Another person fallen to blogging preasure

So another person has decided to join the great legendary blogging adventure. She happens to be the official editor of The Beginning of Something Legendary. (Don't think that job pays too well) Not only that but she happens to be the prettiest person in the whole world. So check out the Heather Blog -- The Innermost Thoughts of a Very Private Person

T-minus Nine Weeks

I am pretty sure (you never are totally sure of the exact date) that our new bundle of fun should be here in about nine weeks. That is exciting isn't it? I am nervously looking forward to it. I'm a little scared though. I love Isaiah, I love my wife Heather, but is there enough love to go around? Smart people tell me it will be no problem. I am amazed at how God gives me the ability to love. It is from him. So nine weeks to go. What am I going to do? Work on making the next nine weeks legendary, and then after that become even more legendary..

My 50th Post!

This is my 50th post. Wow! I didn't think I had that much on my mind. I enjoy blogging. I hope you enjoy reading it. I think I am going to keep on blogging. I think I am going to let you keep reading about my personal conquest of becoming legendary. I hope that this blog becomes legendary. And most importantly, I hope that you are encouraged through this blog to do something legendary! (For some reason, I got this wrong, it is my 49th and the other one is my 50th. Close enough right?)

Wi-fi at Gas Stations?

So I am sitting in the brand new Get-N-Go on Route 8. Quite an experience. They have a Wi-fi Cafe inside the gas station along with comfy places to sit. Pretty nice. I just love to see the number of places I can find free Wi-fi. By the way, I don't want to offend anyone, but I really don't like places that charge for Wi-fi access. But Get-N-Go is free! So good job Get-N-Go.

Going through a Book of the Bible

I have been a big advocate of preaching through a book of the Bible, just taking each section and spending a week or so on each. I have done this many times. Let me tell you the pros and cons of doing this.

Pros:
You know exactly what passage you get to deal with each week
You gain a greater understanding of the Bible
You (the one doing the speaking) have to do some extensive research that leads to learning

Cons:
There is only one and it ,is this: There are some things in the Bible you would rather not deal with.

Take this for example (my example) We have been going through 1 Samuel. It's a very fun book with lots of fun stories. I mean David and Goliath; how could you go wrong? That is fun. Who doesn't like getting to talk about that. Then comes 1 Samuel 28:3-25. Ouch! In this passage there is a lot about a lady who was a medium, Samuel appearing, and all sorts of occult-type activities. This is not stuff I like to deal with. Some people like this stuff. It's not really up my alley. I don't like that occult stuff. I don't like dealing with it. I am not saying that I don't believe it is not out there. I know it is there, and it is real. I just don't enjoy that stuff.
Now with all that stuff said, this is good for me. This stretches me. This forces me to deal with subjects I would not normally deal with. Challenging? Oh yeah.
I am not saying that every series has to be a book of the Bible, but the challenge is to try to get a complete view of the whole scripture.
So if you could be praying for me this week, that would appreciate it.
peace out

The Wild Goose Chase

Hey you want a good book? How about Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. There is one slight problem. It doesn't come out 'til next summer. But you can pre-order it today! It should be a good book. No, I have not ordered my copy yet, but I will get one sometime next year.

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This notify quick things keeps getting better

I got an email this morning telling me that our phone message system merged with One Call. I was worried at first. Turns out to be good for us. We'll save about $1 a month (yeah!). But also they offer a banner that you can post on your website. You click the little speaker button, and hear the most recent message. Well that sounded like fun to me. So on our prayer site you can hear it too! Cool huh?

The Everyday Beginning Legends

Been thinking about this lately. Now that I have been the lead Pastor of Bakerstown Alliance for 5 years, I was thinking back...wow! Have we grown!
Now this is not something that you go to bed at night and say "boy did we grow a lot today." Rather it is something that keeps on going and going and we often fail to see it.
Take the time to remember, take the time to review your legendary journey. If you are willing to let God use you, I promise you, your journey will be legendary!

Heat Makes Me Cranky

Lately it has been hot. More than that, the dew point (I found out that that is the thing I care about the most) has been in the 70's. Smart people tell you that when it is 70 or above the humidity is considered oppressive. I believe that. I have never done very well in heat. It gives me headaches, and I don't have a lot of energy. I am just not a heat person. And when it is hot, I get cranky. Now I noticed that other people do the same thing. So I have to be really careful what I say and do and think. This heat stuff will go away, it is not like it is going to be there forever.
We are told in the Bible that hell is going to be a lake of fire. That sounds pretty hot to me. So I think, boy it must be worse than it has been outside lately. Yikes! And not only that, but hell is eternal. Who would want to spend eternity there?
That motivates me to stop complaining about the weather, and do what God has called us to do, to reach those who need to know Him.

Reserves versus Faith Living

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. How much money in savings is too much? How much should we live depending on God? Let me say that I promise you God has exceeded my wildest expectations. I have been blessed in ways I would never have expected. I also know that saving money is a good thing. But I know trusting God is a good thing. So I wrestle with the balance. When I have to depend on God He always comes through. But saving and investing is a good thing too, right? Where is the balance?

The Purpose of Telemarketers

I used to get annoyed when telemarketers kept calling and calling. Now at home I am on a "do not call list." So that has helped. But when I am at the office, it is fare game for those telemarketers to call. So they always used to annoy me. I didn't want to just hang up on them. I didn't want to be rude or obnoxious, but I also didn't want to waste my time with them. What to do, what to do? So I finally figured out the purpose of telemarketers. It is to work on my ability to say "no." Most of you probably get asked to do a lot of things that you have no intention of doing. Now sometimes you might say you are going to do something and just don't do it. Other times you will end up doing something because the other person convinced you to do it. We are told in Scripture to let our "yes" be "yes" and our "no" be "no." So now when a telemarketer calls, I listen to what they have to say. When they ask me if I am interested I say "no." That shocks some telemarketers because they have no idea how to respond to that. Other ones are really good, and they have a counter response ready to go. Then I listen to that and find a way to say "no" again. Make it a game to see how nicely but firmly I can say "no." After a while you almost start looking forward to their calls.

Prayer and talking to your friends

How many of you talk to your friends in a "formal" manner? I know I don't. Not even close. One of my strengths/weaknesses is that I am a very casual person. My dress is casual (shorts and a t-shirt please). My language is casual. I am just a casual person. What bugs a lot of people about me, is that I am casual. There is not a "professional" side to me.
Now you are looking at the title and thinking "what does this have to do with prayer?" If I am that type of casual person, why should I "pretend" to be all formal when I pray. "Oh Dearest God, Grant me thou daily provision for today's journey amongst this earth you have created." What does that mean? Instead, why not say it in a way that makes sense to the ultra casual person that I am. "Dear God, get me through the day" Now that makes sense. I understand that. I like to laugh, so what makes us think that God doesn't like to laugh? After all, the laughter that I enjoy comes directly from God in the first place, right? Sometimes, you don't even have to "say" anything. Every so often my wife will make a "sigh" like sound that tells me she is content. That everything is good, that she is happy, that she is enjoying being with me. Now she would never say all of that. The simple "sigh" says it all. Now, rest assured, I get other type of "sighs" too. Those are the ones that express thoughts such as "I am not too happy about that" or "I don't like what you are doing" or "You make me so crazy." Now if those are valid forms of communication with people, why not try using them to communicate with God?
If you are a person who is finding it hard to pray, then try using communication styles that work, not for me, not for your pastor, not for Billy Graham, but ways that work for you. By doing so, prayer becomes a lot more fun.

Exercise and God

Not that I know much about exercising or anything like that, but smart people tell me that it is good to change your routine every so often. You should add a different exercise here, change a routine here and there. Your muscles get lazy and too used to doing the same thing over and over, so you need to change it up. Those smart people tell me every six to eight weeks you should change it up.
So that got me thinking, we should do that same thing when it comes to reading the Bible. Change it up. Use a different method. There are tons out there. I have used a bunch of different ones. Some worked well for me, and some didn't work for me. Now that is not to say the ones that worked for me would work for you. What I am saying is try one, use it, and then change it up with another one. Repeat the process. Give it a shot.

Wins

In preparation for a meeting I had, I thought about the "wins" in my life and in our church. WOW! Boy I find it amazing at how thick-headed I can be. I miss so much. I wrote down those wins. I am embarrassed by how I miss them and how I forget to be thankful sometimes for all that God has given me. It is amazing.
Now let me help you out. The Bible tells us every good and perfect gift comes from God. So anything good is from God, anything good is a win.
I'm telling you the more that you think about it the more "wins" you have in your life. The more "wins" in your life the more thankful you are to God. The more thankful, the closer to God you get. Getting closer to God; what is better than that?
So here is what I want you to do, I want you to take a period of time (start with the last month). Make a list of all the "wins" in your life. I don't think ten "wins" is too much to ask for. So on a piece of paper, on your computer, or wherever, I want you to write ten wins in your life in the last month. Trust me you will be thanking God for all that he has done. By the way, if you are bold/kind enough, I would love it if you would post your "win" list in the comments. That would be, well, legendary. Pretty Please?

Make sure they know you love them

I had a great evening at Kid's Klub tonight. It was great. The weather was great. The kids were wonderful. Everything was great.
I believe we are making a difference. I believe we are progressing year after year. Now you might be wondering what curriculum we are using, or what lesson plans we use. You know what? It is just not about any of that. It is about being there for them. It is about showing them we love them. You can not do this with a one-month commitment. This doesn't happen overnight. There are many nights I come home and want to quit, but I make myself do it another week. The difference we have made is not because of our material. It is the commitment of our volunteers, and the prayer warriors that have been praying for us.
God is great, not us!

Mondays

To quote one of my favorite movies: "It looks like someone has a case of the Mondays." (name that movie please) That was me. Well, it actually started Sunday after church. I don't know what happens, but most weeks after Sunday morning, I am spent. I don't really know how or why or anything like that, but it just sucks everything out of me. I admit if I was being diagnosed at that moment I would have been labelled "depressed." It is tough, but I know what happens. It is because I put my whole self into it. I give it my all. That part makes me feel good -- aka cheers me up. So how do I recover every week? Sleep is a big help! Relaxing is good. And I usually try to do a couple of projects. It makes me feel good when I finish something. Take today for example. I fixed my tractor (the broken tractor did not help yesterday with my feeling down), mowed my grass (boy did it need it), fixed my driveway, and ran a couple of errands. Not to mention I had a fun night at the Living Room Small Group #1. So now it is Monday night, and honestly I am ready to go for tomorrow, ready to do the things that I need to do. This is just my weekly routine. In case you're wondering, that is one of the main reasons I take off Mondays.

Community Day 2007 Style

So tomorrow is the day. Community Day. I like Community Day. Our church makes popcorn. A lot of popcorn. Then we give it away, for FREE. It is great when people ask "how much does it cost?" And we reply, "It is free." We hand them information about our church and say, "Have a nice day." This year we have a little business card size handout with our web address. Hopefully people will check us out. By the way I want to set the record for popcorn distribution. I think our best is 725 bags. This year I am hoping for (throwing out a number) 950. Anyway, it should be legendary!

I feel sort of in Limbo

It is just a funny time in my life. I feel like I am trapped in limbo. My whole month of July was just crazy. I still have not fully recovered. However, I am looking forward to the fall. Summers are a tough time to get anything going. So I am sort trying to plan the fall and recover at the same time. Also I am really enjoying playing with my son (how many times have I said that), but at the same time, come November there will be another one to play with. Once again this is leaving me in limbo. It is odd. Just don't have many times like this. Not good, not bad. Just interesting.

Electricity

I am without power at my house and my church. I did not realize how dependent I am on electricity. I showed up at church this morning, realized I had no power and just pretty much looked around and scratched my head. What could I do? No computer, no WiFi, no Internet, no phone even. So there was not much to do about it.
That got me thinking however (after all there was nothing to do to prevent me from doing so). Are we as dependent on God as we are on electricity? (not that this is possible due to God's very nature) But what if God were not there? What if God like the electricity "went out." Would we miss him? Would we notice? Would are lives be affected? Or would we just go on with our normal routines like nothing happened?
I want to have to depend on God more and more every day. I want to be in situations that are impossible apart from God. I want God to be more important than electricity.

Our Youth Group

I want to take this opportunity to tell you about how much I love our youth group. This morning they left from our parking lot for a day of several service projects. We prayed, and the next thing you know there are three cars full of people going to serve God. Now I have to tell you some impressive things about this group. First of all it is an all volunteer-led group. Second, you might be sitting there and thinking, "Where did we get all those kids from?" Here is the coolest part to me. We are part of a youth network of five churches working together. What a concept. A bunch of churches actually working together instead of against each other! It has been amazing to see this thing come together and work. I'm proud of all those who are involved in this group. I am thinking this has to bring a smile to God's face. After having to see and hear so many churches fighting with each other, to see churches working with each other, man that has to be refreshing. Good job guys. Keep up the good work!

My Son, He is too old too quick

We finished Isaiah's "big boy" room the other day. I must admit, it is sweet. If I was a two-year-old boy who was obsessed with Thomas the Train I would love it. So we showed it to Isaiah. He did love it. You should have seen his face when he first walked in. It made me feel proud. Well tonight is more than likely his last night in his crib. Tomorrow he will be in his real bed.
That is so weird to think about. Man, I know this might sound cheesy, but I remember holding him when he was 2 minutes old. That was yesterday right? Time goes by to quick. Make sure you make an effort to spend the time that you have with the ones you love. I have done that fairly well for the most part (always room for improvement). I do not regret one moment!

Whats up with that?

When I was on vacation I came across this tire swing. Now let's retrace the history and purpose of the tire swing. Some guy wanted to give his children a swing. He looked around his house and this is what he found: A tree, a rope, and a old tire that probably could not hold air anymore. He put them all together and you have the all famous tire swing. Problem solved. Well this tire swing in TN is not made out of a tire. It is plastic (and rather uncomfortable if I might say), and it is blue. I don't understand it. I guess a tire swing is now going to live on forever?

That got me thinking about some other things that we do. It seems to me that we all have plastic tire swings. Things we think we have to do, and even try to make it better than the original intent. Just want to challenge you take the opportunity every so often and ask why?

A picture for Ashley

Ashley here you go, I hope you enjoy :)

here is another one:

Frustration

Right now I am frustrated. I'm having a tough time working on Sunday's message. 1 Samuel 24 is all about revenge (or lack there of) and forgiveness. After doing a lot of studying of the passage, no problem. I get it. I understand it. Then on to the task of relating it to our lives, that part was easy. At first, I was thinking we would never try to kill someone so what is the point. Well upon further research and understanding, though we may not try to kill someone, we often find a way to retaliate against our enemies. So all of that is not a problem. All of that is easy.
But the problem comes when I get to the end. As I was working on all of this, I kept thinking that there will be people who need to hear about forgiveness. People who need to forgive. No I am not thinking about anyone in particular. But I just feel it is out there.
True forgiveness does not happen in three minutes at the altar. It doesn't happen by having the pastor ask people who need to forgive to raise their hands and then pray for them. It just doesn't work that way.
So now I am thinking I am opening up a huge can of worms without a proper system of follow-up in place. I need there to be "forgiveness groups" that are set up and ready to go. I need to have better resources to help people on this journey. I need people not just to hear the word but to do something about it. I would like to have a whole "forgiveness" division of
Bakerstown Alliance including small group forgiveness leaders and a resource person who would collect, organize, and maintain material pertaining to forgiveness. I also need a couple of well- trained forgiveness counselors that could deal with these issues on a one-on-one basis. And this is Thursday and I need to have this all up and ready to go by Sunday at 10. Now keep in mind next week I will have a need for a whole other division of Bakerstown Alliance. Oh I forgot to mention that we only have a shoe string budget (actually to call it a shoe string budget is a insult to shoe string budgets)
This is what frustrates me. I will do what I have to do and depend on God to get us through it.
Frustrating.

It Passed!

I just got my car inspected today. It passed! Even more surprising was the bill. $21.83! Any time you spend less the $200 on a PA inspection is a great day! Party time!

Am I Beginning Something Legendary?

Could it be? Yet another person fallen into my trap... My good friend Jeff Smith started his blog today. So let's see, that is Beth, Blake, Jeff, hmm....who's next? Maybe the official editor of 'the beginning of something legendary'? Could It be? We will see :)

Use what you have

So I've been thinking about spiritual gifts and talents and creativity this morning. Now I am not going to get into the number of gifts or the amount of gifts you have and all that stuff. I realized that everybody has a different number, different descriptions for the various gifts and so forth. I also realized that the people who have like seven say you only have one at a time and the people with like thirty say you can have multiple gifts.
But the point is this: God made each of us unique and we should use our uniqueness. I get excited when I see someone fighting hard to start something based on their giftedness. It would be like if someone would come to me and tell me we MUST HAVE a cooking class for all the twenty-year-olds because they need to know how to cook or else they will never make it. And guess what, my response would be go for it. If you have someone that excited about something, usually it is good.
With that being said, we need to make sure that we are using all our gifts and abilities to tell people about God. Both people who don't yet know God, and people who do know God. Whatever ability, talent, skill we have can be used for God. Now to do this takes work, takes time, takes energy. I realize that. But what is better than investing your time and energy into telling people about God?