Stranger things . . .

I haven’t been real good at keeping up with my blogging lately . . . so here’s a quick update . . .

First, I’m still looking forward to Sunday Night Live at Journey Church.  It’s going to be a blast.  If you’re in Auburn, you want to be there . . . plus it’s pot-luck dinner.  MMMM!

Second, not much movement on the Church Planting front this week.  I’m still expecting to hear from the new church planting guy in Baltimore.  I’ll blog when I hear something.  A few more people have inquired about some stuff, so I’ve passed on some information.  We’ll see where that goes.

It is now officially the Christmas Season.  I think I’ll probably put up the Christmas Lights outside this weekend.  Emily and I haven’t yet decided how much we’re going to decorate inside.  I’m not quite into the Christmas thing yet.  I usually start getting more into it when I’m leaning over the edge of the roof trying to hang the lights up at the peak of the gable.  My ladder doesn’t go that high, so I have to get on the roof and hang over.  It’s OK once I get used to it, but the first couple minutes always shake me up a little bit.

A couple of the projects I’ve been dealing with at work for a long time are moving along.  It’s nice to feel like something is getting done.  Right now, I’m waiting for the printer to catch up on some stuff before I leave.

Speaking of work, those of you who are close to me know that I’ve been praying about a specific situation at the office for about 6 months.  The past couple days, as I’ve been continuing to read and meditate through the Gospels, I’ve been burdened that it needed to be resolved soon.  I’ve been praying intently about it . . . There’s no real reason why it has been a focus the past few days, I was just burdened and was asking God to get it resolved and to help me be wise, gentle, and above reproach throughout the situation.  Today, the situation went nuts.  I don’t even understand what happened, but both of my bosses made a point to reassure me.  Please continue to pray with me and my bosses that God is glorified in how our company does business.  Even more than our individual reputations, God’s glory is our desire.  Please pray that this situation ends with a big dose of God’s glory.

I am incredibly blessed to work for a company led by 2 guys that are totally sold-out to Jesus.  They spend a lot of time in prayer together as they seek to lead this company.  I respect them greatly and owe tons of gratitude to them for where Emily and I are in life right now.  These guys know where Emily and I are headed, and they are ready to support us in the process.  More Business people who are Christ-followers should live and do business like these guys.  It would help the reputation of the church more than any of us could ever imagine.

I also have to admit that my time in the business world over the past 6 years has been an invaluable experience for me as I aim toward church planting.  I’ve learned far more than being on a church staff could have ever taught me.

Down Day . . .

I’m at work, end of the lunch hour.  I usually don’t take lunch breaks, but today has been a break most of the day. Our company is changing up some stuff on the network, and right now my computer will access the internet, but won’t access the company’s server . . . so I get to catch up on some blogs, write a few emails, and do a few other things . . .

I’m really excited about the first ever Sunday Night Live at Journey Church on Sunday.  “The Staff” recorded some video last night for a spoof of “The Office.”  We had a great time laughing and carrying on.  I think it was really good for us as a staff.  I think the video is gonna make people laugh out of their chairs . . . but even if it doesn’t, we had fun.  If it turns out good, we’re gonna upload it to YouTube for the world to enjoy.

Well, even though my computer isn’t working right, I have a meeting in a little while that I need to get ready for . . . I guess I don’t need my computer for a meeting . . .

Later . . .

Sunday night download . . .

Well, Eric just got back in town this afernoon, so I was kinda in charge at Journey this morning, so I’ll go ahead and do a recap . . .

• The band rocked.
• The Iron Bowl was late.
• Auburn won.  Gotta love the Bama nation right now!  War Eagle!
• The band rocked even though they all went to the late game.
• The message was OK.  Several people said they really enjoyed it and appreciated it, so I guess it was better than I thought . . .
• I videotaped the message and am going to have our creative team dub it with the audio recording.  I’m not sure I really want to see myself, but it will be helpful for refining my teaching style.
• Emily and Rachel both felt sick, but still led JourneyKidz.  I hope all the kids don’t wind up sick.
• I’m looking forward to Sunday Night Live this coming Sunday!
• I don’t want to go back to work tomorrow.
• Attendence was down a little bit, but could have been worse.  Reality is, the numbers are skewed . . . the drop was mainly from just 3 families (including Eric and Sonja).
• It was drizzling while we unloaded the trailer this morning.  We need any rain we can get.
• I hope we get more volunteers for setup.  Anyone willing to be at the school at 7:30 to unload the trailer needs to let us know . . . even if you only want to do it once a month or something.
• I skimmed through the commitment cards and saw some “Next Step” decisions for living a Transformed Life.  That’s encouraging.
• I also saw some prayer requests for the staff to pray for.
• Auburn is the only 4-loss team on the BCS rankings.  I’m not complaining.  I think it’s where we belong.  It’s just been a crazy year in college football, and even crazier in the SEC.
• Emily’s Aggies are looking for a new coach.  Looks like all those “Got Fran?” t-shirts are worthless now.
• I’m pretty sure A&M is only dreaming if they think they’re gonna get Tuberville.  But I think Tommy’s got some real (re)negotiation power right now.
• I’m enjoying a relaxing day with Emily and Roxie.
• The weather is definitely cooler than it was in Florida. 
• I’m almost ready for the Christmas season to get started.
• I’m really getting pumped about church planting.

Auburn Tigers

Well, I’m back in the loveliest village on the plain . . .

We arrived at our home near the middle of the 4th quarter, so no, I am not one of the fans at the stadium, just a guy with a High Def TV in my living room . . . BUT . . . for all you Sabanites out there . . . or for those of you who are still trying to resurrect the Bear . . .

6 in a row . . .

What more do I have to say, but:

WARRRRRRRRR EAGLE, HEY!

Now, to finish the notes for my message tomorrow at Journey Church (10:15am, at Lee Scott Academy, for those of you in town for the game.)

Thanksgiving in Florida . . .

Emily and I are in Florida with my family this year for Thanksgiving.  My family really knows how to relax for holidays.  Almost too much.  We spent a few hours at the zoo yesterday.  The kids loved it.  Emily did, too.  The Central Florida Zoo is not exactly the best zoo out there, so it was more just a time for the family to be out doing something together.

Here I sit on Thanksgiving morning . . . my mom already has all the food prepared and either in the oven or ready to go into the oven.  Emily is doing her exercises, I am blogging, my brother took his 1.5 year-old to my sister’s house to play on my niece’s playground for a while.  My dad is readingg a book . . . my sister-in-law is resting because she doesn’t feel well . . . It’s a lazy holiday morning around here. 

I’m really looking forward to Sunday at Journey Church. Eric is out with his family . . . Daddy’s gone so the kids can party!  I’m really looking forward to the message.  It’s an opportunity to challenge everyone else with the challenges I’ve experienced this fall.

In the mean-time . . . I’m thankful for a family that can relax, a church that is serious about reaching disconnected people, a job that gives me the flexibility to make a difference in peoples’ lives, a country that is safe enough to drive 7.5 hours each way to be with family, the technology to be away and keep in touch at the same time, the freedom to turn that technology off when I want to . . . my list could go on . . . but I’m especially thankful for a gorgeous and fun-loving wife that makes me smile when I wake up in the morning and motivates me to change the world throughout the day.

Now, it’s time to be thankful for the freedom to turn the technology off . . .

We got rain!

Yes, we are in a severe drought, and we actually got a little rain today.  Although it wasn’t a lot, it was the best kind of rain we could have gotten, a few hours of light rain.  Woo Hoo!  There’s even a little more rain in the forecast later this week.

Not gonna catch us up for the year, but anything is a help at this point.

Pray for rain.

Transformation Life

For everyone that doesn’t know yet, Eric is going to be out of town for Thanksgiving, so I will be teaching the message on November 25.  Emily and I are headed to Florida on Monday-Saturday, so I’m going to try to rough-in my message before we leave.

We’ve covered a lot of ground at Journey Church this fall.  We kicked off the semester with Blueprints for Your Life, a series that looked at how we can look to God and His plans to shape every aspect of our lives.  We then moved into The Lord of the Rings, a series focussed on marriage, family, and relationships.  Finally, we’ve spent the past several weeks going ALL IN.  This series has encouraged us to consider the high value of God and Eternal Life in relation to all our temporal things, and to put it all on the table to live the life God wants us to live.

Eric told me over a month ago I would be teaching a “free weekend” between ALL IN and our Christmas series.  I prayed dilligently for what God would have me cover.  At the same time, God began formulating a theme for the first 12-18 months of Transformation Church when we plant in Baltimore.  The more I prayed, the more I sensed the two opportunities coming together.

My “life verse,” actually, life chapter is Romans 12.  Particularly Romans 12:1-2.  This passage is the foundation for my vision for Transformation church.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)

I will talk a lot more about this on November 25, but as you look through the rest of the chapter, you learn how to be transformed . . . It takes an ALL IN life . . . it takes living according to God’s Blueprint. It takes living your relationships in accordance with The Lord of the Rings.  Essentially, every aspect of our beliefs and our actions needs to line up with every other aspect of our beliefs and our actions.  Anything less is hypocricy.  Postmodern culture preaches a doctrine of hypocricy — of compartmentalizing our lives.  I’m looking forward to a “semester review” at Journey Church to see how everything we’ve covered this fall can be knit together into a TRANSFORMED LIFE.  After all, we’re helping transform ordinary people into passionate Christ followers.

I hope everyone decides to stay in town after the Iron Bowl on Saturday night . . . we’re gonna have a great time on Sunday!

The weekend has begun . . .

It’s been a couple of days since I blogged.  Here is is, Friday Evening . . . another week behind me, and so much craziness going on.

I had another phone call with some folks at Embrace Baltimore today.  Nothing special.  It was just a “wanted to check back in with you” phone call.  They let me know the new church multiplication guy will being work on November 28, so I should be able to start a whole lot more movement very soon.  I’m really excited.  The next few weeks could really be key in where the Transformation vision goes.

This was a good encouragement.  Also, Wednesday we had a church planters’ round table at Journey Church in Millbrook.  I look forward to these meetings each month.  We had some good discussion on leadership, taking care of ourselves spiritually, church organization, etc.  I also got to pitch the crazy idea God gave me and they all thought it was going to be logistically hard to accomplish, but if I can get it to work, it would be in ideal situation.  I’ll have to pitch to the Baltimore folks and see if they can help make it happen.

I also got to share the vision with one of Emily’s friends on Tuesday.  She definitely wants to help.  She’s praying about timing and other things.  She may not make the move with us, but she at least wants to make some trips to help.  Another good encouragement for the week.

I also got an idea on how to develop another one of the sermon series for the first year of the church.  I now have a single underlying theme for the first 12-18 months, and two of the series themes that fit into that big picture.

I’ve been VERY busy with Journey, VERY VERY busy at work, and am still spending as much time with Emily as I can.  In spite of all that, I feel like the vision is developing faster and better than it did 6 years ago.  I also feel like the contacts I need to make are happening MUCH better than before . . . many of which are coming to me instead of me having to beg folks.  All in all, I know the timing is right this time, I know the vision is right, I know the relationships are happening, I know I am much more teachable and pliable, and I am learning a ton . . . despite my limited time investment.  I look forward to being able to shift more time into it soon.

Anyway, it’s Friday night, so I am going to enjoy they weekend.  Seems strange not having the Iron Bowl this week.  They decided to move it this year.  Cool with me.

No rest for the weary . . .

I mentioned on Friday that everyone working with me on one of my projects was going absolutely crazy to get it all done and off to the owner and contractor . . . We accomplished our mission and dove into our weekends with a sense of accomplishment and relief . . .

Yesterday gave us no rest . . . I have two other projects in full swing.  One of them is trying to get wrapped up within a few weeks, and the other we’re trying to hit a major milestone before Christmas.  I’m spending this week and next getting as much information on both projects put together as I possible can so I can turn them over to my consultants and other folks in the office to be able to get their part done.

I left work last night to go home and inhale a plate of spaghetti with Emily before going to Journey staff meeting.  I’m excited about what God is going to do at Journey in 2008.  There’s a lot of big stuff.  A lot of stuff we need EVERYONE to go ALL IN to accomplish . . .

Today, I’ve been working on juggling logistics on the project that went out on Friday, and both of the other two projects . . . And I’m getting ready to head home to have dinner with Emily and one of her friends to talk about the church planting vision . . .

Tomorrow I have to be at work early so I can leave during the day to go to a Church Planter’s round table.  I look forward to this meeting each month, because it gives me an opportunity to bounce my crazy ideas off of some guys that have “been there, done that, and think you’re an idot for trying it.”  Sometimes I want to be an idiot.  Maybe being an idiot sometimes will lead to great things we would have missed if we didn’t take the risk.

Tomorrow night is our last “organized” Growth Group meeting for 2007.  I’m looking forward to planning an informal get together in December, but I’m also looking forward to a little different schedule for the holiday season.

God is good, and I’m loving every crazy minute . . . Well, at least as much as I can while I’m looking forward to the vision and waiting for the big hurdles to get out of the way.

Monday, Monday . . .

Another week has begun . . .

It was an AWESOME weekend.  Yesterday absolutely rocked at Journey.  Two weeks in a row with excellent attendence and several guests . . . of course we had several guests yesterday, since Eric was talking about finances . . . But the message was great, the band was rocking awesome, and the kids has a great time wrapping gifts for Operation Christmas Child.  AND, one of the Sunday Growth Groups provided me with some awesome feedback.

Wow!  It’s the holiday season already!

Honestly, I’m looking forward to it for a few unusual reasons: 1- God has been revving up my visioning engine lately, and I’m looking forward to a month off from Growth Groups so I can work on it some.  2 - Eric is headed out of town for a week, so I get to do the message.  The message God has given me is nothing new, but it’s starting to burn in me, so I’m really looking forward to the opportunity.  And 3 - I want to take some time to rekindle some connections to get the vision moving and possibly start raising some money.

2008 is going to be a crazy year in my life.  I’m glad Emily is going to be there to take the ride with me!  I’m glad some other folks are starting to catch on to come with us. 

Oh, did I mention that I got a new contact for Baltimore?  See Emily’s blog for more info on that one . . . AND, out of the blue this morning, God gave me this insane idea for Baltimore.  Pray that God would show me how to get it to work.