Random Monday thoughts:
- I loved it that we opened things for yesterday's service with "Running On Empty". Ben (the cool looking guitarist) had never heard of Jackson Browne until the band started working on that song. That either means I'm old or that he needs a 70's music education.
- I struggled with concentration issues big-time leading up to the moment I got on stage to teach. God really reminded me that He is in control when He helped me focus when I needed to.
- I got to the LINC back to school party in time to see the belly flop and back buster competitions. The prize was an XBox 360, and those kids sacrificed their bodies in order to win! There were a ton of beet red backs and bellies when everything ended. This gives me a lot of hope for the next generation of leaders in our country.
- I challenged Blake, Ben and Ben to do a back buster after the competition ended. They refused to try. They have been demoted in my mind from full man status to some type of man/girl hybrid.
- We had a great time visiting with Tony and Bettye again this weekend. They are friends from Charleston that we've known for a long time. They've been to see us twice in just a few months, now we need to plan a trip to see them. The girls missed their dog Kiki who didn't make the trip this time, but I think Buddy (our dog) was happy to have Tony all to himself.
- I am looking forward to the get together on the new property this Sunday afternoon. If you didn't sign-up to bring a churn of homemade ice cream, you can still do so. Just send Trey Frick an e-mail and he will get you on the list. tfrick@nuvox.com
- I wish Ryan Howard had gone on the DL last week. If so, the Braves would only be 4 games back of the Phillies instead of 6. There's still six weeks of baseball to be played, so their not out of it yet.
That's all for now! Leave a comment if you're not too scared.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Sunday preview and Friday wrap-up
For whatever reason this week has gone by faster than normal. I know it really hasn't, but it feels like it has. Maybe that's just a way to justify the unfinished items on my to do list.
I am looking forward to another great Sunday at Greer High School! This week we will continue the re:boot series with a message called "Maxed Out". Here are the main scripture passages we will be covering this week: Exodus 18:13-26 and Acts 6:1-7.
Here's a gentle reminder about something you already know, the service begins at 10:30. That is the time you should be seated in the auditorium. If at 10:30 you are still in the atrium eating doughnuts and drinking coffee you will miss something. I am reminding you of this because, you will not want to miss the first song this week! All of you who are classic rock enthusiasts will especially enjoy it. We have begun using a countdown timer at 10:25 to let you know when the service will begin. When the timer hits 0:00 the band cranks it up.
Summer is coming to a close now that kids are having to go back to school. That means people will be home more often, which also means we have a great opportunity to invite them to worship each week. Call someone today and ask them to join you at Freedom this Sunday. See you then!
I am looking forward to another great Sunday at Greer High School! This week we will continue the re:boot series with a message called "Maxed Out". Here are the main scripture passages we will be covering this week: Exodus 18:13-26 and Acts 6:1-7.
Here's a gentle reminder about something you already know, the service begins at 10:30. That is the time you should be seated in the auditorium. If at 10:30 you are still in the atrium eating doughnuts and drinking coffee you will miss something. I am reminding you of this because, you will not want to miss the first song this week! All of you who are classic rock enthusiasts will especially enjoy it. We have begun using a countdown timer at 10:25 to let you know when the service will begin. When the timer hits 0:00 the band cranks it up.
Summer is coming to a close now that kids are having to go back to school. That means people will be home more often, which also means we have a great opportunity to invite them to worship each week. Call someone today and ask them to join you at Freedom this Sunday. See you then!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Back to School Bash by the numbers
As I said in Monday's blog, what happened at Century B Park on Sunday afternoon was pretty amazing. Here's a recap by the numbers:
3 - the number of churches who had volunteers present on Sunday afternoon. In addition to the big crowd of Freedomers, there were hard-working folks helping out from Springwell Church and Ridgeview Church. Also, Living Way Church made a financial donation to help off-set costs. We were thrilled to be able to partner together with other churches who care for the community.
130 - approximate number of volunteers who made everything happen.
1,500 - estimated total number of people present. Needless to say, we were rather overwhelmed, especially since most of the signs we had put out to advertise had been taken down pretty early on.
725 - number of backpacks full of school supplies that were given away. This is the first year we have given away every single backpack. The last two years we have had some left over that we then donated to area schools.
1,000 - conservative estimate of the number of backpacks we should plan to give away next August.
100 - combined pounds lost by our cooking crew as they sweated over their grills on the hottest day of the summer. This crew never got a break, and they never complained.
4:45 - time that the first folks got in line at the gate to receive a backpack.
6:00 - time the event began.
30 - the number of folks it took to put together the big white tent where the food was served. We believe in working together you know!
0 - number of parking spaces left in both parking lots and also in the lot of the church across the street. Not to mention all the cars parked up and down the road.
250 - number of hearts broken by Miss Upstate, Stephanie Vaughn (who was giving away signed photos) when the boys found out she's already dating someone.
??? - the impact made in the lives of kids and their parents who received the backpacks. It simply cannot be measured.
A huge thanks to everyone who participated by volunteering on Sunday, or by donating school supplies! A special thanks to Donny for arranging so many of the details and to Laurie King, who headed up the backpacks, and Brian Thomas, who headed the food crew. Sunday was another great way to let the community we live in know that we care. The hard work and dedication of the folks at Freedom never ceases to amaze me!
3 - the number of churches who had volunteers present on Sunday afternoon. In addition to the big crowd of Freedomers, there were hard-working folks helping out from Springwell Church and Ridgeview Church. Also, Living Way Church made a financial donation to help off-set costs. We were thrilled to be able to partner together with other churches who care for the community.
130 - approximate number of volunteers who made everything happen.
1,500 - estimated total number of people present. Needless to say, we were rather overwhelmed, especially since most of the signs we had put out to advertise had been taken down pretty early on.
725 - number of backpacks full of school supplies that were given away. This is the first year we have given away every single backpack. The last two years we have had some left over that we then donated to area schools.
1,000 - conservative estimate of the number of backpacks we should plan to give away next August.
100 - combined pounds lost by our cooking crew as they sweated over their grills on the hottest day of the summer. This crew never got a break, and they never complained.
4:45 - time that the first folks got in line at the gate to receive a backpack.
6:00 - time the event began.
30 - the number of folks it took to put together the big white tent where the food was served. We believe in working together you know!
0 - number of parking spaces left in both parking lots and also in the lot of the church across the street. Not to mention all the cars parked up and down the road.
250 - number of hearts broken by Miss Upstate, Stephanie Vaughn (who was giving away signed photos) when the boys found out she's already dating someone.
??? - the impact made in the lives of kids and their parents who received the backpacks. It simply cannot be measured.
A huge thanks to everyone who participated by volunteering on Sunday, or by donating school supplies! A special thanks to Donny for arranging so many of the details and to Laurie King, who headed up the backpacks, and Brian Thomas, who headed the food crew. Sunday was another great way to let the community we live in know that we care. The hard work and dedication of the folks at Freedom never ceases to amaze me!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Six Questions
I'll get a longer post on here tomorrow about the Back to School Bash. For now you need to know it exceeded our expectations, and we had pretty high expectations! Until then, here are the six questions I asked everyone to think about as part of yesterday's message:
Sabbath questions
How comfortable are you with silence?
Could you spend a day (24 hrs) without TV, Internet or your cell phone?
You are in a room with nothing but a place to sit and your bible, how long can you last?
Confession questions
When talking to God, are you honest about your sin?
What are you trusting in to earn your forgiveness?
Is there something you have been carrying too long?
That's a lot to think about.
Sabbath questions
How comfortable are you with silence?
Could you spend a day (24 hrs) without TV, Internet or your cell phone?
You are in a room with nothing but a place to sit and your bible, how long can you last?
Confession questions
When talking to God, are you honest about your sin?
What are you trusting in to earn your forgiveness?
Is there something you have been carrying too long?
That's a lot to think about.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Friday wrap-up
The week is coming to an end, but as normal that means we are heading into an eventful weekend. Here's what you can look forward to:
- Virus Scan is the theme for Sunday's message. This will be the second in the re:boot series. I encourage everyone who will be in worship Sunday to come prepared to let down your guard, and get really honest with God. Read the scripture we will be focusing on this week, and you might get an understanding of why I'm making this request. Exodus 16, Mark 2:23-24, Psalm 32:2-5
- Back to School Bash is this Sunday afternoon! For the third straight year we will have a big party at Century B Park in Greer in order to give away free school supplies. In our office right now are over 600 backpacks full of everything needed to start off the school year, and I cannot wait to be there when our volunteers give them away. (A big thanks to Laurie King and the rest of her crew that worked hard to get everything seperated and then put into the backpacks!) There will also be free hot dogs, face painting, and inflatables. What a great way to be the church instead of just going to church!
- Emily and I are going to see the new GI Joe movie with Jake today. It's awesome that my daughter enjoys cool movies. I think the movie is based on the GI Joes that were popular back in the mid to late 80's. Those are the ones that were small. By the time they came out I had outgrown playing with GI Joes. I grew up playing with the tall Gi Joes with the fuzzy hair and kung-fu grip. I had the GI Joe tank, helicopter, jeep, six wheel vehicle (don't know the real name), and foot locker. Not to mention all the guns, helmets, boots, and dog tags that went along with them. By the way, even though I spent hours playing with GI Joes and my hundreds of little army men, I have never shot at or tried to attack anyone with a bayonet...at least not yet.
- I found an app for my Google calendar that allows you to download a picture from the web and make it the background. I found a picture taken from the pier at Garden City, and now I see it every time I open my calendar. I will keep it up until I get too sad that I'm not going back to the beach anytime soon, and I guess I'll take it down then.
Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!
- Virus Scan is the theme for Sunday's message. This will be the second in the re:boot series. I encourage everyone who will be in worship Sunday to come prepared to let down your guard, and get really honest with God. Read the scripture we will be focusing on this week, and you might get an understanding of why I'm making this request. Exodus 16, Mark 2:23-24, Psalm 32:2-5
- Back to School Bash is this Sunday afternoon! For the third straight year we will have a big party at Century B Park in Greer in order to give away free school supplies. In our office right now are over 600 backpacks full of everything needed to start off the school year, and I cannot wait to be there when our volunteers give them away. (A big thanks to Laurie King and the rest of her crew that worked hard to get everything seperated and then put into the backpacks!) There will also be free hot dogs, face painting, and inflatables. What a great way to be the church instead of just going to church!
- Emily and I are going to see the new GI Joe movie with Jake today. It's awesome that my daughter enjoys cool movies. I think the movie is based on the GI Joes that were popular back in the mid to late 80's. Those are the ones that were small. By the time they came out I had outgrown playing with GI Joes. I grew up playing with the tall Gi Joes with the fuzzy hair and kung-fu grip. I had the GI Joe tank, helicopter, jeep, six wheel vehicle (don't know the real name), and foot locker. Not to mention all the guns, helmets, boots, and dog tags that went along with them. By the way, even though I spent hours playing with GI Joes and my hundreds of little army men, I have never shot at or tried to attack anyone with a bayonet...at least not yet.
- I found an app for my Google calendar that allows you to download a picture from the web and make it the background. I found a picture taken from the pier at Garden City, and now I see it every time I open my calendar. I will keep it up until I get too sad that I'm not going back to the beach anytime soon, and I guess I'll take it down then.
Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Overdue
So it's Thursday and this is only the second post this week. That doesn't mean that there has been nothing going on. In fact, a lot has happened since Monday. I'll fill you in on some of it in the normal helter skelter, out of order fashion that is normal for me.
- Chris and I got to hang out with Kent Bateman over lunch yesterday in Columbia. I've known Kent since he was about eight years old, and it thrills me to see the man he has become. He has been able to use many of the gifts and talents God has given him at Midtown Fellowship. We had lunch at a great burger joint in Five Points called "Pawley's Front Porch". Of course on the way back we stopped at Zesto's, and I got two pieces of chicken to eat on the ride home. Can't waste a trip to Columbia without getting Zesto's or Rush's.
- I had a great time on Tuesday at the Bi-Lo Center with Grace. She wanted to see Demi Lovato, and since Sherry is not a fan of concerts, I got the call. First of all, Demi Lovato is talented. She isn't one of those made for television pop stars that can't actually get it done. Her voice was as good as the CD's, she played the guitar and piano, and she writes songs. The funny thing is that since she came on third, Grace was getting very tired. It was already past her bedtime. We stayed for well over half of her set, and then Grace was ready to hit the road. David Archuleta was one of the opening acts on Tuesday. Here are a few observations: he is just as goofy in person as he seemed on American Idol, mothers of little girls seem to like him as much as the little girls do, if the screams and squeals of 6-14 year old girls could be converted into cash he would be Bill Gates. I'd estimate that there were probably 8,000 people there at the concert and 97% were female. Take away the Dads like me who were there and the number is probably 99.5%.
- I had a great conversation with a friend today who is going the extra mile to help a friend in a tough situation. He is helping even to the point of rearranging his living situation. It challenged me to think about what I would do to help someone. Am I willing to do that for someone who needs it?
- Prediction: When the Taco Bell in Greer re-opens, the crowd will be out the door, even though the building is the only thing that has changed. The Chalupas, Taquitos, and Pintos and Cheese will taste exactly the same, and be just as greasy as they were before. People are funny.
- Chris and I got to hang out with Kent Bateman over lunch yesterday in Columbia. I've known Kent since he was about eight years old, and it thrills me to see the man he has become. He has been able to use many of the gifts and talents God has given him at Midtown Fellowship. We had lunch at a great burger joint in Five Points called "Pawley's Front Porch". Of course on the way back we stopped at Zesto's, and I got two pieces of chicken to eat on the ride home. Can't waste a trip to Columbia without getting Zesto's or Rush's.
- I had a great time on Tuesday at the Bi-Lo Center with Grace. She wanted to see Demi Lovato, and since Sherry is not a fan of concerts, I got the call. First of all, Demi Lovato is talented. She isn't one of those made for television pop stars that can't actually get it done. Her voice was as good as the CD's, she played the guitar and piano, and she writes songs. The funny thing is that since she came on third, Grace was getting very tired. It was already past her bedtime. We stayed for well over half of her set, and then Grace was ready to hit the road. David Archuleta was one of the opening acts on Tuesday. Here are a few observations: he is just as goofy in person as he seemed on American Idol, mothers of little girls seem to like him as much as the little girls do, if the screams and squeals of 6-14 year old girls could be converted into cash he would be Bill Gates. I'd estimate that there were probably 8,000 people there at the concert and 97% were female. Take away the Dads like me who were there and the number is probably 99.5%.
- I had a great conversation with a friend today who is going the extra mile to help a friend in a tough situation. He is helping even to the point of rearranging his living situation. It challenged me to think about what I would do to help someone. Am I willing to do that for someone who needs it?
- Prediction: When the Taco Bell in Greer re-opens, the crowd will be out the door, even though the building is the only thing that has changed. The Chalupas, Taquitos, and Pintos and Cheese will taste exactly the same, and be just as greasy as they were before. People are funny.
Monday, August 3, 2009
He's got amazing timing
I never cease to be amazed when God makes it clear that He knows exactly what He is doing. I have had tons of moments like that in my life, but the last seven months they have been happening more often than ever.
Yesterday I taught a message about what we should do when life crashes. I focused on the fact that although our circumstances in life change, God never changes. His love for us remains the same when times are tough or easy, and that He has not abandoned us when tragedy strikes. Since the service ended yesterday I have had person after person tell me that they needed to hear those words, which proves that whenever there are a few hundred people gathered together there is a lot of hurt and heartache present.
Here is something that is really cool about the timing of yesterday's message. The idea for that message, and all the messages I will teach this month, came out of a brainstorming session back in February of 2008. From time to time I will leave town for a couple of days to pray about and brainstorm new ideas for messages. In February of 2008 I spent two days in Hendersonville, NC and I wrote out the ideas for the "re:boot" series that we are doing now. I tucked them away in a folder labeled "Future Message Series". Since then I have pulled out that sheet of paper several times as I was scheduling messages on the calendar. For whatever reason I would look over it and decide to put it back in the "Future" folder for consideration later. A couple of months ago I decided that August would be a good month for the series. This afternoon I found out that sitting in yesterday's service was a child who only days earlier had lost a parent. This child had never been to Freedom before, but was visiting with a friend. When I discovered this I couldn't help but be utterly amazed at how God knows exactly what needs to happen when. If I had taught that message seven months ago, seven weeks ago, or even just seven days ago this child would not have been there to hear it. What a great reminder that I need to begin everyday asking God to move me out of the way so that He can do what needs to be done.
Yesterday I taught a message about what we should do when life crashes. I focused on the fact that although our circumstances in life change, God never changes. His love for us remains the same when times are tough or easy, and that He has not abandoned us when tragedy strikes. Since the service ended yesterday I have had person after person tell me that they needed to hear those words, which proves that whenever there are a few hundred people gathered together there is a lot of hurt and heartache present.
Here is something that is really cool about the timing of yesterday's message. The idea for that message, and all the messages I will teach this month, came out of a brainstorming session back in February of 2008. From time to time I will leave town for a couple of days to pray about and brainstorm new ideas for messages. In February of 2008 I spent two days in Hendersonville, NC and I wrote out the ideas for the "re:boot" series that we are doing now. I tucked them away in a folder labeled "Future Message Series". Since then I have pulled out that sheet of paper several times as I was scheduling messages on the calendar. For whatever reason I would look over it and decide to put it back in the "Future" folder for consideration later. A couple of months ago I decided that August would be a good month for the series. This afternoon I found out that sitting in yesterday's service was a child who only days earlier had lost a parent. This child had never been to Freedom before, but was visiting with a friend. When I discovered this I couldn't help but be utterly amazed at how God knows exactly what needs to happen when. If I had taught that message seven months ago, seven weeks ago, or even just seven days ago this child would not have been there to hear it. What a great reminder that I need to begin everyday asking God to move me out of the way so that He can do what needs to be done.
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