First video blog

Communion

This Sunday we are celebrating communion in our morning service. It always blows my mind to think of all that Christ did for us on the cross. To think He willing died so that I might have life. I don't deserve it but He did it anyway. My prayer is that anytime you celebrate communion you will have a fresh AWE concerning God's grace and forgiveness. Wow!!!! What a savior!

New Music

Today I came across some new music and thought I would share some of what I found. So far I've only listened to 2 or 3 songs from each CD but here it goes.

POD-(When Angels and Serpents Dance)- For those who like to rock this is definitely worth checking out.

tenth avenue north-(Over and Underneath)-These guys were a pleasant surprise. After their hit "Love is Here" they have a few others that are ipod worthy.

Hawk Nelson-(...is my friend)-I can see why our middle school girls liked these guys at the Revolve tour...but don't get me wrong...their good.

Toby Mac-(Alive and Transported)-The first song just wore me out. I don't see how one person can have enough energy for a show with this much power and intensity. Toby Mac does it again.

Delirious-(Kingdom of Comfort)-The inside cover reads..."Save me from the Kingdom of Comfort where I am king from my unhealthy lust of material things". Wow!

There you go...I know these are not in depth reviews but oh well. Thanks for checking out the blog. I appreciate each and every one of you.

Mommy's home!!!

Allison made it back from Iowa last night. Her plane landed @ 10pm so I wasn't sure what type of greeting Natalie was going to give. However, as soon as I said we are going to pick up mommy Natalie woke up, her eyes lit up and she was the happiest child in the world. She gave Allison a huge hug and kiss when she came down the concourse. Thank you to everyone in Iowa and Missouri for sending mommy home to us. Yeahhhhh!!!!

Pic of the week

How much fun can you have at a birthday party?...LOTS!

Milestones

Today marks two milestones for me. It was one year ago on this date that I participated in my first official Sunday as the co-pastor at WJACC. This year has flown by. Natalie has grown by leaps and bounds. We have been home owners for over a year now. It doesn't seem possible that we have been in Florida for that long. We have had some new challenges this year and have grown a lot through them all. I learn more about my wife all the time and constantly impressed by her. I can't wait to see what God has ahead for us as a family and the ministry at WJACC.

The second milestone is the fact that my counter on this blog has hit 1000. I haven't had the counter on the page that long. That blows my mind. Thank you to everyone who has participated with comments and/or simply read this page. I am honored that you would spend time seeing what I might have to say. Hopefully I'm becoming a better blogger than when I first started a couple of years ago.

When I woke up this morning I had no idea what today would hold. It was just a regular day. It's fun to see what God can do with a "regular" day.

Thursday morning stuff

Here are some random bullets for this morning.

• Tonight the WJACC softball team begins the post-season tournament. 7:50 @ Ringhaver park. Everone come out and cheer for our team.
• This Sunday I have the opportunity to give the message at New Life Community (AC) Church. I am excited to travel to downtown Jacksonville again to share God's Word. Please remember me in your prayers and this church that we will all see God in a fresh way this Sunday.
• Also, pray for the service here at WJACC as Logan shares what God has laid on his heart.
• This morning I had what we believe to be cyst removed from my forehead. Now I have one of the largest bandages in the world covering a large part of my forehead. This is the second time since the beginning of April that I've had to have my head cut on so please pray that this is the last one.
• VBS is just around the corner. June 9th-13th. We're excited to see what God is going to do that week.
• Allison and I will be teaching a SS class at General Conference in June. This will be the first time we have actually done a tag-team type of teaching. We are pumped about the possibilities.
• My head is still a little numb from earlier so there is a real possibility none of this makes since.
• If you get the chance I put new pics on myspace. Let me know what you think.

board suggestion

So I shared with the church board how in a moment of brilliance I dumped coffee on the church laptop and it was no longer running efficiently. The suggestion from the board was to start using cups with lids. The words "sippy cup" were used. Oh well, one of these days I'll get to eat at the big people table. :-)

A Day of Love

Today we partnered with several other churches in an effort to reach out to an inner city community here in Jacksonville. We gave away clothes, food, drinks, and sno-cones. We had inflatable games for the kids, free blood pressure checks for the adults and plenty of music for everyone. The day was all about investing into the community and encouraging the residents there. I had the opportunity to meet some awesome new friends and reconnect with some that I've known for a little while now. Pastor Moses, his family, and his friends are being exactly what God has called them to be...a light to a dark world.

I had the chance to meet some of the guys at Journey church. Check them out here. http://www.journeychurch.org/ They are doing some cool things in their journey with God.

Today was a good day. It wasn't about who got credit for what. It wasn't about who was in charge. It wasn't even about how much WE were doing. It was all about Loving God and Loving People. It was about seeing God supply more than enough of everything so that nobody went without. It was about being open to pray with someone who was discouraged. It was about making sure the kids were safe on the huge inflatable slide. It was about knowing that the loudest sermon we could preach was serving an all you can eat meal to a man who could (and did) seriously take full advantage of that opportunity. :-) It was about God. It was about people made by God.

Today was a good day.

Mix CD's

Last night I burned 3 mix Cd's for the outreach downtown tomorrow. That's over 200 minutes of music. Over 3 1/2 hours of music praising God from a variety of styles. Gospel choirs, rap, hip hop, motown, and even Kirk Franklin who is a category all by himself. I'll try to post the play lists soon. This is going to be OFF THE CHAIN!!!!!!!

Remembering things

Ministry can be an exciting adventure. This weekend will be a prime example. Saturday we are participating in a clothing giveaway/outreach event in downtown Jacksonville. We are just one of five churches working together to encourage this neighborhood. I'm curious to see all the ways God will reveal Himself on that day. Sunday is Mother's Day and I am pumped about the message. We will be looking at Hannah and the struggle she had in I Samuel 1. We are also having two baby dedications Sunday. That ROCKS!!!!

But even though things are happening and God is moving and we are trying our best to follow Him...it is easy to get distracted from my core purpose as a believer and a pastor. Yesterday, I revisited a book I've had for a long time. "The Disciple-making Pastor" by Bill Hull. That's it. I am commissioned to go and make disciples.

It's not that outreach and preaching are bad things but if the goal is anything but the gospel and making disciples then they become just something else to "do". Jesus called us to "be" disciple-makers.

I am called to "be" a disciple-making pastor. What does that look like? We'll visit that one a little later.

3 words

Lemon-Berry Slush....YUMMMMMOOO!!!!!

prayer

"She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. " (I Samuel 1:10)

Sometimes we get caught thinking of prayer as just a peaceful activity. We talk about the calmness of prayer, the security of prayer, and even the "peace that passeth understanding." However, sometimes we just need to cry out to God from the very core of our being. Sometimes God allows us to get to this point so that we will actually surrender all to Him.

Hannah was in a miserable situation. She had a supportive husband which was great but she needed her awesome God even more. So in her distress she prayed and "wept bitterly" in her prayer. She gave her situation over to God and concluded that He was in fact her only source of hope.

Sometimes we just need to let all of our frustration, our anxiety, our distress out to God. He's a big god. He can handle it.

computers?...what an age we live in

Well, it is official...coffee and computers do not mix when placed together in an unnatural way. Let's just say that the little arrow on my screen is now frozen and will not respond. So...until I can get it fixed I need to be a little creative with how I access other's computers. If you check here for regular updates I apologize. I am working on being more consistent (it is a goal for this year). Thank you for all of your prayers and support. Please pray for pastors everywhere. I see so many that are either depressed, discouraged, dismayed, disheartened, or just plain down. I may right more on this topic later but for now please lift up all pastors in your prayers.