Momentum

Great word to describe this morning's service. Great word to describe the beginning of OLC (Oak Leaf Church). God is good. God uses little people to do big things. I sensed momentum. You could feel it. Of course, our largest crowd since we started 11 weeks ago may have something to do with it - close to 300.

Side note: Churches don't have to apologize for talking about numbers. Well, at least churches with the right motivation do not. I used to think...and even recently...that I always had to give a disclaimer before I mentioned how many people came to our new church. Something along the lines of, "Well, I know it's not about numbers...but...we had..." I'm going to stop doing that. If our hearts are right and our motivation is for the unchurched to come and experience the grace and goodness of God, I'm going to be ecstatic when 300+ people show up to a movie theatre for church on Sunday morning! Growth is not evil. For us, it's a sign that our people are doing what we ask them to do -- reach out, invite a friend, invest in other's lives. That's powerful. That'll preach.

So yeah, back to this momentum thing. You could just sense it. A moving forward. A pressing on. Did everything run flawless? Of course not. But people are investing in this thing called church at the movies. They are sacrificing time. They are putting others above themselves and growing spiritually in the process. Momentum is motivating. Makes me want to devote even more thought, more energy, more patience, more love, more creativity into everything we do. As we learned today, God is a big God. Incomprehensible. He's a great God. And when He decides to move...and there's a momentum, a surge...great things are accomplished by His people - for His Kingdom.

Wigs, Chicken Fingers, and 87,451

Just now getting around to posting a few pics I took on my roadtrip 2 weeks ago at the AU vs. FL game on the Plains. I didn't take a lot of pics of the campus and traditional places b/c I spent 4.5 yrs there...so here's some random pics of some random things: A few "cool" Gator fans.
Devotion is an understatement.
Best chicken fingers in southeast AL...and they leave no doubt about their mission.
Gameday was there but I didn't bother. I still like ESPN, but they are just not what they used to be. Too political now...all about promoting certain teams/leagues.
My view at kickoff.

Wave On

Who knew the Wave was 25 years old? LINK
And I certainly didn't know THIS guy invented it!
Funny stuff.

Trick-O-Rama

Ahhh...that time of year again. Time for Christians to hash out whether their kids should participate in Halloween traditions, etc. No need to list out their arguments here - they're all too familiar to everyone. But I do love the church signs that pop up this time of year. I find it funny that most festivals held by churches are called "Trunk or Treat". I pass by this church everyday when I take my oldest son Braden to school: Nothing against this church, but c'mon...we need to be able to laugh at that. How cheesy. How funny. I suppose they accomplished their mission though. When I saw "Beware" on one side, I had to know what the other side said. A church just down the road from this one recently had on their sign: "Our Daily Menu, God's Word, KJV". Ahhh...the KJV debate, now that's a treat.

**Great Deal!** Quick Sale!

So let me tell you just how cool Craigs List is. I've slowly gotten into Ebay and Craigs List and online selling/buying over the past few years and think it to be superb. Craigs is great b/c it's free and most of the time you meet sellers who are honest about what they are selling. Dana and I are strapped for cash (what's new?!) and so I decided to put my cherished mountain bike on Craigs yesterday. I had a call within 2 hours and the guy came and picked it up around 9:45pm last night. I got $80 for it. Could I have gotten $100? Maybe. Probably. But I wanted a quick sale. Need cash now type thing. Plus, I never rode the dumb thing...was just sitting in my garage. Dude that bought it is getting his Masters at GA Tech and it was a perfect deal for him - great way to get around campus. That's exactly what I used it for at AU. Anywho, I'm now trying to get rid of snow skis (with poles, great deal! quick sale!).

Old School / New School

So we are on day 2 of our church staff retreat and it's been great. We are in the booming metropolis of Chatt, TN. (just kidding with the sarcasm...i actually like Chatt...not a bad city.)

Church staff and their families and the way they interact and the way they look has changed...at least some churches have. Many new church plants and "emerging" churches have caught on to this. Much more important to work as a team and actually take interest in one another than pounding a program into everyone and burning yourself out for the sake of the church. Here's what I'm trying to say: Today, more staff families are finding the freedom to just be themselves. Yeah, there's always an added pressure, an expectation, etc. But, I've been impressed with the staff of newer churches - they just seem like normal people - imagine that. No wonder people respond to a leader like that. No wonder people followed Jesus around and listened to him and wanted to be around him.

There's many great things to learn from people who have been in ministry a long time. Our elders hold much wisdom. But one good change that has occurred is the fixing of a weird system that said church staff people do their own thing and really don't like each other. Yeah, there will be disagreements and moments, but how great to be on a team of friends. Imagine that.

President Bush...drunk?

THIS is funny. They simply played the video in slo-mo...but it's still funny.

That Was Fun

I rarely get to a game anymore...with life happening and all...but of all the games to go to, I dun went and picked a good un! Great game, great atmosphere, one of loudest games I've attended in JHS.

Politics Schmolitics

I know nothing about this book. I'm not endorsing it. Just needed a pic to make my point. (Though the title is intriguing.) Amazing how you can be completely engrossed in something and then a few years later not give a rip. So it is with me and politics. I used to daily visit drudgereport.com and foxnews.com and so forth. I used to have far more conversations about the difference between a conservative and a liberal. I think I've just gotten fed up...and maybe also realized there a far more important things to be devoting my time and energy towards (now if I could just cure my obsession with Auburn football!).

Seriously, though, the same ole rhetoric from both sides is taxing (no pun intended) on one's spirit. The most frustrating part about politics: The amount of things NOT ACCOMPLISHED due to selfish, self-serving, greedy, playing the game politicians.

It's such a balance, isn't it? There are extremes on both sides, right? One side says it's my "duty" as a Christian to fight for all things holy (a.k.a. "conservative"). I should be in your face vocal about the moral issues of the day. The other extreme tells me to remove myself from the political process altogether. Have nothing to do with it.

I know one thing: we should pray hard for the Christ followers God calls into politics. What a tough job. That, my friend, is a special calling. Would be too frustrating for me. I'd want to slap somebody.

So the point of my rant? Not sure. Many. One thing is for certain though (as I was reminded of at the Catalyst Conference):
"...the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes." Daniel 4:25

Paint-O-Rama

Ok, so Dana and I have lived in our home in C'ville for over a year and 1/2...and we are finally getting around to painting. The kids' rooms have been done for awhile - hired a buddy of mine to come in with his crew and they knocked it out within hours. But Dana and I are now determined to finish the rest of the house. No big deal, right? It's only the following: kitchen, living room, bathrooms, guest room, playroom, and office. At the pace we are going, we'll be finished by 2008. If you're bored and have some free time, come over and paint!

Sir Chunks-A-Lot

My 10 month old is great. Growing up too fast though. Since he's our last, I guess Dana and I are wanting him to stay a baby a bit longer. But he's getting teeth now and should be crawling any day. I affectionately call him "Sir Chunks-A-Lot" b/c he's a huge spitter upper.

World's Largest Pillow Fight

The Catalyst Conference was great, as expected. I'm now back home digesting it all. Lots of good speakers. Lots of great challenges. Worship was moving and inspiring. Laughed a lot. Thought a lot. Took tons of notes.

Oh yeah, and I also participated in the world's largest pillow fight. They did a lot of creative stuff...to keep ya going during the 2 day blitz of info overload. I would say giving over 10,000 people a small pillow and telling them to begin hitting each other for 60 straight seconds is creative!...and crazy. The picture doesn't do the event justice, but it was hard to take a pic with my camera phone while being pelted with pillows. Coolest part was at the end when everyone started throwing their pillows. Cool stuff.

They also set a different world record last year at Catalyst: most people to sit on a whoopee cushion at one time.

Conference Bound

Going to a conference over the next 2 days that I'm really looking forward to. I've heard really great things about it. It's called Catalyst. The last conference I went to was Drive. It was phenomenal. I'm sure this will be similar. I guess the thing about conferences is they can be very helpful, very insightful...but if your not careful, they can wear you down - information overload. I plan on attending this one not trying to remember everything I hear...but treat it 1. as a vacation of sorts (though it's only 1 hour away) and 2. try to implement just one or two things I hear...instead of hearing tons of ideas that never get put into practice.

pic of the day

oh my