new book

i am so excited about this new book by mark driscoll. here is the book's promotional video.

warning: this will jack you up. if you are under the age of 18 i wouldn't watch.

two more things

1.) godfather part 2- jason and nan had their second child. kathryn claire britt. welcome to the world. i love jason and nan and can't wait to see how great they turn out to be as parents. no worries carson- you're still the man!!

2.) new favorite artist- jimmy needham. check him out in this video.

excited

really excited about this weekend. my dad is on his way right now to come hang out and play some golf. and my mom is coming later on tonight. i love hanging with my parents!! my dad works at a church back in tennessee so he has to go home saturday night but my mom gets to come to church with us on sunday. neither of my parents have ever been to 12stone so if you see my mom, give her a shout out.

see you sunday!

after staff retreat

back from pastor's retreat tonight. here's a short list of what went on in the past 48 hours.

1.) started feeling better - i heart z-packs
2.) had amazing time alone with Jesus feeling refreshed and concentrated
3.) almost got shot by 1000 paintballs
4.) watched it rain 6 inches in 24 hours
5.) rescued lane from a tornado at her school
6.) hung out with best friends Jason and Amber Berry tonight
7.) got ready for pr!me

everything is running

as of 10:28 p.m. here's a list of what's running on my body:

1.) temperature
2.) nose
3.) eyes
4.) sinuses (into throat)

hoping i get better before pastors' retreat on monday.

georgia is a country too??

wow.

running mate

just so you know...i am not a supporter of barack obama. i don't have any ill feelings towards him either. to be honest the more i hear the moronic clamor of people proclaiming to know his religious bent, be it christian or muslim, the more i want to give the guy a chance. here's how a recent conversation between myself and a self pronounced political "expert," friend of mine went recently...

me- "hey, i hear obama is going to announce his vp this weekend."

them- "you know he's a muslim don't you?"

me- INTERNAL DIALOGUE "why do some people still have the privilege of speaking aloud?"

all that to say, when voting for our next president, let's use some common sense.

how to pray

recently been struggling with the idea of prayer. it is a DEEP subject and i think my shallow mind is striving to dive just a little deeper in my spiritual life and walk with Jesus. here's what i think...

i must approach prayer with the idea that it represents my open or closed hands about the things, people, and situations in my life that i sometimes mistakenly define as "mine." when i petition to God in prayer for "healing (haha- see post below)," or "blessing," it allows me to acknowledge that God is a HUGE part of my life and that these areas of my life are not grasped tightly, but allowed to be taken and given at HIS pleasure.

i don't think that's all but it's enough for me. right now.

b.

i believe, that you're not really sick...

A sad and embarrassing story hit the wires over the last few days... this time out of Australia. Michael Guglielmucci is a former pastor who had inspired hundreds of thousands of young Christians with his testimony of having terminal cancer. The problem was... he didn't.
According to Adelaidenow.com.au, he is now seeking professional help. Earlier this year, Guglielmucci released a hit song The Healer which was featured on Hillsong's latest album. The song has become an anthem of faith for believers, many of whom are suffering their own illness and were praying for a miracle for Mr Guglielmucci, who has claimed for two years to be terminally ill.
In one church performance that has attracted 300,000 hits on YouTube, he performs his hit song with an oxygen tube in his nose. The clip was pulled by YouTube with the advice "video no longer available."

these are the people that i wish weren't giving the rest of us a bad name.

best so far...

this past Sunday our pastor let our church in on a tremendous blessing that we were going to have the opportunity to be part of.

a church from south atl. just bought our old building which happens to be only about 500 yards from our new campus that we opened in january.

to let all of us know that it isn't about competition or that we are going to let everyone know who is the biggest and baddest we were going to do the following:

- pay for a new sign for the marquee as they have not put up a proper sign in front of thier building yet.

in a time when there seems to be more competition than love between churches, it struck me that i have never heard of anyone doing this before...or even anything like it.

your strongest testimony? not having an inferiorty or superiority complex...just doing as God would have you where you are right now.

deep thoughts

i have a question, what does it mean to let God get you alone and set you on fire for a message? i wonder if it means that the more time i spend not alone the less passion i have when i speak?

so...in order to do well for lots of people and do justice to their souls on a consistent weekly basis i have to remove myself from those same people?

just a question from someone who is still trying to figure this thing out.

my prayer: "God, give me enough faith to have faith."

B.

that was easy

been taking a break lately...for reasons i am not quite sure.

so, i'll let you in on what i've been doing this summer

1.) changed the name and programming of our wed. night service. (we're now called
pr!me)
2.) did the same for sunday mornings
3.) read some great books
4.) bought a new car
5.) fallen in love with a new class of 6th graders

that's all for now, but it looks like i'm back on the wagon.