Story Telling

Donald Miller writes one of my favorite blogs. I will add it to the blog roll to the right when I get the chance. This is what he wrote today that I thought was great, and I'd love for you to read it.

Words fail me

I promised you some trivial stuff yesterday so check out this video. There are so many things that could be said about this, but I am speechless.

The blog isn't dead.

I'm sure all seven of my faithful readers (that number includes Sherry and my parents by the way) want some explanation as to why there has been no activity here for the past couple of weeks. There is really no reason other than the fact that most of my attention has been focused on Easter. Also, many of the things I think about writing are pretty trivial, and I'm not sure if you as a reader actually want to spend time reading what my thoughts are on American Idol, pizza toppings, or new movies. Of course, there are times when I have something of importance to say that involves Freedom Fellowship, and the blog is a great way to get those messages out as well. That's a long way of saying, "I don't really have an explanation for why there has been no activity on this blog, but beginning today I will write my thoughts both significant and trivial here for your perusal." Is perusal really a word?

You know I love bullet points, so here goes:

- The worship service on Easter was amazing! Being able to be there as 5 people were given new life by Jesus was the coolest thing ever. There is no better way to celebrate the resurrection than to be a part of people being resurrected from their sins into new life in Jesus. As if what happened Sunday morning wasn't enough, I got a Facebook message late Sunday night from a Mom telling me how her and her husband had the opportunity to pray with their daughter to accept Jesus at home that night! Like I say all the time, the pastor doesn't have to be present for you to have your life changed by Jesus.

- New message series begins this Sunday. This Sunday we will kick off "The Gospel" series, and it will last for three weeks. We will cover the very basic truths about our need to be saved and how God does the saving.

- I think creativity in Hollywood is dying. I saw an ad the other night for a new movie called "A Nightmare on Elm Street". It looked really scary. It's about an evil man named Freddy who shows up in people's dreams. It's a great idea for a scary movie. In fact it's such a great idea that someone else thought of it 25 years ago when the original movie came out. It seems like at least half of the movies that are released now are remakes of old movies, t.v. shows, or comic books. I love a lot of those remakes (I'm looking forward to the A-Team movie), but it seems like the big movie studios have gotten lazy about developing new stories and characters.

- Ipod for sale. I've got a 16 GB ipod Nano for sale. If you are interested just leave me a comment or send me a Facebook message.

Wearing Green and Pinching People

March 17: The life of Saint Patrick is remembered today not because March 17 is the day he was born, rather it is the date of his death. So, who was Saint Patrick? I think his story is pretty awesome. Patrick was born in England and was the grandson of a priest. When he was 16 years old he was taken captive and carried off to Ireland as a slave. He served as a herdsman during his slavery in Ireland, and after six years he heard a voice telling him he would soon be free. He responded to the voice by fleeing from his master and finding a ship in port over 200 miles away that would take him home to England. For most people in that situation that would be where the story ended, but for Patrick it was only the beginning.

A few years after returning home he had a vision where a man handed him a letter which read "The Voice of the Irish" across the top. The body of the letter contained a plea for him to return to Ireland in order to preach the gospel. Responding to this vision from God, Patrick soon returned to the land where he once had been enslaved. He spent the rest of his life in a place where he once had no freedom, so he could tell the Irish people how to be free in Christ. I've always thought that the story of Patrick is a pretty cool example of how God can take what could be the worst part of our life and use it for His glory. Who was better qualified to carry the gospel to Ireland than a man who had lived there for six years as a slave? What a great reminder that whatever situation you find yourself in today, even if it is not what you had planned, God can use you there to do something amazing.

While people celebrate Saint Patrick today by wearing green shirts, drinking green beer, putting goofy clover leaf hats on their heads, and then pinching anyone not wearing green, remember that the real story of Patrick the slave boy means so much more.

Stuff on my mind

It's been awhile since I wrote a post of random thoughts. I'm sure you have felt there was something significant missing from your life because of this. Here are some important thoughts along with some not-so-important ones.

- I'm asking God for big things to happen at Freedom on Easter. Whether you realize it or not, Easter is only three weeks away. Join me in asking God to make this Easter the most significant Sunday in the history of Freedom. Go ahead and begin inviting your friends who don't know Jesus to join you that Sunday.

- I'm looking forward to this weekend's time change. I always love the "spring forward" time change because it means we are closer to warm weather. I also love the fact that there will be more daylight after work everyday.

- I came up with what I think is a great name for a store that sells hot tea: Teayouwanna. If I could find the right investor, and if I knew anything about tea, I believe that name could become as common as Starbucks.

- I've been reading straight through the bible this year, and I've been in Psalms for a couple of weeks. Here are some Psalms that have really spoken to me this week: 84, 91, 101, 103.

- I'm looking forward to hearing Liz Wood play Saturday night at Cafe Mundo. Liz has made it to the semi-finals of the battle of the bands that Cafe Mundo is sponsoring. Liz plays guitar and sings in the Freedom band, and Saturday she will be playing all original songs. It starts at 7:00. I'd love to see you there.

- I saw a commercial for Iron Man 2 the other night. It looks awesome. Emily and I will most certainly check it out the weekend it opens.

See you Sunday!

The Return of Tiger

There's a lot of talk in the sports world about when Tiger Woods will return to the golf course. I'd be surprised if he wasn't at the Master's next month. Until he returns, enjoy this video of him accepting an ESPY award a couple of years ago.

What's that you're wearing?

Michael Hyatt is the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers and a very influential Christian businessman. I follow him on Twitter, and unlike me he writes something on his blog almost daily. His content is always very good, and today he wrote something I thought all of you should read. For those of you who don't normally click on the lincs I include here, be sure you check this one out. It will be worth your time. The subject matter is something I feel very strongly about. For years as a youth minister I would talk with teenage girls about this subject, and as a Father of two daughters it hits very close to home. By the way, I think the four rules he lists are good for grown women as well as teenage girls.

Read it here.

I'd love to hear you thoughts. Just leave a comment.