Sunday Night “Sum Up”–3.22.2009

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Each Sunday night I will be summing up the previous week’s events in a “numbered” list, along with the “sum total” of our attendance for the week…even though “I’m not very good with numbers.”

  1. Preached live at Carthage today…I love when I get to preach…I miss it!
  2. Don’t miss the preparation and study…but miss preaching.
  3. Don’t miss the “grind” of having to have a message every 7 days.
  4. Had 256 on Spring Break…don’t know if that is good or bad.? Seemed like we had a lot of new faces, which is awesome!
  5. My mom and dad spent the night last Sunday night and got to hear me preach at Collide.
  6. We went to dinner at Cheddar’s for dad’s and my birthday.
  7. Taylor and Tucker rode to SGF in the motorhome…Tucker rode “shotgun” and probably told Pa Pa how to drive the whole way!
  8. I took off Monday through Thursday to work on the house “remodeling.”
  9. I am extremely tired from scraping off our “house of wallpaper.”? There is wallpaper in almost EVERY room in our house!
  10. Didn’t get as much done as I wanted, but we will hopefully get the “wallpaper walls” textured and painting done soon.
  11. I was pretty proud of myself in not “working” during my vacation…I am pretty bad usually about “checking in” on my vacations.
  12. Taylor spent Monday through Thursday with both grandparents…had a great time!
  13. Tucker was “wheels off” here at home with us!
  14. Tuck tried to “help us paint” by painting with the roller (no cover).? He did a great job on our floor, the walls in the foyer, the hallway walls, and the playroom…problem, we didn’t want any help yet!!? Paint thinner anyone??
  15. Kids check-in is getting better each week.? Seemed like it went really well today.
  16. Mizzou RAH!!
  17. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!
  18. and as much as it hurts to say it…Boomer Sooner
  19. Bottom line–Big 12 did really well in the first two rounds.
  20. Fran is leading a pool I am in…what??
  21. I have an idea for Easter that is going to be AWESOME if we can pull it off!
  22. Excited to have staff meeting tomorrow morning and get back into the swing of things.
  23. Happy Birthday Kevin!

Here is a gallery of pictures that I posted on twitter and from my phone this week (and last week)…

The Week In TwitPics….

Friday is for…FREE Chick-n Minis

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Absolutely love Chick-fil-A!! Tucker and I are running errands and just HAD to to go by and get some minis. They are free on Fridays in March! Breakfast for cheap…”my pleasure!”

Sunday Night “Sum Up”–3.8.2009

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Each Sunday night I will be summing up the previous week’s events in a “numbered” list, along with the “sum total” of our attendance for the week…even though “I’m not very good with numbers.”

  1. Had good services today.
  2. 242 in attendance in two services
  3. …Seems rather petty (the numbers) in light of Pastor Fred Winters passing today.
  4. Here is a link to CNN for what happened…http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/08/church.shooting/index.html
  5. Pastor John went to seminary with Fred Winters…Also, Fred’s brother, Zack is a member at Forest Park.
  6. Pray for that family.
  7. Pray for that church.
  8. I am reminded so vividly of the shooting at Wedgewood BC in Fort Worth when we were at Southwestern Seminary.
  9. May God be glorified in this tragedy as He has been in the past!
  10. I am still loving the Kindle 2!? Becoming quite the Kindle evangelist…in line at the store…at the dentist…etc.
  11. Pretty sad that I am an evangelist about a stupid device and not my Savior.
  12. I was able to turn the conversation to Christ and our church though at the dentist office.
  13. I had two wisdom teeth taken out…drugged out for a couple of days…but doing good now.
  14. Had a birthday celebration on Saturday afternoon after Taylor’s basketball game…Strawberry cake–my favorite!
  15. Katie helped us tear off wallpaper…we are gaining on it…but very slowly though!

Here is a gallary of pictures that I posted on twitter and from my phone this week…

The Week In TwitPics….

Basketball Season in the Books

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Taylor has been playing basketball for 3 years now. He absolutely loves sports and really lives basketball. This year, we decided to play YMCA basketball instead of Upward. Nothing really wrong with Upward, except it is a drive and I honestly want to be around people who aren’t “professional church goers.” It has been fun hanging out with people that don’t all have a church home or background. I love working with the kids too! Our guys (and girls) have really improved over the last 8 weeks! The time has sure flown by! We don’t keep score in the games…but our kids say that we are undefeated–don’t know how that works exactly!!

Here are some fuzzy pictures at the game this morning.

Only in Joplin, MO…Man shoots TV in DTV Rage!!

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I was in the local Radio Shack the other day and overheard an older gentleman grousing about the move to digital. It was quite comical honestly. Finally, he chose to go with the “middle of the road” model of “DTV converter box” for a grand total of ten bucks after government coupon! Angry, he left the shop…blaming the lady at the counter for all the evils of technology–as if she had anything to do with the decision!

Saw this link tonight…I’m not saying that it is the same guy…but it sure looks suspicious anyway!!

Awesome Life Group Testimony

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Found this life story on the Buckhead Church blog.

Enjoy Eric’s story…

One year ago today, February 6th 2008, put changes in motion which would affect my entire life. This day was my first Oasis Divorce Recovery Class, my first experience with a church in over two years, and my first real attempt to talk about my divorce.

I walked into a room full of 13 total strangers and was asked to talk about something I didn?t even want to talk to my family about. I looked around the room and saw all these people, some looked like their world had been ripped from them, others like it was just another day. I wondered if i had anything in common with these people.

I wondered if I was normal.

The first question of the night ?Who here attends one of our church campuses, or attends a church in the area?. I was the only person in the entire group who didn?t raise their hand. I was scared to death of what would come next but nothing happened. They didn?t chastise me, try to convert me, or even give me the ?you poor soul? look, I?ve come to expect from most Christians.

The rest is another story.

Those 13 people quickly became the most important part of my week. I would look forward to my Wednesday night meetings, the sharing, the community and the family feel of the whole process. I made great friends from this little group. I found a ministry in which I?m so passionate about that I think some people think I?m obsessed.

They challenged me, convicted me, showed me how to heal, how to love, and most of all that I wasn?t alone.

We all have hard times in life. Times when we think we are the only ones who can deal with what is going on. We feel no one can really cope with us, understand us, or be able to offer us any counsel.

You are wrong.

We are surrounded by people who are willing to listen, to talk, to share, and to understand us. Do not go through the problems or hardships of life alone. We all need support and if you believe nothing else written in the posts on this blog, know that God doesn?t want us to go it alone.

So reach out, talk to one another, encourage each other. Look what 13 strangers did for me, imagine what you can do with someone you know.

To those 13 amazing and strong people I say ?Thank You?. Every day is a blessing and a testimonial to the love, kindness, and compassion you showed on Wednesday nights.

Hebrews 10:23-25 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

1 Corinthians 12:20-21 But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, ?I have no need of you?; or again the head to the feet, ?I have no need of you.?


There really is HOPE for YOU if you are hurting! God wants to do an amazing work in your life…He wants to give you peace! I love to read and hear about stories like this one, whether it is from our church or another! The bottom line…there is hope for you no matter what is going on in your life…and there is a group of people that God made especially for you to “do life” alongside!

Do you have a story about God using a small group of people who have helped you in your journey? Jump on and tell your story!

The Mac is Back

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macbookpro.jpg

The Mac is back, baby! Ryan Hunter, our awesome IT guy at Forest Park saved my computer from having to be sent off to get a new hard drive! He did some sort of magic on this baby! He recovered all of my data, wiped the hard drive clean, and put it all back just like new! Thanks to this awesome application built into MacOS called Time Machine, I was able to get all of my documents and only missed about a weeks worth of work. . . pretty sweet.

Moral of the story. . . well two . . . 1. “You don’t know what you’ve got, til it’s gone” (sung in an 80s style Hair band kind of way!) and 2. Backup, Backup, and Backup again! Go ahead, spend the extra money to get an external hard drive and back up your data–often!

Thanks again Ryan! You are the man!

Responding to “I Am A Racist” by Earl Creps

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This post was scheduled for about a week ago . . . but my computer got sick. Better late than never, I suppose. . .

I read Earl Creps’ blog through my reader and always enjoy his take on life and church planting. He used to be the director of the D Min. program at the Assembly of God Seminary in Springfield, MO. He is currently living in Berkley, CA and planting a church aimed at university students–good stuff in itself for sure!! But all that aside. . . Earl wrote a post that really hit my heart this morning. He was honest enough to write what he truly thinks, and if I was honest. . . probably have some of the same experiences and thoughts.

You would do yourself a huge favor to read this post entitled “I Am A Racist–Ernie Graves and Barack Obama.” Some of the key thoughts that really resonated to me are . . .

The monstrous injustice of it all was clothed among whites with a sort of middle-class respectability. We did not consider ourselves racists because we did not burn crosses. Only fanatics did things like that. But our society was set up in a certain way and the marginalization of black people was assumed to be part of it. Overt slavery had been replaced by a sub-economy in which people unlike ourselves lived with invisible chains.

Just a month ago, Janet and I moved from Springfield, Missouri (94% Anglo) to very multi-cultural Berkeley, California to plant a university church. During the first few weeks after our move, I had to confess to my wife that I was reacting to people of different races in different ways.

Walking down the sidewalk, I felt fine if an Asian or Anglo person approached me, but experienced just a touch of elevated anxiety if that person were a black male.

This feeling disappeared in just a few days, but shocked me into recognition that racism is not someone else?s sin, it is mine. While abhorring the overt bigotry of others, my own mind can harbor the same sub-economy that my West Virginia town operated in the 1950?s.

At this point, I still think of race/ethnicity/etc. as a modifier. For instance, our friend next door is our ?Anglo? neighbor and the people across the street are our ?African American? neighbors. By God?s grace, I want to one day think of them as just neighbors and let them define themselves. When asked what kind of person constitutes a ?neighbor,? Jesus depicted a good Samaritan rescuing a robbery victim without regard for the person?s background or circumstances.

The inauguration of Barak Obama put a face on what I am feeling. Watching his speech was a moment of healing, joy, and hope for someone who remembers segregation and was a part, even unwittingly, of the system that maintained it.

But my journey toward really loving people did not begin in the Berkeley move or the inauguration of a new President so much as it did in that junior high school stairwell.

Thanks, Ernie.

I hope I can return the favor.

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National Mall, Washington DC Memories

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capital mall.jpgWatching the Inauguration of President Barack Obama brings back some very fond memories of mine of the wonderful city of Washington D.C.

My first memory of Washington, DC was when I was a young boy on vacation with my parents. We happened to be there in the Nation’s Capital over the Independence Day holiday week. Being a young boy, I heard that there was an awesome fireworks display on the National Mall that just had to be attended–in person. They would shoot the fireworks from off of barges on the Potomac River over the Washington Monument . . . an awesome sight for sure. My mom and dad were suckers for their young son and gave in to my begging to attend the event in person!

We left the campground where we were staying in College Park, Maryland and rode the subway all the way in to the National Mall station. Upon exiting the subway, we walked into the middle of the largest crowd I had ever been a part of in my young life. There were also as many porta potties as the eye could see lining the entire length of the mall on both sides. We laid out our blanket and waited for the festivities to begin later that evening.

It was one of the most amazing nights of my life! Watching the huge crowds today have brought a flood of memories to that week in DC.

My second memory of Washington, DC was much more recently, but still a family memory. This time, our family was all there in DC, my brother Rick included. We were there for his retirement ceremony from the Navy. His ceremony was at the Jefferson Memorial–really cool deal for sure! We stayed with one of Jenny’s college classmates, Judith Norton outside of Baltimore. She is in the United States Army Field Band and Soldier’s Chorus–a professional music group that performs all over the world, but specifically in the DC area at all of the major events, such as the Inauguration today. We were able to hang out with my brother and his family as well as Judith, which was really cool. We were only a family of 3 at that point . . . but Tucker would soon be with us later that year.

It struck me then, and me now the beauty and shear genius of our founding fathers. Democracy is an amazing thing for certain! Where else but America can you have a complete change of leadership without force? Without struggle? Without “ever skipping a beat?” I mean, these guys ride in the same vehicle to almost every event for the whole day!! Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that limousine! The man swearing in Obama today, Chief Justice Roberts, is swearing in a man that did not vote for him to be confirmed to the Supreme Court. It is told that there was shear hatred between Chief Justice Warren and then President Nixon. It is all about the balance of power and the change of that power in a peaceful–almost poetic way. There is something extremely powerful about a peaceful transfer of power. Democracy is a beautiful thing indeed.

I think today there was another memory made for me. I am proud to be an American!

Just Another Manic Monday . . . and Tuesday . . . and . . .

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Go ahead and sing along the old Bangles song with me!? Don’t you just love the 80s?? They don’t make cheesy goodness like that anymore!? Who knew that Prince, or “The Artist formerly know as,” or simply “The Artist” wrote that gem of a song?

Ok, to the heart of the post . . . It seems as though I am really, really busy, but I can’t seem to get ANYTHING done!? Do you ever feel that way?? We had a great staff meeting yesterday morning, but the day seemed to get away and before I knew it, it was time for Life Group at our house.

We had an AWESOME Life Group.? I absolutely love hanging out with our new found friends and study the Bible and hang out together!? We are really starting to gel and “click,” which is really cool.? We are studying “Discovering God’s Will”–an Andy Stanley/Northpoint study.? Man, what a great study so far.? Some highlight statements that really spoke to me from this week:

“The problem with knowing God’s will is not God’s unwillingness to speak; the problem is our unwillingness to follow through. Discovering God’s Will by Andy Stanley & Reggie Joiner, 21

“God does not give us direction for our consideration; He gives us His direction for participation.”

“God is more interested in your discovering Him than His will.”

“In the process of trying to know His will, we get to know Him.”

The message was built around Proverbs 3:5-6–

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

I think this verse is very appropriate for my Tuesday that I had today . . .

Have you ever noticed how we seem to tell God “how it’s going to be?”? You know the deal.? We basically expect God to get on board with what we are doing.? When He does something we don’t want, weren’t expecting, or makes us uncomfortable; and we get all bent out of shape.? We tend to work harder, plan more thoroughly…work YOUR plan and ask God to bless YOUR plans.

God doesn’t work that way!? He wants us to wait on Him.? He wants more than anything a relationship with us that is real and personal.? He wants us to be so close to Him, that of course we would know what to do in order to do His will.

I am learning that the more plans I put together, the more they will not go so hot.? When I seek God and work on my relationship with Him, then I set to planning. . . that is when the my plans will become His plans.? When I am so atuned to His heart, that His heart becomes mine.

When things are seeming to “go your way.”? Maybe it is a perspective change?? Maybe it is a change in who is making the plans.? As Experiencing God says, “God is always at work around you.”? You need to find out what He is doing and do it.