Sunday Night “Sum Up”–4.5.2009

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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 a really great Sunday today!!
  2. The “numbers” weren’t very good, but that is not all we are concerned about.? 220 today.
  3. We had a TON of elementary kids in second service!? We are planning on being PACKED next weekend!
  4. I had a conversation with a new couple that made my week this morning after service!? It is so cool to be able to be the kind of place that people “can’t wait” to come back next week!
  5. We prepared for next week’s worship response time by filming “Cardboard Testimonies.”? Check out an example here.? Ours are AMAZING too!? You NEED to be here in church this SUNDAY to see what God has done in Carthage!
  6. Had a very good crowd for our New Members Class this evening!
  7. We are gearing up for our Free Family Portraits…3 photographers to shoot a TON of pictures!
  8. Taylor had his first baseball practice on Friday night…lots of throwing and catching…if you can throw to a target and catch the ball, you are well on your way to being a good ballplayer!
  9. Supposed to have another practice this afternoon, but was called off–for SLEET!? What in the world??? We need some warm SPRING weather SOON!
  10. Got a lot of Kilz primer on the walls for our “little” (HUGE) painting project here at the house.
  11. Took a group of leaders to KC to Westside Family Church.? It was really good and I think it was awesome to have our folks be able to talk to some of their leaders and observe.? BTW, we are doing a TON of things right!!? Great job FPCers!
  12. Went to SGF to our architect’s office on Thursday.? The new building is going to really, really cool.
  13. Can’t wait for tomorrow night’s game!
  14. And the Masters this weekend!
  15. And MLB starting!
  16. Welcome Spring!

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

The Week In TwitPics….

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….

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….

Sunday Night “Sum Up”–3.1.2009

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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 a really good…busy week this week!
  2. Attendance was down a bit this week…probably the weather…sickness is going around too…232.
  3. LAUNCH is going to be a really good series!? We really need to get “unstuck” in our spiritual lives!
  4. Make sure you get your friends to this series!!
  5. We had a bunch of crazy technical difficulties that our team handled really well…I don’t think people noticed, though–GREAT JOB tech and worship guys!
  6. Kevin is the man with creating video stuff!? Our announcements are looking better and better each week.? Plus, we had the sultry, sweet, smooth sounds of his dad doing the voice over this week!!? Thanks Coach!
  7. Had an AWESOME Leadership meeting today after church!? I am excited about the future of our church because of this great group of people!? Beware…they may be “tapping on your shoulder” in the coming days to help join them in serving at FP Carthage!
  8. I love hearing the unbelievable stories that are told at those meetings!? That always fires me up!
  9. We got our children’s ministry packed away in less than 10 minutes…that needs to happen every week…and it can if a larger group of people give us 5-10 minutes before they leave for lunch!
  10. My new Kindle 2 came in the mail yesterday!!? I am really pumped about that thing!!? My back is already thanking me for lightening the book load!? Got an ESV version of the Scriptures for free…that is my first and only book so far.
  11. Had a crazy day on Saturday running from Basketball, to a birthday party at House of Bounce, to our monthly “birthday” dinner for the OBU Bunch (Stones, Clements, & Jones.)
  12. Great meeting in Springfield with Pelham-Philips (architect), A1 (sound and video), and Downhome Productions (lighting, etc.).? The building is going to be AWESOME!? Keep praying that we remain faithful in our giving in order to continue moving forward.
  13. Did I mention I am a Kindle owner??
  14. We are attacking the “wallpaper house” head on…in the foyer!? Wow, people in hell must have to strip wallpaper…what a whip!
  15. Put up some corkboards in the boys’ bedroom tonight…and a car clock to match the theme.? (We have a grouping of pictures of old cars that my Grandpa and Grandma Emack gave ME when I was a kid that is the “anchor” for the room.? My Grandpa made the frames (he was a carpenter).? The same grouping was in my room growing up!)
  16. The dumb dog (Pepper this time)? got into the neighbors trash again!!? Arrgg!!? Need to get another radio shock collar for Pepper I guess.? Henry’s collar is too small already for Pepper.? He is going to be a big dog!
  17. Going to try to get to bed sooner this week…obviously not starting the week off right, huh?? Good night!? Have a great week everyone!

Sunday Night “Sum Up!”

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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 an extremely busy week of lots of meetings with architects and the like for our new building plans.
  2. Absolutely love the people that I work with–both in Carthage and Joplin!
  3. Drove to Springfield to meet with a group of pastors and church planters. Those guys help me so much!? I probably wouldn’t be in ministry still if it weren’t for this group of guys supporting me and helping me through a really difficult time.? Thanks guys!
  4. One of my heroes, Daryl Eldridge, came to Forest Park Carthage last Sunday to visit and give us some insight on how we can improve our church.
  5. Drove back to Springfield with Kevin and JB to meet with our audio-visual, lighting, and techno whizbang companies to design A/V and lighting for our new building.
  6. Most importantly, we had Qdoba for lunch…mmm…Chicken Fajita Three Cheese Nachos!
  7. Oh, and we also had a Strawberry Concrete from Andy’s Frozen Custard!
  8. The house on the new property was demolished!? Check out the video in an earlier post!
  9. Our Student Ministry had our DNOW this weekend, called ELEVATE!!
  10. Two students from Carthage found Christ this weekend!! They will be baptized soon!
  11. My friends, The Radiance Effect, were the band for the weekend.? Cool to catch back up with them…they were at a DNOW I spoke at last spring…and I went to church with the drummer growing up (he was just a little boy when we went to church together–his dad was one of my Sunday School teachers in college.)
  12. We had a great attendance today…292!!! Had a boost in attendance with guests from ELEVATE.
  13. We had 4 new students come to Collide tonight!!? We are going to need to get another vehicle to transport our students….GREAT problem to have!!
  14. Worked on our taxes…worked on some remodeling stuff…had a great time hanging out with Taylor boy on Saturday night and Sunday night at ELEVATE.
  15. Watched the end of the Oscars…I’m exhausted.? Big week coming up!