Happy Birthday, Dad!!

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birthday-cake.gifI failed to mention my dad’s birthday on the phone last year while they were west for the winter and still haven’t heard the end of that deal!! So dad is going to get several calls wishing him and his favorite president, Ronald Reagan (ha!), a very happy birthday!!

Seriously, I am blessed to have such great parents who have really helped me become the person I have become–the good stuff of course. The bad stuff, that’s all my fault!! Have a great birthday in the sun! Hurry home!!

Love,

David

Crazy Weekend

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We had a crazy weekend this past weekend! Because of our “snow storm” on Thursday, we canceled our tech rehearsal for KidStuf. Boy, I don’t know if we will ever do that again! Needless to say, the “dress” rehearsal on Saturday was a bit crazy. As with Murphy’s Law, anything and everything seemed to go wrong–especially with the sound stuff. We just purchased some new microphones and they didn’t work exactly like we wanted. Isn’t technology wonderful??

Then, Taylor and I had to leave the tech rehearsal early for Upward Basketball team pictures. Then we had our 5th game of the season. I couldn’t be prouder of our little guys! They are really improving! Trust me, it has nothing to do with the coaching. Actually, I think they have a huge handicap in that area! It is going to be sad to have the season end in a few weeks because they are really beginning to play really well and play really well together as a team.

Right after the game, Grandma and Papa Jeffries took the boys so that Jenny and I could go to an area church planters meeting. It was a Groundhog Day party!! Any excuse to get together with church planters and eat. Jerry Fields, the state Church Planting Director for MO Baptist Convention spoke and had a good time of Q & A. I really respect Jerry for staying in there for us planters in the midst of some very trying days in MBC Church Planting. Needless to say, planting has really changed in the 6 years since we started the process. Honestly, I really feel like a wily veteran as many of the people we went through basic training with and started planting with aren’t doing it anymore. That has always been a passion of mine–that we need to create networks for planters so as to minimize burnout. Met some folks from Extend Global, a great missions organization based right here in Springfield.

Then, finally, I decided to take the boys to the MSU Bears basketball game to give Jenny a break and some peace and quiet.? They just couldn’t seem to get over the hump and close out the game.? They ended up loosing by one point after not being able to score on several attempts and putbacks in the final seconds.? They also missed several free throws down the stretch that would have put the game away.? We had a good time–Tucker loved to wave at Boomer and eating popcorn, Taylor of course loves basketball, and I just love hanging out with them.

Sunday was extremely busy as well with KidStuf and the Super Bowl.? KidStuf was awesome and the technical things went really smoothly.? The message was on kindness and our cast does such a great job–dancers, singers, actors, and hosts. . . all were awesome!!? How ’bout them G-men?? I always like to root for the underdog unless I have a dog in the fight, so it was great to see such an upset.

Just now getting around to posting such a crazy weekend!!? Maybe we need to slow down.? No, we definitely need to slow down.? Ever felt like you life is moving at the speed of light??? Why do we let it happen that way??? Crazy indeed!!

KidStuf Technical Rehearsal Cancelled

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The KidStuf rehearsal has been cancelled for tonight. We will be having our final dress rehearsal on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. Make sure you are ready to go and have your parts memorized as we only have a couple of practices.

Lifebuilder’s in Cancelled for TONIGHT!

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Just got a call from Winston at Lifebuilders. They are canceling the meeting tonight. He said if you have already started or finished your food and still want to donate it, the Missouri Hotel will gladly take your food. Just give us a call at church and we will give you directions or take it. Thanks for your willingness to help with this ministry!!

Snow, Snow, and more Snow . . . at least that is the plan!

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We will let everyone know on our website and this blog if we are going to cancel Lifebuilders and KidStuf Technical Rehearsal tonight.? It is looking very much like we will cancel both, but we will make the final decision around the noon hour.? Have a great day and we’ll keep you posted.

Day 1 Reflections

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1.pngIt has been a blast reading all of the comments from the Regeneration Devotional Blog. It is really cool to realize that we are all looking at the same passage and God is speaking to each and every one of us in our own ways. It is really great to see how God uses many different verses to speak to each of us differently. I pray that the Lord will really grow me as a follower this 21 days. I wrote in my journal that I really need the Lord’s help to be disciplined to keep us for the 21 days. I want that 21 days to create a habit of a daily walk with Christ through his Word. I know it is going to pay great dividends when I sacrifice to spend time in the Bible.

Here is what I wrote in a comment of day one. I also wrote this encouragement to all of us:

Great comments and insight on this first day of the CHALLENGE!! Let?s keep it up . . . and lurkers (you know who you are), register, log in and CONTRIBUTE!! Join the 21 Day Challenge journey!

21 Day Challenge Begins TODAY!!

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We have been talking about how to really begin to grow in your relationship with Christ in our series BE. Today, we talked about how important Bible reading and journaling is to the spiritual maturity of every believer. I challenged each of

us to read the Bible for 21 days–enough tim e to create a new habit. The Gospel of John has, you guessed it, 21 chapters; so we are going to read through the Gospel of John for this challenge. We are going to begin a series based on the Gospel of John following the BE series, so it should be really cool to see how God is going to speak to our church family before we journey together in the series.

I think there is going to be a ton of power as our whole family studies John together. There is really going to be a real sense of community–especially if you want to comment on our Regeneration Devotional Blog. We had a great response last year this time with our online devotional tied into Regeneration. We are going to continue that Regeneration Devo Blog with this 21 Day Challenge. Head on over there, grab a Bible and a journal, and make sure and comment on what God is saying to you.

There’s a New Sheriff in Town–and he’s on the move!

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I have had a PowerMac G4 tower for almost 5 years without a problem. It is still product-15in.jpgplugging away for me, but it sure isn’t very portable! There are times, like this week, when I have to do work from home and have to lug around the computer to so I can be around the family. But there is a new sheriff in town boys. (See comment from Brad Daily!) This brand spanking new Macbook Pro is going to (hopefully) last me another 5 years–but this time with a lot of portability!

I bought my first Mac in 1992 from my Sunday School teacher, who was a Macintosh_SE_b.jpgprofessional graphic artist. It was a Macintosh SE with a humongous internal hard drive of 40 MB!! I actually took out an installment loan for $1400 from Empire Bank and made monthly payments for a couple of years. It helped me write many a paper in both college at SMS and SWBTS. I loved that little thing and used it in ministry all the way until we moved back from Texas in 1998.

I got a PC in 1996 when we were living in Tulsa when my Mac hard drive (all 40 MB) crashed one late Sunday night while writing a paper for seminary. Of course the procrastination didn’t help as the paper was due the next day. Needless to say, the paper was a week late and we had an unexpected expense the next week. But once you go Mac, you never go back. Honestly the pricing was the major issue in not purchasing a Mac in seminary. My pastor at the time was a huge Mac guy, so the church I was serving in had several Macs in use and my SE (with new external hard drive–a whopping 100 MB variety) was my work computer.

I had a laptop at Hopedale when I was youth pastor, but it eventually died after we launched Finley Crossings. I had a lady walk up to me in the library a couple of weeks after that and gave me a check to go buy a new computer to do “whatever we needed it to do.” At the time, we really wanted to be able to do video and graphic design, so the Mac was the choice. The laptop version that would do what the desktop would do was way too expensive, so I gave up portability for power. It really is awesome to get the portability and flexibility back.

 

Regeneration Devotional Continues

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There have been a few folks who have decided to do the Regeneration ’07 devotionals again and are making comments as well.? You might want to journey on over there to check it out.

We are also going to be kicking it off again with new posts to coincide with our series that is coming up on Spiritual Development.? (I was going to kick off the series yesterday, but was down with the stomach flu.)? Seems everyone is getting back on the mend and we will jump in next Sunday and journey together toward a deeper relationship with the Savior.

A Matter of “Pride”

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msubandlogogold.gifI had the privilege to march my freshman year in the Bruin Pride Band at then Southwest Missouri State University.? It was quite an experience that I will always cherish!? I didn’t get to go on any “big” trips (I don’t think Tulsa or St. Louis counts in that category!)? I missed two huge trips by one year–a trip to London the year before I was at SMS, followed by a trip to the Tournament of Roses after I had hung up the old trombone to “get a real job” as a bank teller and then youth minister.

Got an opportunity to see them play in the Tournament of Roses Parade this morning.? They represented Missouri and their university well!? They also had the opportunity to play at the Crystal Cathedral last Sunday during the services.? Here is an article in the News-Leader with many side links to other articles.? Way to go Pride!!