Wow, what an awesome day for our church and the Glades community! Our first ever Easter Egg Drop was a HUGE success!

We had several hundred kids come through and EGGchange their plastic eggs for a big bag of candy at The Great EGGchange! (Get it, EGGchange?! Pretty pun-y, huh?) Our children’s pastor, Tim, says that by his best count, we gave out 1153 bags of candy! (That’s a LOT of candy!)

We think we had close to a thousand kiddos who attended the event for sure. (There may have been a few that made a couple of “EGGchanges,” if you know what I mean.)

A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped us pull off this massive event!

A HUGE thank you to Phil and Sugar Cane Golf Club hosting us.

A HUGE thank you to John Kandel and his piloting skills.

A HUGE thank you to our church staff who served for weeks in planning and implementing the vision for this community event.

A HUGE thank you to all of our volunteers who gave up their time and energy to show the love of God to our community!

YOU ALL are the BEST!!

Here are some pictures and a very short video taken by Chuck from the helicopter as they were dropping eggs.

• Lincoln Memorial
• Vietnam War Memorial
• Korean War Memorial
• Washington National Cathedral
• Newseum
• FDR Memorial
• MLK Memorial

• Photo stop at the White House (no tour because of the sequester…com’ on man!)
• Group photo at the Grant Memorial
• Smithsonian Air & Space Museum
• Tour of the U.S. Capital
• Tour of the National Archives
• Canadian Embassy stop (Our tour guide did an awesome job explaining to the kids that they had “been to Canada” by standing on the embassy property.
• Carmines for dinner.

Continuing to have an awesome time in the Nation’s Capital!

• Got up really early to drive to Gettysburg. Spent the entire morning at the battlefield. It was awful cold for these South Florida kids! (See weather app screenshot)
• Then we headed to Arlington National Cemetery. Taylor and three of his classmates took part in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns–very cool experience.
• U.S. Marine Corps Memorial. The kids were amazed at how big the statue is compared to on TV or magazines.
• U.S. Air Force Memorial
• Jefferson Memorial at night.

Taylor and I are in Washington D.C. with the Glades Day School 6th Grade class. It has been a great trip so far! A very full day yesterday with flight, and then immediately hitting the ground running of seeing all the sights.

We left the airport and headed through Alexandria, VA to Mount Vernon to see George Washington’s place. Very interesting tour and video presentations. We closed the place down and then headed to dinner. After dinner, we went to the World War II Memorial. It is very beautiful at night. Wish we were here a few weeks later in the year to have the water in the different memorials.

Tried (to no avail) to teach Josh and Taylor how to iron their shirts and pants for the wreath service during the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. These guys are definitely needing to work on their domestic skills before they are marrying material!

On our way to Gettysburg this morning. Then to Arlington National Cemetery. Will post more pics later.

Here are some from yesterday. Enjoy!

Our church had Taylor Mason in for a concert last month and it was AWESOME! I absolutely love being able to just take some time and laugh. What was so wonderful about the concert was that laughter doesn’t have any barriers. When a great comedian can make all races and ages laugh, that is truly a gift from God! I am so thankful for Taylor coming and blessing our community with the gift of laughter. Take a look at the concert on our church’s website! Enjoy!

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Philippians 4:4

Great post! Starts with this quote:

If I were Satan . . .

I would focus on the churches. I would get members to demand their own preferences. I would urge them to complain about the length of the pastor’s sermons and the color of the carpet. I would set member against member to fight over the right worship style. And I would make the business meeting the time where the most carnal members spoke and fight and destroyed.

and gets better from there!!  Check it out!

If I Were Satan – ThomRainer.com.

Hard to beleive, but Tucker is 7 years old today! He made a Candyland cake after school and we are eating his birthday dinner out at one of our favorite restaurants–Cheddar’S!

I have met Dr. Stetzer a couple of times in a church planting context in Missouri while a church planter. I say “met” by shaking his hand and maybe asking a few questions about leadership and church planting. I would hardly call him a close friend, but I do read most everything I can get my hands on by him about whatever he writes about–whether it be statistics, theology, missions, or even politics.

The last several days, he has had some really good posts about the election and the “aftermath” of Tuesday’s results. I second his emotion about it finally being over…may we all be a little nicer to one another and celebrate the UNITED States of America on Sunday as we celebrate our Veterans and their sacrifice for this country–the greatest country in the world.  Enjoy a couple of these posts (and a few selected quotes). Have a great weekend!

Ed Stetzer – People Have Spoken– What Should Christians Do Now?

So it is appropriate for us to ask the question, “What now?” Well, here are some observations and suggestions:

1. We must face the reality that we may be on the losing side of the culture war. For decades, the “religious right” has focused its energies on winning the day through political means. But this year, voters in more than one state appear to have clearly passed referenda supporting gay marriage. This marks the first time for any state to legalize same-sex marriage by the expressed will of the people rather than through court rulings or legislation. While this certainly does not mean we should stop legal or political efforts completely, it does mean that we should begin thinking about what it looks like to be the church in a “post-culture war” era. We need to be prepared to defend the protection of religious liberty as we move into the future.
2. The fight for the unborn continues. This year one of the major political parties, at their national convention, actually celebrated the right to abortion. This is a shift from the posture in years past, when at the very least it was seen as something that we hoped to keep to a minimum. (I mentioned that constant cheering for abortion rights at the DNC.) In fact, that same party actually removed the language from their platform that referred to keeping abortions “safe, legal, and rare.” Rod Snyder, of Young Democrats of America, said in our interview that President Obama does believe that we should work to reduce the number of abortions, but still, this development in the party that has secured the highest office in the land is cause for grave concern and even grief. We need to continue to fight for life through education, advocacy, ministering to women, and promoting orphan care in our churches. President Obama, I am ready to partner with you on the part where we start reducing abortions.
3. The “Mormon Moment” is not something to be dismissed and forgotten just because the election is over. In recent days, much discussion has centered around how we should view Mormonism. I have made the case that while it does qualify as a cult in the theological sense, I do not think that we should use that language in general. Many people jumped to the conclusion that I was saying this for political reasons, in order to elect Governor Romney. However, this has been my position for some time, and it continues to be my position after the votes have been counted. This election has brought Mormonism to the forefront of people’s minds, and we should not forget our responsibility to reach out to our friends and neighbors for Christ. Just because the conversations die down doesn’t mean that the mission goes away.
4. We must remain respectful and law-abiding citizens, regardless of this outcome. We exercised a tremendous right, perhaps the greatest privilege that we have as Americans. Over 200 years ago, a group of very brave men stood up against “taxation without representation” and fought to develop a nation in which its citizens could have a voice. We only need to look at pictures in recent years of brave men and women in countries like Iraq, dipping their fingers into purple ink and showing their happiness and pride over the right to cast their vote.We have that privilege. We exercised it this year. We will exercise it again. Regardless of the outcome, that is a great privilege and shouldn’t be taken for granted. We now need to go back to our homes, our schools, and our places of work and be respectful and gracious to others who have also used their voice.
5. When our King returns, He won’t be riding a donkey or elephant. For those of us who believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, nothing has changed. The Gospel is still real, and we still serve a God who has declared victory over sin and death. Anything that we do through political means is not to hold back the darkness lest it will overtake us. Rather, the charge to the church is to advance a kingdom that has already prevailed. Regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, our King is still sitting on His throne.

So let’s all slow down, take a deep breath, and do the same thing we did yesterday–preach the Gospel, love people, and engage in God’s mission.

Ed Stetzer – Politics, Pollsters, and Fox News: Dont Create a “Conservative” Set of Facts.

I am going to move on from the election theme now, but my hope is that we can tone down the rhetoric (not just with those who have opposing views, but also with each other). I think we need to do better next time by not calling pollsters liars and not believing the unbelievable– even when it is on Fox News.

Love my new iPhone 5. . . WAY better than the iPhone 3GS I have had for three years now. It was definitely getting tired! However, Houston, we have a problem…the power cable is “new and improved.” Translation: None of the dozen or so cables I have for the iPhones and iPods don’t work on the 5. The biggest problem is when you are traveling, like I was a couple of weeks ago. Kind of embarrassing to ask the gas station attendant if you can borrow an outlet every time we stop for a bathroom break! This dude has a solution…and it’s only a BUCK!

Enjoy!

Build an iPhone 5 dock for $1 – YouTube.