in Review 2008 from Discovery Church on Vimeo.

I Just Realized The Bad News

NOBODY GOT ME AN iPhone!  

I feel like Ralphie from A Christmas Story.

Who wants to play the part of Ralphie's Dad and make my Christmas?  Please.....just tell me where it's hiding or where I need to look.

Had A Holly Jolly Christmas

Not a long post because I've got a wedding to go to in a little while but people have been asking for puppy pictures so here's a couple...

Lora got to see and hold Holly first

(before we brought her inside to surprise the kids)

because she's waited over 10 years for a Golden Retriever

We put her in a box (didn't even wrap it) and brought it in.

The kids were like "I thought we weren't doing presents this year"

I don't think they mind that we "broke" the no presents rule.

ADORABLE!  This is Holly Anna.  

Holly because we got her at Christmas and

Anna because it makes her name sound like the 

happy-go-lucky 'Pollyanna' (Lora's favorite movie)

And yes, even I am excited about a puppy.

(and even more excited it's NOT a cat!)

Holly's safe haven where she can escape from all the chaos.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas Day - Jesus the Savior of the World has been born.  We have plenty to celebrate.

(and for the occasional scrooge - you can celebrate the fact that the music no longer loads when you hit up my blog)

What's Your Reaction?

I watched this and it made me....

Watch this and tell me what you're reaction is.

Oh, and by the way....only one more post until the Christmas music doesn't automatically load on this page.

Swaziland Christmas Offering

I'm not quite sure what to think right now. We, as a family, have committed to not really "do" Christmas gifts this year and instead, we're going to be giving and investing in stuff that will be much more likely to have an eternal impact - like Operation Christmas Child or our Swaziland Christmas offering. There are still moments when I think and wonder...."what am I going to get________?" but then I catch myself and reassure myself that it's actually ok that the answer is "nothing"

Here's what I'm not so sure about....when I presented the church with the idea of spending less and giving more and specifically giving to our Swaziland Christmas offering to help train pastors and start churches there, people were interested and excited. From the sounds of it we'll have no problem assembling a team to go over there this summer. I figured even at a low (i.e. worst case scenario) estimate, each adult in our service giving $100 to this would help us reach our giving goal. Well, I'm not sure what's going to happen. I think people's intent will be good, but their actual decisions might interfere and they won't really spend less so they can give meaningful, impactful, important gifts. I guess we'll see. And if you want to give to our Swaziland Christmas offering, just click HERE, sign in or create an account, choose SPECIAL Offering and give.

I Know!!

Yes, I know I haven't blogged for a while (what will be changing come the first of the year)

I know that the Christmas music playing whenever you log on here is driving you nuts

I know you think I care that the music drives you nuts (but I don't)

I know I haven't gotten our Christmas letter out yet

I know Christmas is just over a week away

I know that we're going to make a difference in Swaziland with our Christmas Eve offering.  How much are you and your family contributing?

I know our family is going to enjoy one present (pretty much the only one) immensely

I know that we have some of THE best people at Discovery Church.  Period

I know some people have used the excuse that WE aren't organizing a Second Saturday Service and wrongly think that YOU don't have to love and serve others in our community.

I know Christmas Eve is going to be great!

I know you're going to have to listen to "It's the Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" a few more times (if I blog too much it will go to the next page and won't play automatically)

I know somebody wants to buy me an iPhone, but isn't sure if I'm serious - I'm SERIOUS.  Claude and Marcus would probably like one too, but I asked first.

Wednesday It Is

The Ebelings will be in the Brandon, FL area on Wednesday (Dec 3) if anyone wants to hook up with us.  We're just setting up "camp" at the Ron and Windy Tuckers house so you can stop by there anytime between 5-8 (and 8 is a pretty firm end time since they need to get their kids to bed and we need to get ours back to Winter Haven - so don't be late!)

If you need directions or something else, feel free to email me and I'll shoot you their address otherwise we'll hopefully see you there!

I Always Knew

I went to my blog this morning and noticed in my reader along the side that something was "different" about Claude's feed.  And it's not just his feed, I clicked on the link and that post is all whack too.  I don't know how he does it, but I always knew he was odd.

More Random Thoughts

Lately, the easiest posts for me to make are just random thoughts so here's some more...

• I think it's cool that I can connect to the internet through my phone so I can blog
  
• I missed having Thanksgiving with the Daraja Children's choir, but enjoyed having it with my family in FL (Laci posted some pics)
  
• 13 people in a 1200 sq ft house wasn't nearly as chaotic as I thought it would be.  Actually slept pretty well and things went well too (mostly)
  
• Ordered a new HD tapeless digital camcorder (it just arrived! - can't wait to play with it)
  
• We brought the lizard with us.  When she gets cold she doesn't move and looks dead.  Glad she's not though
  
• Lora's dad took us out wild boar hunting.  It was amazing - you actually head out into the brush to confront it head on (after the dogs have found it)  Tyler had to [squeamish people stop reading here] take out his knife and stab one in the heart a couple of times to finish it off since it was still dangerously kicking around.  Great father/son moment.  (got some pics below)
  
• Gonna go see my mom and dad in a few hours and spend a few days there. 
  
• I'm already done Christmas decorating (did you hear my music?)
  
• Guess who didn't get up early to go shopping on Black Friday?  yep, that's right - ME!  I honestly don't get that whole idea
  
• Potty training a kid can be a bit of a challenge - that's all I'm going to say about that.
  
• Hoping I get a round of golf in over the next few days
  
• I think we'll be in Brandon, FL on Tuesday - just don't know where.  Trying to find a place so we can see as many people as possible while we're down here without having to drive all over the place (don't get much time with people that way either)  We'll let you know as soon as we have a better plan
  
• I love using our GPS - I never use mapquest anymore
  
• Loved spending the night with Ali Terry (Gilman) on our way down here.  She's got two cute little kids that my boys (particularly Champ) loved.
  
• Traveling with 5 kids is actually pretty fun for my family
  
• Excited for Christmas - love that people are open to hearing and talking about Jesus
  
• Jonathan Combs is speaking at Discovery this week.  Stinks that I have to miss it but I'm sure he'll do great.
  
• I think people should be able to take a vacation at least every two months.  This is great.
  

The first one that Tyler shot. 

He got away when we first got to him,

but then ran into a watering hole and 

Tyler finished him off.  He was almost 200 pounds

Here's the one I got to shoot. 

 Couldn't tell until after we got him

 that he was old and scrawny.  

The guides didn't even bother loading him up 

he was so boney.  I got the reject Pig.

I let Tyler shoot the second hog too.  

This thing was running all over the woods, 

was mean and ornery and even after Tyler shot it, 

he had to take out his knife and stab the thing TWICE

It wasn't even 10AM in the morning yet, 

and we got our two hogs.  Now we're curing it 

and trying to figure out what to do with a couple hundred pounds of pork!

Yep, I'm Decorating For Christmas! Ho Ho Ho

Thoughts to Catch Me up

It's been too long since I wrote and wanted to make some comments on the Marriage Conference, church, Cabbage, the holidays, and other stuff.  Here's my thoughts in bullet form:

• Marriage Conference went great I thought.  Had about 40 who actually showed up for the whole thing and feedback and response has been great.  Shout out to Randi Kirkland, her parents, my wife and older kids for their help doing childcare.  All day Sat made for a long day
  
• I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really am enjoying the Cabbage series at church.  The set looks great, the shirts are a hit, and well, 1 John has never been so interesting.  Check out the message videos HERE  (wk 1   wk 2   wk 3) or a promo video or two HERE (there's 20 or so, but I think there's only 4 up)
  
• The marriage conference (or at least the prep leading up to it) didn't make a positive impact on my marriage.  But things are all better now.
  
• There may be up to three new churches starting around Greenville in the next year that I know about.  I'm meeting with one potential guy tonight and a couple others after Thanksgiving.  That's exciting.
  
• I'm super excited about some of the stuff we have planned already for 2009.  Particularly stoked about Easter - yep, Easter.  That series is going to be amazing!
  
• Excited about Christmas too - the new series kicks off Dec 7.  You should hear more about it this weekend
  
• So proud of the heart of the people at Discovery.  The Daraja Children's Choir is going to be in Greenville and some of our people decided to adopt them, house them and provide them with a real American Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving.  Sad I'm going to be out of town for this.  These kids were amazing when we saw them at Catalyst.  Go read about them HERE.  They'll actually be giving a concert here in Greenville on Tues, Nov 25th at 8PM.  More details.
  
• Been good to see some Outlets are starting to multiply to new locations and new ones will be starting soon - particularly excited for the new one that will give the college crowd a place to go.
  
• My oldest boy turned twelve on Tuesday.  Wow.  When we get to FL next week, we're going boar hunting.  It's what he wanted to do.
  
• I took down the crib that I made in the girls room.  That was kinda sad because I'm probably not going to be putting it back up until I'm a grandpa (although we could still adopt right Lora?)
  
• I am so in love with the fact that my girls will not go to bed until Lora or I sing "Amazing Grace" with them.  I've got to get video of Hannah singing along....
  
• The Boys and Girls Club wants us to see how much more we might be able to pay in rent.  I wonder if "nothing" is an option?  We'll see
  
• The kids (girls in particular) a slowly wearing us down....Hannah's potty trained so apparently someone (mommy!) promised them we could get a dog then.  We're shopping.
  
• Excited to invite people to do Christmas a little different this year...you'll have to wait.  Let's just say it should have a global impact.
  
• I'm glad football is over for the boys.  We went to turn in their equipment the other night and there was still one team practicing because they're in the finals.  Thought to myself "that's what you get for winning."
  
• Mentioned on my twitter that Chandler went to the orthodontist and we were told it's gonna cost $10,000 to fix his teeth and mouth.  I told Chandler, "I hope you like Jell-O"  Funny thing was, Lora heard that and her response was "I love my husband."  Why?  Because I set up an HSA and we can pay for it out of that!  Dang, I love me too!
  
• Apparently, some people really like their cats.  I made a comment about the difference between cats and dogs in church and got a lot of feedback.  Funny stuff.  The next week I showed this video ("he's a very loving cat" my butt).  Was talked out of showing this one (made this in FL years ago)
  
• Been sick the last few days but feeling better today.  Hate when you feel sick - it takes twice as long to think and do stuff (at least for me) and I didn't have the time to waste.
  
• Guest speaker - Jonathan Combs - gonna be speaking the last week of Cabbage (Nov 30)
  
• Dr. Frank Lodeserto is speaking Dec 14th during our Christmas series.
  
• I love my wife.
  
• I love my kids.
  
• Can't wait to head down to FL and see family, go boar hunting and just chill
  
• I still think there's a small, small chance that Notre Dame beats USC on Nov 29.  That would make my year.
  
• If you're wondering what to get me for Christmas - did I mention I'd love an iPhone?  (and if you really love me you'll pay for the first 2 years right?)
  
• My dad got a Mac,  and he's already learned to iChat (and I can help him remotely without having to try and "talk" him through it)
  
• Gonna decorate for Christmas tomorrow.  It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!
  
• If you made it to the end of this, you have too much time on your hands (or you really love me - which means you're going to buy me an iPhone right?)

Marriage Support

It's a sad but true fact that all too many marriages are far from the picture of "wedded bliss."  Now I don't suppose to know the reasons for it, but I know I've experienced periods of the same disappointment and frustration in my marriage.  I also know this.  We didn't quit, we got help, we're better because of it.  So in the spirit of blessing others, in just a few hours we'll be hosting our first ever marriage conference for Discovery Church.  And I'm excited.

We have what looks to be about 20 couples and a few singles that are coming to this two day investment in relationships.  You see, I'm committed to doing what I can to stem the tide of dissatisfaction and divorce.  I'm willing to invest in others because others have invested in me.  I honestly believe that if the marriages we see today were being lived out in the way God designed them (a covenant, life-long commitment, NOT a contract) then people would be happier, more productive and those looking for a relationship might use marriage as a standard rather than as an excuse for non-commitment.

So if you would, please pray for this weekend, pray for these couples, pray for these marriages and pray that the effort we put in will reap benefits far beyond today, but into the next generation.  Just like in life, it doesn't matter where you've come from, what you've done or how hopeless things appear.  With Jesus Christ, ANY marriage can become a beautiful blessing to you and all who see.

It's About Time!!

Since we switched to Macs, the only thing I really miss is my Bible study software.  I've got thousands of dollars worth of books and resources, but have to run Windows on my Mac to use them and it gets frustrating sometimes but hasn't been impossible - just annoying.  Well, great news (at least for me - some of you might not care).  Logos, the maker of the best Bible study software on the planet, just announced that they're taking pre-orders for the soon-to-be-released Mac version.  Amen!!

Check it out here

Election Thoughts

I've had a couple days now to think and reflect about the election in 2008.  Figured I'd just share some thoughts.

• While I don't agree with his policies (or what I expect his policies to be) I can say I am excited that our nation, which was so divided by color just a few decades ago, can move beyond that and elect a black President (with a name like Barak even)
  
• I'm glad the commercials are over
  
• I'm disappointed in a large segment of McCain backers who simply complained or threatened to leave the country (even in jest it sounds foolish)
  
• It looks like Obama has at least for now, given many foreigners a better view of America
  
• I'm so glad I don't live in California - where they are more concerned with hens that lay eggs in cramped metal cages [Proposition 2]  then they are with allowing parents to be involved in making medical decisions concerning their kids [Proposition 4]
  
• Stuart Smalley (aka Al Franken) seems to have lost his bid to become a Senator from MN by less than 500 votes - I thought he was good enough, and smart enough....and doggone it, people like him!  Just not quite enough people I guess
  
• Obama gave a great acceptance speech to a huge and excited crowd - it was fun to watch history being made
  
• The world didn't end (if you're a McCain supporter) and the Messiah hasn't come (if you're an Obama supporter).  Jesus will determine the timing for both thank you.
  
• There were a lot of campaign signs around Greenville....way more than this, but a few roads, street corners and polling stations were cleaned up early.

[edit] The "victims" ran into the husband of the candidate shown on one of the big signs and they wanted it back.  The sign for Marrian McLawhorn will be happily returned.  They report that he was quite good natured about it.

Don't Forget To Vote

Today's the day.  Whatever you think of the candidates, the campaign, the state of America or status of Iraq, if you plan on sharing your opinion about government in any way, you better get out and vote.  It's your right, your privilege and your responsibility.

Spreading The Wealth Around

Somebody sent me this and I thought it was too funny to pass up.  Yeah, yeah, I know I probably shouldn't get all political and stuff but you're a big person....you can handle it.  And it's just plain funny.  

BTW, I thought these were funny too.

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Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

This is not a fun read, but is an absolutely necessary one. And not just for pastors. I truly respect Perry Noble and the work he's doing, his vision for the church, his take on leadership and most importantly his desire to simply hear from and honor Christ. I've felt the same way. I've actually had to share some ugly truths with my wife, but I got help. Will you?

Read AND follow

Claude Coverage

One of things we love to do is have fun.  If you didn't know, I'm a big practical joke kinda guy.  So much so that one time I "stole" Randy's car (with the help of his parents and others) and painted it pink, decked it out in Hello Kitty stuff with spinners and curb feelers and made him drive around town that way for a few months.  With 12,000+ people, Catalyst presented a great opportunity to pick on Claude.  I printed up a bunch of Claude heads (click the link to download and print your own - Claude is speaking this Sunday so he might be more comfortable if he was surrounded by himself), stapled them to paint sticks and passed 'em out and put them in some rather conspicuous spots.  If you'll click on the first picture you can see Claude looking up at the speaker from the floor of the stage (hint: you can see him hiding under the piano)

There were screens all around that people watched for words during worship and any videos they played.  Claude liked being there up close.  He even built a bigger fan base than he already has and whole groups wanted to be like Claude.  I hear he even ended up watching people in the bathroom (now that's creepy!)  Long live Claude!

Claude having a good time at Catalyst

A Catalyst attendee trying not to make eye contact

with the creepy Claude head

Some of Claude's fans (including the pastor 

of Wilson Community Church and his wife!)

Between the Promise and the Payoff

There are some people who just inspire - being around them makes you want to be better, push harder, go further.  Steven Furtick is one of those people.  He's a 28 year old kid who leads an amazing church called Elevation in Charlotte, NC (not even 3 years old and around 5,000 people attend each week and they baptized 1,000 people in one weekend!)

I've followed his story for the past couple years and have prayed for his success.  What I really liked was he was confident and humble at the same time.  He got a promise from God at 16 - committed himself to honoring Christ and being faithful and now, 10+ years later he's seeing the promise payoff.  And he understands that the process in between those two points is sometimes lonely, difficult, and filled with doubt.  

Don't believe me?  God promised all of us that He would never leave us or forsake us.  Yet, how often do we doubt or despair because of our circumstances which appear to indicate something more like "God's nowhere to be found"?  If God's promised, shouldn't we be faithful in belief - faithful in the process of waiting for Him to make good on His promise?  Yes we should.  Even when we can't see it, when it doesn't make sense, when there seems to be no possible way things could work - we need to be faithful to a God who's faithful to us.

I've already seen God come through in my life.  When we were officially homeless and didn't have enough support raised to move to NC - we didn't lose hope and God provided - abundantly.  When I didn't think anyone would come to a new church - people did.  When I didn't feel like we were reaching anyone - people believed and got baptized.  All too often I've doubted God's promises and yet He's still kept them.  Amazing!

God's got bigger plans for Discovery, we're just not there yet.  But we need to be faithful in the process.  Faithful in blessing the community, giving to others, serving people not even connected to the church or to Christ, praying for individuals, neighborhoods and this city.  God will do His part.  The question is, will we do ours?

Good or Great?

There are some people who think the church is too influenced by "business principles," but I believe that truth is truth no matter where it comes from.  Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and Built to Last shared some truths that have me thinking.  We read the book as a staff, but hearing stuff again was good.

I liked this best: "Greatness isn't because of circumstances - it's a function of choice and discipline"

Discipline is what separate ordinary people from exceptional people.  I thought about that and realized I'm not exceptional and Discovery Church isn't exceptional because I'm not (and we're not) disciplined enough.  It starts with me though, and that was a hard pill to swallow because I know it's true.  I'm not disciplined.  I'm an easily distracted, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, let's do it kinda guy.  That will get me this far, but no further so I really need to up my game in this area (again, this applies to my family life too)

Another thing that I was reminded of was the most important question isn't "What should we do?"  The question that needs to be answered first is "Who needs to be part of this team?"  It's the principle of having the right people in the right seat on "the bus."  Get the right people first.  Honestly, this one's tough for me.  When you just move to a town and start a church where you don't know anyone, it's a little harder (in my experience) to even identify the "right people."  I think we're doing that more now though and I'm seeing people step up, and step out.  We're about to assign some seats on the bus and that will be a good thing that I think will take us to another level.

One last thing that I struggle with is not, having a To-do list, but having a Stop-doing list.  Everything seems important, but reality says it can't be equally as important.  I think this is an overlooked truth.  When something new gets added to my list of things to do, something should also be added to the stop-doing list.  That's why individuals are overwhelmed and churches, organizations and even families are ineffective - we're all trying to do it all and that's too much!

So let me ask you a couple questions...

1) what do you need to discipline yourself to do

2) are the right people with you

3) what do you need to stop doing

What's In Your "Shack"?

You probably wouldn't recognize him if you saw him on the street, nor would you likely even know his name if it came up in conversation, but you may have heard of his book, The Shack.  William Paul Young shared the story behind the story of The Shack.

Hearing him speak helped me realize something more though.  His intentions for writing the book were not to build a theology, rewrite biblical orthodoxy or challenge the status quo.  He wrote The Shack out of his own experiences and for his own family (which includes 6 kids, 2 in-laws and 2 grandkids).  He self-published it, spent less than $500 in 'promotion and marketing' (on a website) and the book has since become a New York Times Bestseller for the last 20+ weeks.  I'm prone to believe him when he calls the whole experience a "God thing."

He didn't say anything too intense or weird, but just spoke from his heart about his relationship with Papa, and how we all have a "shack" that we hide things in - the very painful things that will only be overcome when they're dealt with directly.  When we wonder "where was God when this or that happened" we can know that He was there experiencing it with us.  He hasn't abandoned us but has embraced us - and often times we don't even know it.

If you haven't read the book, I encourage you to pick up a copy.  It's fiction so don't read too much into it (as some have) but allow yourself to think differently about how God loves us and how He expresses that love.

Moral Authority

I really admire Andy Stanley.  I like how he can speak clearly, directly and passionately.  I also like that he's a PK (pastor's kid) and has turned out pretty well so it gives me hope for my kids.  Not that I want my kids to pastor a 20,000 person church, but I want them to love God and be used by him.

Anyhow, Andy was the first to speak, as has been the custom since I've been going, and he really set the stage for the rest of the conference.  He talked about how we only have Moral Authority when our "creed" and "deed" are in alignment, when we live out what we believe, or put yet another way, when what we say is modeled by what we do.  The world might call it "influence," but at the end of the day, influence is something you have AFTER you develop moral authority (integrity, trustworthiness, dependability, etc)

He really brought things down to a practical level where I think every pastor, every minister, every lay person, every leader has to deal with answering the question of whether or not they have any moral authority.  Basically he asked us to examine three areas - 1) have we forgiven people and released any grudges or bitterness we may be holding on to; 2) when it comes to being successful at work or ministry and being successful at home, have we traded in a role anyone could play (work) at the expense of a role nobody else can do (husband/father); 3) have we got our financial house in order by at the minimum giving 10%, saving 10% and living off the other 80%?  Get just those three areas right and you'll be demonstrating and exercising moral authority.

The one that hit closest to home was family.  If my kids or my wife feel neglected, they are.  Whether I agree or not.  I read somewhere that Andy doesn't work past 4:30PM.  He just doesn't.  I've heard my kids complain at times because they think I'm gone too much.  My wife wants just a piece of me when she deserves to be able to have all of me.

So Discovery - I'm re-doubling my efforts to be all about my family first - and you second.  It's not that I don't love you or don't care, but anybody who loves the Lord could lead this church.  Only I can lead my family, and I intend to be more intentional about that.  What area do you need to work on in shoring up your moral authority?

Whoa- Take A Breath

If it seems like I haven't posted much, it's because I haven't.  We left Wednesday with 9 of us to drive to Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference and it was, I must say, GREAT.  There will always be a few things that I don't like, but overall - I've been challenged.  We left Friday when it was done, stopped for gas and a quick meal and pulled into Greenville about 3AM which left enough time for a few hours of sleep before having to get up and drive to an away football game by 8AM.  Spent the whole day there, got back and had to finish up a couple things that didn't get done for Sunday before we left, then set up, home, sleep, church, tear down, small group, basketball, and Monday rolls in.  

Anyhow, I'm closer to caught up now so here's what I'm going to do.  Rather than summarize Catalyst in one long post, I'm gonna post a couple reflections each day the rest of this week.  It'll help me process and you get to ride along.

Speaking of riding, when we got there the first day it was raining and you have to park a good ways out.  We saw a limo backing up and when the doors opened they invited us in so...we got dropped off in a limo after being there a whole 2 minutes.  That impressed not just the first timers with us, but it made me smile too.  Now there's a good first impression!

You can see that Brad REALLY liked the limo ride!

Reminds me of how he looked somewhere else.....

 

....at the Sarah Palin Rally (he's in the top left corner)

cheesy grin in one and yelling with Palin in the other

And I was REALLY excited to get

to spend a couple days with THIS!

Catalyst begins in 10 hours

The Discovery crew got down here to our cheap little motel (where they don't have toothbrushes for people who forgot them) after about 8 hours on the road, some spent in traffic and some following what the GPS said. Good thing some brought inflatable matresses since the guys couldn't bring themselves to share a double bed.

Better get some sleep as we're getting there early so we can get good seats. Night all

Slow Down

Dang if it isn't already Tuesday.  Time is just cruisin by.  I'm feeling good about it though because more often than not lately I've been "making the most of every opportunity" whether it's with my kids or work or friends.  Still feeling like time is going by too fast though.

So fast that in the middle of typing this out, I fielded three phone calls - and got an "emergency type" email.  So now I have to run and head out to grab something to eat before I head over to the Sarah Palin Rally at ECU (thank for the tickets Jessica!)

We leave for Catalyst in less than 20 hours and there's going to be 1000 people more than last year (which had something like 12,000 pastors and leaders)  It's gonna be crazy and it's gonna be GREAT.

Wedding Day

Lora and the kids left for football this morning and I've got a few moments before I need to head the other direction for a wedding. I really hate that I have to miss my kids games, but this was supposed to be an open weekend and when games got called off a few weeks back because of a "Nor'easter" this became the make up date. You go boys!

I do like weddings though. And I do like doing them. I get a front row spot to witness two people coming together to make a life-long commitment to one another and God as well. I get to see the hope in their eyes, the love, the dreams. And because I only marry couples that I get to counsel with, I pray I'll never have to see what so many people deal with - hopelessness, lost love and broken dreams. But if I do, I'll be sure to fight for them, call them out, and point them back to the day when they gave their word to each other and the Lord. Marriage takes work on our part to be blessed by God. So here's a shout out to my lovely bride - I love you Lora, still, and more each day.

Here's some football pics from earlier games.

Tanner (59) and Tyler (15) ready
to 'crack some heads' on defense

Tyler (15) getting a SACK!

Tyler's team after a win

Champ (17) working to shed a block

Champ (17) before the game

Tyler (15) on a little quarterback keeper

Tanner (59) in hot pursuit

Team prayer before the game
(in a community league too - thanks coaches)

Champ (17) working his way down the line

Let The Healing Begin

Things have been rough the pat few weeks, it's been a little tense around the house and apparently people have noticed (which is fine, I wasn't exactly trying to hide the struggles). Well, today my daughter Hannah decided to do something to help with the healing. While she was having some "room time" she apparently came across a naked Barbie. Upon closer inspection (or maybe through her budding womanly intution) she determined that Barbie was hurting. Hannah decided to take action and she found some 'healing salve' to apply to Barbie's bottom - as you can see.

I have to say it brought some needed comic relief into my day and when I just got home and saw the pictures, I couldn't resist sharing them with you. Then I asked myself, "Self, what lesson can you take away from this?" My answer - even when things seem to have hit "bottom," help and healing may come from the people you'd least expect. It may be messy, butt if anyone does something it's better than everyone doing nothing. Agreed?

Where's My Easy Button

I guess I was naive when I said yes to planting a leading a church. I had no idea how hard it would be and how much it would hurt. I'm writing this before everything actually happens, but if you're reading this it means I've already had to do one of the hardest things I've ever had to do as a pastor. If you don't know what I'm talking about that's fine...that's not what matters. And if you do know what I'm talking about, understand this: Life is filled with difficult choices and the beauty of it all is that they are actually YOUR choices. You get to choose how you respond. Remember....your response is your responsibility (regardless of the circumstances)

I had a choice to make and decided that dealing directly, honestly and Biblically with stuff was the best way. I'm convinced of that. Don't think for a second that myself and others didn't look and even desperately search for an "easy button." It's just nowhere to be found. People may disagree, but it doesn't matter. Are things gonna be different? To some degree. Is everything going to be all right? Depends on the choices YOU make. Is God bigger than our problems? Absolutely!

When stuff happens, and you don't know what to do, you can never go wrong by praying, asking God for wisdom, insight, direction, peace comfort or anything else you feel you need. He's there and He cares - whether you've made the right choices or the wrong ones. Thanks God.

Death Sentence

So it's Friday, been a long and trying week, I'm behind on stuff and have a PARTnership Class to teach tomorrow so books need to be printed, notesheets and programs for Sunday need to be printed still and a few other things. Well the printer that is possessed and decides where and when to print has decided not to even accept paper anymore. So nothing gets printed.

Therefore, by the power vested in me, I'm tempted to the point of most likely making this a reality. The printer is hereby sentenced to Death by Dropping from at least the 7th story (seven being a nice Biblical sounding number and all). Unless someone wants to try to intervene and file a petition or seek a stay, the sentence is most likely to be carried out in short order. I'll keep you posted and make the video available here for those with voyeuristic tendencies. Of course we only video to make sure proper procedures are followed and the printer does not suffer in any cruel or unusual way (yeah right!)

The guilty printer that has been sentenced to death
(I'm actually looking forward to it.
Does that make me a bad person?
How about a bad Pastor?)

Dealing With Disappointment

What do you do when people let you down? I think too often, we turn around and do the same thing by letting them down, instead of praying for them and working with them to make sure "whatever" doesn't happen again. Think I'm wrong, then answer this....

• When somebody we know gets caught breaking the law, how often do we distance ourselves from them (at least until things get 'back to normal')?
• When somebody makes a very serious public mistake and embarrasses or harms us or our reputation, how often do people try to stay away from them because "it just hurts too much"?
• When someone cheats on their spouse, how often do we pick sides and how often are we on the "side" of the one who messed up?
• When you are counting on someone to follow through on a promise to do something and they don't, how often do we give them the silent treatment and swear to never ask them again.
• When we tell someone a secret and they share it, how often do we start censoring ourselves around them?

The point is, we all have a tendency for self-preservation and our own comfort and that's completely natural. But when people let us down or don't live up to our expectations of them, we also have an opportunity - an opportunity to show love, grace and model Christ. And not just an opportunity. For those who are followers of Christ, we have a responsibility to restore them and help relieve the burden. We should never take away or diminish the consequences, but we should never kick our friends to the curb for messing up either. If everyone did that, I wouldn't have any friends, and neither would you.

I'd encourage you to listen to the message I shared this week....it's only by God's grace I was able to make it through it. You can listen HERE. You can listen to any part of the whole series HERE.

When The Lost Are Found

Had something thrown in my face over the last 24 hours or so.  In case you don't follow my Twitter feed (you can do that over on the side of this blog or HERE) Tyler has a Ball Python that got when we moved here and it got lost yesterday.  Someone left it out when everyone went to the library in the morning and they couldn't find him when they got back.  Lora found out first and called me to tell me to pray.

Let's stop right there.  In the grand scheme of things it's a dumb snake so why pray for a snake?  Well, in my house it's a beloved pet that even my wife likes and prayers weren't so much for the snake as for the snake to be found and for my son who lost it.  I hurt for my son.  He could have lost a book, favorite stuffed animal or lucky underwear and I still would have prayed - because something he loved was lost.

Can you see where I'm going?  I spent more time and more focus in the past 24 hours praying for my son and his lost snake than I have (I'm ashamed to admit this) in the last week spent praying for God's lost children here in Greenville.  Ouch.  God certainly doesn't love his people any less then my son loves his snake.  The consequences of people being lost isn't any less than the consequences of a lost snake.  The only difference?  I wasn't as concerned for people in danger of hell as I was for a snake in danger of missing dinner or a boy in danger of disappointment. 

The good news is, the lost snake was found.  Could it be the result of diligent effort and fervent prayer?  I think so.  So, imagine what might happen when I get back to praying for people like that.  Care to join me?

Things I'm Not Good At

Occasionally I'll have an epiphany of sorts where I realize that there are yet more things I'm not good at. It's happened before and I'm sure it will happen again - maybe even later today. I'm not sad, upset or lonely. I'm actually ok with these truths and I've come to grip with them. Some may change, some may be sentenced to haunt me until I die. Either way, I'm taking to my blog to confess...

• I am not good at administrative stuff. I know this because it is now Wednesday (not Monday) and after 4 hours of sitting at the computer I'm finally done entering and updating people and info from the weekend. I also totally didn't follow through on something I started almost 2 weeks ago (BTW - starting is not good enough) and if you've ever seen my desk you KNOW that I am not good at administrative stuff. Hate it.
• I'm not good at keeping things going. This kinda goes with my administrative short-comings, but I'll work to get something going and implemented, and then if I don't drive it, it falls to the wayside. I hate that. Either I need to raise up a leader to take it over or figure out a way to make it keep going. I guess I get bored with stuff too soon.
• I'm not good at having a regular datenight. Shame on me right?! Lately I've been terrible about this and I'll take all the blame. My wife would go out with me in a minute if I had this scheduled (who wouldn't though? I'm just THAT fun to be around). Putting some effort into making this work though.
• I'm not good at housework. Not only do I not really like it, my wife is waaaay better at it and since I work at home a lot, I really don't like to work around the house. In fact, if it ever stops raining I still need to fix the stupid pool so it won't rot over the winter now that I've finally got the replacement part I need. I've also got bushes to trim, pressure washing to do, gutters to hang, railings to repair, and that's just outside.
• I'm not good at planning ahead. I force myself to do it, but more often then not, things "sneak up" on me and I hate that. At the same time, I'm a "go with the flow" kinda guy so I don't get all bent out of shape when plans change. Unfortunately, not everybody is like that so my short-coming is somebody else's source of frustration usually.

I'm not good at plenty of other things too. So, like me, you might be asking "what the heck is this guy good for then anyway?" Well, I've got my own thoughts on that, but I'll let you decide for yourself. After all, this is a post about things I'm NOT good at. On to more enjoyable stuff (now that I'm done being "not good" at database management)