Friday, May 30, 2008

Did that ever feel good.

Last night when I got home, I realised something very unusual. I had nothing I had to do. With Heather and the Boys in KY, I was pretty much free. I decided I would relax. When I was running earlier in the day, I noticed I did not have much energy at all. I knew I needed to rest. So I went to bed at 10. I set my alarm to go off at my normal 6:24 am. For some reason I did not slide it over far enough so it was not on the beeping mode, it was on the radio mode which I don't have the radio tuned to a station. Well I did not wake up till 8:20! Wow! 10 hours of sleep! Boy did that ever feel really good. Fortunately I did not have to meet with anyone, so it really was not a problem. But man, I feel so much better today!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Why My Wife Is Better Then Yours

I know my wife is the best wife in the world. Let me tell you why. Heather is taking the boys to KY to see her sister and is leaving me home all alone. (no that is not why she is the best). So she wants to make sure that she takes care of me while she is gone. I come home today and she is making a meatloaf and a lasagna for me to eat while there are in KY. If that is not love, I don't know what is. I am so lucky.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

What all kids need

Our Kid's Club program at Bakerstown Alliance has been pretty successful over the years, so much so I am tempted to write a book on how to run a program like ours. The only problem is that people won't really want to hear the reason it is successful. But since you (all my readers) are cool, I will share our secrets to success:

  • kids like to talk
  • kids like it when you listen
  • kids like you to play games with them
  • kids like it when you care for them
  • kids like food
  • kids like consistency
  • kids like it when you do Kids' Club for more then six months before you quit
  • kids like being kids

There you go. Yes it is that simple. Now take those eight thoughts, call them chapters, fill in the holes, write the book for me we can split the profits 50/50. Any one up to the task? If so shoot me an email. :)

Monday, May 26, 2008

A long and Crazy Weekend

Ah. Memorial Day weekend. The beginning of summer. I took full advantage of it and had a blast. Let me share some of it with you.
  • Friday I got to hang out with the staff of the Lighthouse Foundation. That is always a good time.
  • Did something I don't like to do. I was working on Sunday's message at home on Friday night. Not exactly ideal, but after the week I had, what was I going to do?
  • Speaking of stuff I don't like to do. I was at church at 7 am on Saturday. I try really hard not to do Saturdays. But sometimes it just happens.
  • Isaiah went to Grandma's house. I got a nap :)
  • Went to Station Square with the boys, Heather, and my mom. What a fun time! Samuel didn't really get what was going on but Isaiah had a blast.
  • On Sunday everything worked right and I got everything ready an hour before I had to. It was great. I spent that hour doing...NOTHING! Nice to be that relaxed.
  • Pretty sure I brought my "A" game on Sunday.
  • It was one of those weeks were you felt that everyone is paying attention. I like that.
  • My mom, wow! Shrimp salad and potato salad! That rocked!
  • We wanted to go to the local Memorial Day celebration at the park. We were there for about 15 minutes and it rained. So we went home.
  • Got another nap (is this a reoccurring theme? I hope so!)
  • Then I thought, boy instead of driving to Heather's mom's house, why not run there?
  • Oh yeah it is (according to yahoo maps) 9.18 miles. What was I thinking?
  • I think I might have got sun burned running. Cool.
  • Ate more good food!
  • I am tired. Good night!

Saturday, May 24, 2008

The Spirtual Depth of a Two-Year-Old

On our way to Subway to pick up dinner, Isaiah and I had a great spiritual in depth conversation. My son is obsessed with trains. He has like 400 of them. So I asked him, "Do you think you should give some of your trains to another little boy that might need them?" He reaction was great. Of course you expect "adults" to say something like "yeah I should do that" and not do anything about it. For some reason Isaiah thought I was talking about getting rid of all his trains. He started to pout. (very cute). I had to explain to him that I was only talking about giving away some of them to other people did not have any. Then he said something that I had a hard time responding to "Oh it is OK Dad, God will give them trains." How do you respond to that? So I talked to him about giving a couple trains, I think he decided it would be OK.
Looking forward to many more of these conversations. Scared to death I will fail. Love him and God too much to not to do it. Loving this father stuff.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Forgiveness

As I was doing some research for a presentation tomorrow I came across a quote that had nothing to do with what I was working on but it is just so amazing:

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was YOU.

Wow! I wish I would have thought of that first. That is so amazingly true. Lack of forgiveness causes you to be a prisoner. When you finally do forgive you think "I am doing that person a favor," when actually you are releasing yourself.
I'll ask you this: Who do you need to forgive? Stop reading this blog and go do it now. Then come back. :) Let me now how it went.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Loving People

I am fairly well educated. I am fairly confident that I went to one of the best colleges for pastoral ministies, Toccoa Falls College, in case you didn't know. I have attended many different seminars and stuff. With all that being said, I think the thing that has been stressed the least in all of my education but is the most important is loving people. I am not sure how you would accomplish anything without loving the people you are serving. I know it sounds so basic. But I am convinced if you have love for others you will be successful.
If you could measure a successful person in ministry, you would have to let love count for 99% of the evaluation. The other 1% is the "ministry skills" that we spend 99% of our time working on.
I know it sounds simple, but maybe it just is.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Don't get mad at me if I am a little grumpy

Most of the time on this blog I try to be upbeat, positive, cheery, or happy. I will warn you that this post might just be a deviation from all of that.
Picture this. It is 4:00 in the morning, what should you be doing? Sleeping right? I wake up at like 4:05 and Isaiah is making noise. So I go over there and find out that he had to go potty. Ok not a big deal, I am glad he used the potty rather then his bed. So I emptied out the potty, told him "good job" and "I love you" and went back to bed. No big deal right? Well around 4:24 the stupid cat starts scratching everywhere (any one want an affectionate 20 lb cat?). So I grabbed him, threw him in the spare bedroom, and closed the door. Argh! Back to bed again. Then right around 4:50 Samuel decided it was his turn. Some how that little guy wiggled his way into the corner of the crib and that was causing him not to be able to sleep. Grabbed him, put him back in the middle of the crib. Listened to him cry for like 3 or 4 minutes. Finally back to sleep. Only to hear my alarm at 6:24. argh!
Now the good news is I am here typing all of this with a big cup of Starbucks Breakfast Blend. Yumm!

Monday, May 19, 2008

How to Have a Good Day

Today was great. I am trying to think why it was so great. I think the only reason it was so great is because I didn't have much that I had to do. I did manage to squeeze in a 6 mile run. But other then that, it was pretty much just playing with Isaiah and Samuel. I think Isaiah might be the next Pele. The little guy loves to kick the soccer ball. Soccer was never really my thing, but it is too early developmentally to start Isaiah training for a marathon. All and all a nice relaxing day. I needed that. I looked at my schedule this week. Yeah, it is going to be a fun (busy) one.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Distressed or in Debt or Discontented

I have been intrigued for about eight months or so about David's mighty men. The stories, the conquests, the acts of heroism. Wow! I get inspired every time I read about it (I Samuel 22:1-2). When you look at the beginning of those mighty men, they were distressed or in debt or discontented. When put it all together for God, wow! These guys were legendary.
At church this morning I called everyone distressed or in debt or discontented. That sounds mean doesn't it? But, I honestly look at Bakserstown Alliance and I see the formation of David's men. So exciting. Honestly, I can't wait to hear the stories and the legends told about the Bakerstown mighty men.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

It's here!

We just checked our bank account. Low and behold "it" was there. What is "it" you ask? It is something I thought I would never actually see. It is something they have been talking about for awhile. It is the IRS stimulus payment. Whoopee!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Feeling Inadequate

The one thing I love about the atmosphere at Bakerstown Alliance is the openness. It's wonderful! Now there are some things that go along with openness, namely pain. We have a lot of hurting and broken people who are in a lot of serious pain. They are going through stuff that people should not have to go through.
I'll be honest: I feel totally inadequate. I can't take away their pain. I can't say anything magical that will make all their problems disappear. I have a hard enough time mowing my grass without breaking my lawnmower.
So what do I do? I guess I just rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn. (Romans 12:15)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

So that is why we do it

I will be the first to admit it. I did not want to go to Kid's Klub tonight. I thought about staying home. Thought seriously about blowing it off. But I went. Tonight was one of those nights that God reminded me why we do what we do. Now if you think that everyone was a perfect angel and I did not get annoyed at any one you are wrong. It was a couple of conversations I had with different people. I understand now. Wow, I'm amazed at some of the things the kids are going though. Ouch. Some of the decisions that have to be made, ouch. I wish we could do more. But we will continue to show God's love.

Monday, May 12, 2008

My weekend update on a Monday


So here I go again with my weekend in review:

Friday seems like such a long time ago. But Friday was errand day. It seemed like all day long was errands, errands, and more errands.

  • Did you get watch the Nationwide Race on Friday night?

  • Saturday we went to Heather's Aunt's house and her whole family was there. Due to various scheduling difficulties we celebrated Isaiah's birthday early. He got a lot of presents.

  • Got to watch the Nascar race on Saturday night. What a good weekend when you get to see both the Nationwide, and the cup race

  • So Sunday was mothers day in case you forgot.

  • We looked at Moses' mom. I enjoyed it, and was able to apply it to everyone, not just the mothers.

  • Hey if you were a female and you were at Bakerstown you got a carnation, what a deal!

  • Went to my mom's house for lunch. Yeah, she cooked a good meal

  • Ok, now I have to defend myself, my mother does not like going out or anything on Mother's day because of everyone else who is out and waiting for 2304234098 hours to get a seat.

  • Hey I got my mom a gift doesn't that count?

  • Went home, watched the movie Juno, twice actually. Good, good movie. Worth watching.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Guess who was at Bakerstown Alliance on Sunday?

Every week I pretty much say the same thing at the beginning of the service, something along the lines of ,"please fill out the detachable sheet inside your worship folder." It is basically name, address, and anything else you want to put on it. We have everyone fill it out so that those who are new are not be singled out. Every week I look at these sheets. Most of the time I look at them and if I have all the person's information already I just throw it out.

Well, I was reading through the stack this week and guess who was at Bakerstown Alliance this past Sunday? Mickey Mouse! Phone number 1-800-4Disney. Orlando, FL.

Now you might think I would be upset with that. Wrong. I laughed and laughed. I thought it was hilarious. I enjoy fun things on those tear-off sheets. We really need to stop taking ourselves so seriously.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Why I hate Mother's Day

I guess I got your attention with that title. Let me first start off by saying my mom rules! I love my mom and I am thankful to have her as my mom. S0 why do I hate mother's day then?
Well, hate might be a little strong. The part that I do not like is "a mother's day sermon." I don't like the ones that (and I probably have written some of them in the past) that talk about how to be a better mom. Reason: over half the people listening have never been and will never be a mother. Seems wrong to alienate half the people right off the bat. Now generally I end up making half the people mad at me anyway but, if I started with half already mad, made half of the half mad, that would be 3/4 of the place mad at me. Now I would have no problem talking to a group of moms about being the best mom they could be (however, I think a mother could do that much better then a 31 year old male).
So when you come to Bakerstown this weekend, you will hear a message about a mother that is, however, applicable to all our lives. Check out Exodus 2:1-10, and you'll start getting the drift.

Monday, May 5, 2008

The weekend

I have a very heavy heart today. Let me start with the good stuff:

  • Love the atmosphere at Bakerstown -- one of love and laughter

  • I love the honesty and openness

  • I'm working on trying to figure out a number. The number would be the amount money we have save each other. We have people constantly (and way more than I will ever know) helping each other out. Sometimes it's a "you buy the supplies, I will put it in." Sometimes it is a, "Here's supper for you. Enjoy." Those things add up. I would like to be able to at least come up with a ball park number. I think we would all be amazed in a positive way.

  • I love the fact that our church allows me to be the freak that I am. I know I am different. I know I have to do things different, and Bakerstown allows me to do that. I so appreciate it.

  • The doughnuts were really good. Thanks Todd :)

  • Ohh BTW my mom had dessert yesterday. :)

The Bad:



  • We have a lot of hurting people in our church. I love the fact we are honest enough to admit it, but I feel horrible for those who are going through those tough rivers

  • I had everyone fill out a paper with the question: "What river am I facing right now?"

  • They filled it out, and then I got home in the afternoon and read them, and read them again, and a couple more times. It hurt.

  • So I did what anyone with their "man card" would do. I got on my tractor and mowed my grass.

I will be doing a lot of praying and thinking about these things. If you could remember those who are dealing with some huge rivers at Bakerstown, that would be great.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

There is a reason I do crazy things

Several years ago I wrote a sermon called "The Power of Prayer." Basically I can sum it up for you: 1) Prayer is powerful and 2) We should all pray more. Now there is nothing wrong with that. I believe both of those statements. The problem is it never went far enough, it never answered the question "now what?" So I have been on a mission for the last three or four years or so. My mission has been never to leave that "now what" question unanswered.
That has lead to some pretty weird things. This has led to me going home for lunch during the week and asking Heather, "Could you count out 50 mustard seeds?" Or "Could you make 50 boxes out of poster board?" "Do you know where we could get a bunch of jelly beans from?" "Do you know where the tent is?" One of my favorite things we did is we were talking about giving God our very best. Again everyone agrees we should give God our best. But what I did was give everyone a 2nd place ribbon. Second place is not too bad right? Then if they were really serious about giving God their best, they could come up front and exchange their 2nd place ribbon with a 1st place ribbon.
Now I am not doing this to be cool. I am not doing this to be creative, edgy, or anything like that. I do these things to help people remember, and to answer the question "now what?"
Doing this takes a lot of work. But if it helps people grow closer to Christ, why not? Whatever it takes to help people grow closer to God, I am willing to do it.
By the way, I heard something about a river in the worship center. I wonder what that is about?

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Where have I been?

I am sorry to all my readers out there for not blogging the last couple of days. So what have I been doing? Well we had our annual District Conference. I thought I would have some free time during the conference to check in and maybe post some thoughts. Didn't work out that way. So what did I learn/do at district conference? Glad you asked.


  • I did a lot of talking with my friends. Wish I was better at keeping in contact with people. I am horrible at it. It is nice when you get to see a lot of friends/colleagues.

  • Ministry is tough. Have a lot of friends who are really hurting, please pray for them.

  • I learned that I am a freak. Ok I guess I knew that. Went through a very long (thank you God for giving us coffee) IDAK training seminar. Interesting what you learn about yourself.

  • We honored those who retired from ministry this past year; I want that to be me. Those guys, wow! What men of God. They are legendary!

  • I don't like by-laws. I understand the necessity for them, but I'm not a by-law guy

  • How do you think we could revise and update Mr. Roberts Rules of Order to make them make sense? What do you think about Mr. Rogers Rules of Order? :)

  • I always feel younger after district conference (why are most pastors old? :) )

  • Miss being around my family :(

  • The chairs could have been a little more comfortable, or the sessions a little shorter