Secret Societies Handbook: I picked this book up off the discount rack at Barnes and Noble. It's a little book about how the secret societies have shaped the history of the world and our country. It was a pretty interesting read about the different societies, the famous people that are members of them and their different rituals. This book was missing a few things though. Like actual descriptions of their secret rituals, how the secret societies have shaped history and solid evidence that these secrets are dangerous.

20 of 52


The Martyr's Song: by Ted Dekker. Oh I'll read this little book over Christmas to close out my year for reading. It will be a quick little read a enjoyable little piece during my vacation; those are the words I thought to myself. Why I thought a book titled the MARTYR'S song would be a piece of light reading currently evades me, perhaps the word song threw me off.

Placed at the end of WWII a village of believers with only a priest is persecuted for their faith by a rogue band of bosnian soldiers.

21 of 52

2007: I'm setting a couple of goals for 2007. Brandon keeps asking me what my goals are for 07 and I keep giving him a dumb look. So at his prompting here are a few of my goals.

To read 52 books
To lose 52 lbs
To meet 520 new people this year
and see 52 of them come to a Bridge worship service

I would also like to be intentional about reading through the Bible

As a church we will strive to see 52 people make a decision to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ.
(invest and invite)

Those were my goals for 2007. Pretty much I failed at reaching most of those. But don't dismay Mr. Optimistic is here to stay.

Assessment of those goals:
1. I did not read 52 books I read 1 book 52 times (Go dog, go). I did read 21 books, two of which I haven't posted on yet so hopefully I'll get to that today.
2. I did reach my goal to lose 52 lbs. In fact I more than doubled that; as of this morning I have lost 112.3 lbs. (for my canadian readers that's 51 kilos)
3. I did not meet 520 people this year, not even close.
4. We did not see 52 decisions for Christ this year at The Bridge. I think of all the goals to miss and miss it big we did, this one hurts my heart the most.

Stay tuned for my 2008 goals. I'm not thinking I should try to lose 110 more lbs next year...

What?: So I'm at the gym today and I see a guy accidently leave his hearing aid near the showers. I call to the guy, "Hey you forgot your hearing aid." The guy then proceeds to ignore me. Jerk!

Stuff they don't teach you at "pastor school": I threw my bag into my car this morning as I was heading to the gym then opened the garage so I can put the trash can out to the street. I was loading my car with other recyclable trash when I hear someone's cell phone ringing. It being about 6:40 in the morning and the fact that I was outside it dawned on me that it might be my phone. By the time I made it to the phone the person who had called had already been sent to voicemail.

I checked the number and assumed it must have been a wrong number, then the voicemail alert, I checked the message. It was Kristina Sherman (odd, I thought). Then I thought "oh crap, Hannibal is a firefighter and something must be wrong". I listened to the message cliffs version are: huge church fire in portsmouth, Hannibal's crew was first on the scene, from the video on the news it looks like every crew in portsmouth is down there. I turned on the news and it was just the weather. I called Kristina and she was very calm and told me what she had said in the message. I could hear, Eden, their 3 month old son chattering in the background. I told her that I would pray for Hannibal and pray for her. So I prayed for them on the phone and told her to keep me and Heather updated.

As I was driving to the gym I called Heather and told her what was going on. I asked her to call Kristina when she could. Then I went from pastor business mode to pastor friend mode and I just started praying for Hannibal's safety and the safety for the crew he's on. Then I started crying and I was scared and I was worried. I thought it ironic that 10 minutes before I was doing my best to provide comfort and strength to Kristina when really on the inside my heart was shaking and I was afraid it was breaking.

The good news is that Hannibal is safe. His crew was the first ones there and they were the team in the article that went inside searching for people. They began to hear the church collapse and that's when the dropped their equipment and went outside to continue to fight the fire.

I have more to say but don't think I will right now. I'm just greatful that Kristina trusts Heather and I enough to call us and ask us to pray and I'm so greatful to God that Hannibal and the other firefighters are safe after such a dangerous event.

Ok: So I was bluffing. Actually I've been inspired to blog a little more the past few days. Likely nothing profound, hopefully nothing too profane.

Mental: The easiest thing I do everyday is get up and get to the gym. It's the one thing in my life that is measurable, attainable, and progressive consistently. There may be a day where that changes but for now in my life it's true and I appreciate it. I do two main types of workout- cardio and weights. In the weight room there are two things that limit me- my mind and my body. My mind will tell me that weight is too heavy for me when often it's not, the key to progress in the weight room is letting your body prove your mind wrong.

Running has become a new hobby of mine simply because of this mental game. Many times my body will tell me that I'm tired, that my legs are burning and that my lungs hurt and that I need to stop running. It's easy to stop running, to lower the speed on the treadmill and call it a day after all I'm not letting anyone down. But when I run I know that if I stop now I'll be quitting I also know that I have more physically to give and that I'm mentally quitting.

Sometimes when I run I like to pray. This week I have been focusing on areas that I believe The Bridge is struggling in. These are areas like lust, marriages, finances and others. When I run I begin to struggle mentally and physically I begin to pray for these things and for people because it reminds me the severity of that struggle. Yesterday as I was running to began to really pray and like those times you can't plan God came near. I looked to the heavens which was blocked by a gym ceiling. But I prayed and God was there. I felt tired physically, my legs were burning and I was beginning to mentally break down but God was there and he brought me peace, he brought comfort to my body through running but as a message to the spiritual things I was praying for. For a few minutes I just felt him and everyone else and everything else just disappeared. My legs were light, my body felt good and I ran. And God cheered me on and said keep running and said that when I struggle just keep running because he is near.

Amen.

Be a statistic: I heard yesterday that 50% of bloggers are dropping out. Perhaps that explains my lack of posting since about June. Maybe I'm just a statistic.

So without further ado (yes I spelled that correctly) I'm just going to stop blogging.

Thinking Padre signing off.

/thinking padre

Not cute: Rant of the day. It's not cute to wear your pajama pants out in public. It's ugly. It means you just woke up and you're too lazy to put on clothes. Just say no to pajam pants.

Lighter note: On a less ranting note.

Asteroid: Another news report came out about an asteroid that might be striking earth. This 22 million ton asteroid was first thought to be potentially striking earth in the year 2029, turns out we're safe with that one. But unfortunately it's also going to come close in 2036. Mayhem insues.

But to tell you the truth I'm not sure what we're all worried about. Afterall who hasn't seen the movie. I was just watching it the other night. It's really simple really. What we do is get an oil rigging crew from somewhere on an oil rig in the ocean somewhere. See they'll be really good at digging holes because they do it for a living. And everyone knows that putting holes in asteroids is the first step in eliminating them!

Then we just have to teach them to go into space, they'll drill a hole into the asteroid and then will blow up a nuclear bomb deep inside the asteriod. Problem solved. It will be helpful to have several main characters on this mission. We'll need a strong leader type guy, sort of like Bruce Willis. We'll also need a hotshot young kid that knows it all, Ben Affleck is a go guy for this role. It adds drama if the hotshot kid is in love with the leader guy's daughter. Then we need some comic relief from someone like Owen Wilson and viola' problem solved. I'm not sure what we're all so worried about.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,313561,00.html

Happiness is:
Nathan stealing all the baby Jesus' from the Nativities in our house. He's got a little baby Jesus collection going...somewhere.
Nathan's rendition of Jingle Bells.
Listening to Third Day's Christmas album
Making up alternate lyrics to secular Christmas songs
People in your church emailing you and saying. I'd like to volunteer for ______________, when can I start?


Legos: This Christmas my messages will be focusing on the incarnation- God become man. How orginal? I know but really its such an amazing act of God I can't wait to bring a message on it.

Running: Today I ran a 5k- for my American friends that's 3.1 miles. I finished in 28.43. I thought I was going to die at points but I ran the whole thing and I finished strong. I can't wait to do it again and start shaving my time, eventually down to the low 20's.

From the mouths of pastors
Got this email from a friend of mine:

i spoke at a community YMCA Thanksgiving praise breakfast this moring at 8 am. two things i learned

1. Decline offers to preach at 8 am in the future... this became apparent when i walked into the room everyone focused on my hair standing 10 ft tall
2. dont set up the pulpit next to the only pentacostals in the place.

Reading Material: Coming out of Food Lion this morning to feed my new pear addiction (see below) I was approached by a older woman. At first my thought was that I was about to be told about the good news of Jesus Christ. It would be about the 53rd time I've prayed to receive Christ but hey it gives the one brave enough to share Jesus with me the confidence to do it again. It's a little disappointing for them when they ask me to come to church with them and I tell them I can't because I have to deliver the message at my church. But that's what I thought I was getting into this morning.

As she walked up to me she was holding two paper magazines (is that redundant?). I caught the name of one just as she started to hand them to me and say "I just want to give these to you". I realized they were Jehovah's witness propaganda and so I was face with a split second decision. Do I- tell her I'm a pastor and have her leave me alone? A thought came to me and I took the magazines, thank her for them and she was on her way. My strategy. I can always throw them away. Maybe they were her last magazines?

What do you think?



Pears: So I definately have a new addiciton in the way of apples and pears. It was bananas for a long while but now it's pears. I'm a pear advocate...try one today!

Rally: Rally the troops and fire up your grandma's computer. We're in the top 50. That means we have till the 14th of December to see how high we can get our question. Currently we are 36th. I have hopes, I have dreams, we can do it.

So vote!

Sorrow: When I'm not voting for my question at the Mars Hill vote-a-thon I've been getting lots done lately. One of my renewed passions is preparing my messages for Sunday. As a compliment ot my messages in 1 Corinthians I'm reading 2 Corinthians for my personal growth. I continued to be blown away by the words of Paul.

2 Corinthians 7 starting at verse 8. My paraphrase.

At first I regretted that I heard my letter caused you sorrow but now I'm happy. You were made sorry and your sorrow led to repentance. Godly sorry brings repentance but worldly sorry brings death. This godly sorry has produced in you; earnestness, eagerness to clear yourselves, indignation, alarm, longing, concern and readiness to see justice done.

Could have been me: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/31/water.murder.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

See this could have been me the other day.

Challenge: We are a powerful lot it seems. We've gotten the question to number 45 and gotten a few comments as well. All in good fun but if you read the last comment it seems we've been challenged to a cage match and since I know some of the people that have been voting I'd say that's a poor decision on their part.

But dog on it it's the little things in life that make me laugh and this is one of them.

Voting?: Are you voting? Are you getting your friends to vote? Perhaps top 9 is a little ambitious but we can at least shoot for honorable mention. How bout top 50? Vote!

Verse: God has been working in my heart lately about the foolishness of the gospel as said in 1 Corinthians. So often in telling others about Christ and in my messages I'm tempted to show people the road, tell them the way there, let them know the perks and encourage them to start the journey. Basically when I tell people about Christ I tell them about how it's worth it, it might not be easy but it's worth it. I still see value in that but I want to be careful to not water down the gopsel in the process.

I was cut to the heart this morning with this verse:

2 Corinthians 2:15-16 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?

Who wants to be the smell of death?

Ok friends I've got a quest for us all. Mark Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle not to be confused with Mars Hill that Rob Bell is the pastor of. Mark is a pretty controversial figure and he says stuff that gets him in trouble- so he's challenging bloggers and others to recommend questions and the top nine questions will get answered in a sermon and also published in a book.

so I have an idea and I should preface this with the fact that I don't know much about him but what I know seems raw and hard to swallow but I like him. In Mark's book Radical Reformission he says that one of his qualifications of attending a church in his life what 1. the pastor had to preach the bible verse by verse and 2. the pastor had to be able to kill someone with his bare hands.
I thought I'd ask Mark if he could indeed live up to his qualifications.

My Question

So vote- together we can get it in the top 9! You can vote 10 times a day. Ps. you only have until November 1 so vote now and vote often!

Vacation Pictures:

Vacation: I'm going away for the week to spend some time on family vacation so you won't be hearing from me for at least a week.

Deadly Viper Character Assassins: Do yourself a favor and get over to www.deadlyviper.org and buy you and 4 of your buddies a copy of this book. It's simple and straight forward. But it seems like the simple things in life can be the most ground breaking and monumental. Mike Foster (xxxchurch.com) and Jud Wilhite (pastor and author of Stripped) did a great job laying out the things that are lurking and waiting to destroy your character.

Buy it, discuss it, embrace pursuing integrity and character.

Phase Two: June-September- Phase two for weight loss went a little something like this. I decided I wanted to up my exercise. I started doing split body weight lifting and my focus was lifting as much weight as possible as many times as possible. Sound simple enough doesn't it. Yeah it was. My workout went a little something like this.
Monday: chest and biceps
Tuesday: shoudlers
Wednesday: back and triceps
Thursday: legs

One main thing I had to do was I had to start eating more food. I also started using the Elliptical for some faster paced workout but wasn't quite ready for running yet. I was worried about needless wear on my knees.

Diet: During phase two and now into phase three I consume between 1700-2100 calories a day. Most days I keep it on the low side with an average of about 1900 calories a day.

Phase Three really the only thing that has changed is my exercise, mainly my cardio. I'm now in training for a 5k and my time goal is less than 30 minutes. Training, of course, requires running. I've been running 3 days a week for 2 weeks now and have lost 7 lbs.

I think thats the key to my continued weight loss. I keep changing up my exercise, I'm not afraid to take a few days off when I need them but I always keep my food intake steady. Good clean foods and within my calorie range.

Confessions of a Pastor: Both Craig Groeschel and Mark Driscoll have written books about their "confessions". I figured I'd start with a blog entry. So here's one of my confessions.

As a pastor people tell me things. You know, big things. Things you don't really tell other people. They tell me in confidence and I gladly accept that role in their lives. Everyone has a different reason as to why I'm the man to confide it. I think sometimes confession is just so we don't have to carry the burden alone. Some tell me because they figure I have the ability to get them forgiven and I regret to report that's not a skill I acquired at Bible College. I think most people tell me these things because if you let the darkness live inside of you it starts eating at you, and it hurts. By telling someone it releases some of the pressure and alleviates some of the pain. There are those that tell me things because they want restoration. These are my favorite, I can work with these.

I'll be in one of these conversations and I can read the strain and hear the pain of their voices to bring up this topic. I never know what it's going to be but I know it's going to be serious and I know for this person the words they are saying are some of the worst words they have ever heard and they can hear the betrayal of their own voice. They tell me, they force the words out and I can see the darkness leave them. They have accomplished a great thing, they have confessed their sins to another.

Then comes the part where it's my turn. It's my turn to give them words, to encourage them or sometimes just to tell them I love them and that there is life after this. But sometimes as I speak I just want to share with them that parts of my heart are as black as what they just shared. Perhaps the only difference between me and them is that the darkness captured their actions for a short time and I've somehow stifled mine. But I want to tell them that I'm human just like them and that I don't have any magical words of healing only that God loves them and forgives. God's not exactly ok with our darkness but he wants us to surrender it to him and not submit to it.

How I did it: A comment below by "Tension" asked me how I've hopped on the road to healthier living. So here goes.

I started doing Weight Watchers with my wife start April 1, 2007. She had all the materials from doing it before so we just jumped right in. WW is an excellent tool because it makes you aware of the amount of food you are intaking in a given day. For instance at my starting weight of 339 lbs I would have to consume something like 5,000 calories in a day just to maintain that weight and to eat even more to gain and yet somehow I was still gaining weight. Do you know how much 5k calories is? Lots. The crazy thing is I had no idea how much I was consuming in a day. Really I was just eating like almost everyone else around me, my diet didn't seem like the problem.

So I got started on WW and counting up my points and keeping my points under my target for the day. The first two weeks were the hardest and I was almost constantly hungry. But we kept lots of vegetables around the house to tide us over till the next meal. I thought I was in prison; but not the American kind of prison...maybe I Saudi prison or something.

This is when i discovered a little friend I didn't know I had. His name was Will. Mr. Power and I became good friends over those first few weeks and he kept asking me "How much do you really want it?"

I lost 20lbs the first month and about 15 the next month. Results at that stage really keep you going.

Exercise: Diet and exercise, both are good things to do individually but together they almost guarantee results. I started walking with Heather. First we started at about 2 miles and then just gradually worked up to 3 then 4 then 5. Our speed picked up and it just started getting easier. I also started doing circuit training weights at the gym.

That's stage ONE. I'll post stage two tomorrow.

Weight: As of today I have lost 26% of my starting weight. That's a total of 87.75lbs for my canandian readers that's 39.89 kilos which sounds a lot less impressive than 87.75 lbs. I started running more seriously two weeks ago and have seen a dramatic increase in the speed in which I'm losing weight. I don't want to jinx myself but because I don't believe in that I'll go ahead and say it. The diet thing is taken care of. By diet I mean food intake. The really bad stuff has very little if any real appeal to me anymore, I don't enjoy overfilling myself anymore, I'm aware of what I'm putting in my body and what it's going to do to me. So with those disciplines in place I know the weight coming off is just a matter of time.

So now I have exercise goals. I want to do a sub 25 minute 5k- I think I'll shoot to do that in March of 08. I want to be able to lift bigger than I ever have before but need to wait till I'm done losing the weight I want to so I can consume more calories.

So I digress. I'll try to get a most recent picture of me up soon.

Darlin': I frequent coffee shops. Every day they become my makeshift office. I've been using a new one lately and have gotten a little more familiar with the employees. There is the one lady that likes to call me pet names. You know not the sort that really mean anything...I suppose it's a southern thing but it irritates the crap out of me when the woman is my age or younger. I'm not darlin', honey, or sweatheart. Just get to know me a little and I'll debunk all those myths about me in about 30 seconds.

I'm waiting for the day that I'm called sugarbritches. After I regain consciousness I'll laugh histarically.

Jon Tal: I was working on my next teaching series this morning and I had a flashback to my senior year of college. As a pastoral ministries student we had to take 4 homiletics classes, that's fancy pastor talk for learning how to preach. The first two classes were learning how to outline, study and prepare the message and then the last two were delivery and all we did in those classes was deliver our sermons and get critiqued on them.

I have them on video somewhere and I'm sure they would be quite painful to watch. Remembering that I have pity on those two profs, the misery they must have endured to hear one bad sermon after another after another after another.

Jon Tal Murphree

Catalyst: Last week 7 of us from The Bridge went to Catalyst. I had gone two years ago and just knew our group needed to go. I knew it would be beneficial to all of us but I honestly had no idea how much. I think all 7 of us walked away with that wow feeling that can only come from an encounter with truth and with God.

Personally I felt so challenged spiritually. Francis Chan word's really challenged me to pursue my calling passionately. A lot of times I tiptoe around what I'm supposed to do. Generally I do it with the good intention of minimizing damage or damaging words in others lives but honestly I'm just worried about what people with think of me. I don't want to be labelled a jerk. But his words made clear to me that God has placed me where I am for a great purpose and my call is to passionately fulfill that calling with all the boldness that God will give me.

Craig Groeschel challenged me to hate the mediocre things in life, to desire holiness in all that I do and to be a man of great integrity.

As a pastor it was incredible to see all of us open our hearts to the worship experiences provided. We morphed right there in that stadium of people. Not too sound to hippy but like a sunflower opens for the sun in the morning and follows the sun during the day that's the best way I can describe what happened in our group.

The best part of being challenged in a group like that is knowing you're not in it alone!

Welcome Back:
Blog: I missed you man. where have you been?
Me: Sorry, I missed you too. I just sort of fell off the planet.
Blog: Glad you're back.
Me: Thanks.

Other interesting conversations I had today:
scene: So I'm brushing my teeth after my workout this morning. I always leave the water running when I shave or brush my teeth, no reason and I'm sure it's wasteful but it's what I do. Old guy comes up and stands at the sink next to me and is eyeballing me.

Old Guy: (in abrubt very loud angry voice) Do you waste water like that at home?
Me: (in slightly shocked but still brushing teeth mode) uh huh
Angry Old Guy: (in same abrubt very loud angry voice, aka ready to fight mode) Well you shouldn't do that here, we have to pay for that water...
Me: (in raging on the inside but calm on the outside mode) You know there are proper ways to ask someone to do something?
Angry Old Guy: (walking away) You should know better...rant continued off screen.

*true story

I should tell you something about me that you might not already know. I'm a gentle man...sort of like a grizzly bear is gentle.

OJ: Do you remember where you were? I was in the car with my friend Thomas. We were passing by food lion on Victory Blvd. We were listening to the chase on the radio. Keeping up with that little white bronco was quite the excitement.

OJ's latest criminal activity

OJ sold that white bronco, probably why he couldn't escape this time around. In worse news (for OJ)-Johnny Cochran is dead.

In other news: The german men's team beat the japan women's team today in world cup play.

Burden: I've blogged before about my burden and that I'm not supposed to carry this burden. The burden can be anything and can come upon me at any time. The wicked thing about the burden is that I don't see it coming and I don't feel it on me, until it's worn me down and made me tired. Sometimes I don't even know I'm carrying the burden, it's trickery keeps me from recognizing it and keeps me from taking it off.

Sort of like a backpack that I wear that someone is sneaking bricks in when I'm not looking or...maybe even when I am looking.

Heather and I took a walk on Saturday down at the boardwalk at the beach. We walked about 4 miles at exactly the turn around point we noticed a headwind. As we walked the wind got stronger but we finished the walk at the same pace we started. Sometime during that 4 mile walk I felt lighter and I felt more free. I felt God lift that backpack of bricks right off my back and remind me that it's not mine to carry. It's incredible what a conversation with my wife, Heather can do for me. God uses her to minister to me more than any other person on this earth.

So this week I start fresh, I'm reminded that burdens belong to God.

Wow: So check this out.

The lead pastor, Troy Gramling, at Flamingo Road Church is getting naked! No ... not that kind of naked, a new kind of naked. A nakedness that isn’t embarrassing; a nakedness that God would say is cool.
On 9-9 @ 9PM, Troy will be on a 24-hour webcam for five weeks in four locations: house, car, hotel, and office. Every day, all day, we will see his life in a fishbowl - the good, the bad, the great, the ugly.

www.mynakedpastor.com (not porn site!)

Grand Opening: Yesterday we had our grand opening. It was a celebration of the start of The Bridge and it marked our 6th month anniversary. We had a great turnout and I think we're sufficiently excited about what God has planned for us next.

It was a real treat for me that 5 of my high school friends made their way out. There's nothing more fulfill than that. It is definately one of the highlights of my ministry life so far. Probably because in high school I was so far from where God needed me to be and these people saw that. They saw me leading myself and others into stuff we should be messing with; like drugs and alcohol. But yesterday they got to see a man I'm proud to be. One that is used by God. I'm proud of that, not proud of myself but proud to be an instrument of God. Most of all they got to hear about the story of God and how he wants to intersect our lives with his and he wants to captivate us for him.

What if?: So I was thinking today this thought. What if there are a certain number of "good days" alloted in the world every day. So we go around wishing everyone a good day but to tell you the truth I only want them to have a good day as long as I can have my good day first. So for today when anyone wished me a good day I said "thank you". I didn't want to say "thanks and you too" because of my previous thought of giving away my good day. So I just said "thank you" and they would give me a stare like I was a jerk!

What do you think?

Or my alternate theory says that in order to have a good day you should wish others a good day, but that sounds mysteriously like Karma which is against my religion...literally.


LDP '07: This Sunday we're starting Life Development Plan which is a 5 week series focused on the idea "Everyone ends up somewhere but few people end up somewhere on purpose". I'm excited about the series and the impact it will have on others.

School: Nathan had his first day of 2 day a week preschool today. He was such a big boy. He was so excited about school on the drive to his school he kept asking...my school? then the next shool we passed he would say my school? Then we finally got to his school he was very excited. A few pictures.





Inside: I need a place to post this so sorry for it being an inside joke.

Headline I saw on the news this morning:

Suspicious men being sought for questioning regarding suspicious behavior.

I picked it up, picked out the gravel and brushed off most of the dirt. Looked it over again and contemplated. To eat or not to eat. Then I looked around to see if anyone was watching and I ate it. I only had a few pieces of dirt to pick out my teeth.

There was no swearing involved...until much later.

Banana: Ok let's play a little game. I visited Charlie in the hospital yesterday. I had to park in the far lot and had a pretty long walk to get to the hospital. As I was walking I was eating a banana. I love bananas. I had eaten half of it and as I as peeling the bottom half the banana fell out of the peel and onto the ground. The ground is paved but is old and sort of gravely. Upon closer inspection the banana had pieces of gravel embedded in it as well as dirt on the outside. So I ask you the question, what did I do?

Did I:
a. Just keep walking and count my losses
b. Picked up the banana, inspect it and throw it into the bushes with the peel
c. Picked up the banana, inspect it and brush it off, pick out the gravel and eat it
d. Swear at the banana for being so darn independent

Comment with your answer. I'll post the answer tomorrow.

Redemption: I've been needing to lay this post down for a while now...since my last post so now it's finally time. On Tuesday July 24 we had a little family cookout. It was my little brother Dougie's birthday. But as I mentioned before he wouldn't be there. It wasn't really a birthday cookout but just a cookout for the family to get together and to give my mom and JD some time to spend with all of their Grandkids at the same time.

Well that night I met my step brother for the first time. I had just finished blogging about how I like to remember Dougie's birthday as a celebration of life, that evening I met Kyle. Kyle is my Stepdad's son. They have been estranged for the past few years so I've never met Kyle before. He decided to come and live with my Mom and JD to help him start making good decisions so he can wind up in life where he wants to be- successful.

Kyle is 17, the same age Dougie was when he died. No one will ever replace my little brother but I'm glad I have a new little brother. As I was thinking that night how amazing it all is; that Nathan was born a year to the day we buried Doug and I met Kyle on Dougie's 21st birthday, I thought about all that and the only word that I could come up with to describe it all is REDEMPTION. I have no better explanation. Again, not replacement but a chance to do it over again. Most of all I'm happy to have a teenager in my life to invest in again. I will always have a special place in my heart for teenagers. I love their zeal for life, their irradical emotions and the way they believe they can still change the world. I think it was Kyle Lake that said "young people are stupid enough to think they can change the world and have the power enough to do it." Or something like that.

I hear this new series is all the hype. Has anyone heard of it?

All the Hype

Darkness: When I graduated from Toccoa I got my dream job of being a campus security guard. I wasn’t just any security guard though; I was the #2 security guard. At night from midnight to 7am I was in charge of campus security. At a school of about 800 full students the job was as glorious as it sounds.

But as much as I disliked that job I also enjoyed it. I was treated well by my boss, I got to work with some friends and Heather and I had a few months to grow, be married and enjoy life before we ventured out into ministry land.

I also learned lots of lessons at that job. There’s something about being alone in the middle of northeast Georgia with nothing but a plastic flashlight and a set of keys in one of the darkest places known to man that will teach you some lessons about life. The most important was not to be afraid of the dark. I know that sounds silly but I think it’s natural that humans are afraid of the dark. When I started working I would patrol campus with my flashlight zipping the light to the dark places to make sure no one was hiding there. They would be hiding there to scare me of course. I was never worried about criminals or thugs but rather people hidden to scare me.

Sometimes I was supposed to enter dark buildings and unlock doors. At first I used my flashlight then as I got used to it I put the light away and just ventured out into the dark by myself. Sometimes I would get a little spooked (that’s for another blog) but generally I was ok. The best thing I learned that 9 months was no to be afraid of the dark because it was in the darkness that I challenged myself and I grew.

Today, on this blog I need to venture into the dark. I want to go it alone so I’m only inviting you to follow a few paces back. I’m not sure why I’m making this blog public and I might be only because I think sharing it with others and with the public is part of that venturing into the darkness. This is something I’ve needed to do for a while and today I’m going to do it.

Tomorrow is my little brother Doug’s 21st birthday. 21 years ago tomorrow he was born. I can still remember that day even though I was only 6 and a half. I remember how excited I was to have a little brother. However my brother won’t turn 21 tomorrow. Forever he will be 17. You see instead of cake and a party tomorrow there will be flowers and balloons on his headstone. Our small “presents” of memory will litter the cemetery and even though they ask us to not leave things because it gets in the way of the lawn mowers we’ll do it anyway.

Doug’s birthday is the only day I’ll go to the cemetery in the whole year. Maybe it’s my stubbornness but I think it’s my longing to hold onto the memory of his life. I think God agrees with me on this one. Because God wants me to remember Doug’s life and I think this is why my son Nathan Douglas was born exactly 1 year after we placed Doug at his final resting place. So tomorrow I will go and visit the cemetery and celebrate the 17 years of Doug’s life that I have to celebrate.

Yesterday my sister went with her 2 kids to the cemetery and my nephew Luke said, “Momma, you know Uncle Doug isn’t here right?” Beth said, “Yes, Luke I know that.” Luke went on “this is only the place where his old body lies, his new body is with him in Heaven”. Luke is the smartest 5 year old I know because he knows Jesus, just like his Uncle Doug.

My brother Doug took his own life 3 and a half years ago. I know that there are those who work with youth that read this blog. Please do me a favor and mention suicide to your youth at some point in the next few weeks, in honor of Doug’s life. You don’t have to teach a whole message on it but simply bring it up that it’s something some people think about and it’s something some people do. You aren’t abnormal if you think about it but you need to talk to someone about it. Ask for help from adults that care about you and if you can’t find any of those dare to do something crazy and tell the adults you don’t think care about you!

Thanks for walking into this darkness with me. Tomorrow we celebrate life, no matter how short and no matter how tragic the ending. Live life to the fullest, be used by God continually and surrender all to him, when you don’t have the strength to do that ask Him to take it for you.

The Barenaked Ladies cover a song by Bruce Cockburn called Lovers in a Dangerous Time one of the lines in this song is one of my favorite lyrics:
But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight --
Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight

Random disturbing thought of the day yesterday:

I should find that Brittney Spears CD.

I think not: I ran into my friend Nic today. We met because we have the same name, I'm Nicholas David and he's Nicolas David. Our parent's were genius! Our friendship is weird simply because of the nature of how we met, why we met and that we continue to meet. I don't really know a lot about Nic except that he loves Jesus and is drastically confused about life and what this all means, but he's looking for answers so he's interesting to talk with.

It's also weird because I really trust him. I ran into him today, which was weird because last I saw him he was leaving for New York for good. Turns out he's back in VA to pack up somethings and heading to Arkansas to live with his biological father who he's never met. I think he stopped by Starbucks to see if I was here. Our conversation was real and refreshing.

So back to the title of this post. Coincidence...I think not.

Speak of coincidence: As of today I have oficially lost 60lbs. Actually 60.5. This puts me halfway to my goal of 119lbs. I started on April 2 and today is July 19. I've been going at it for about 16 weeks now. That's an average weekly loss of 3.75 lbs a week.

Anybody need some clothes?

Divine Nobodies by Jim Palmer. I could write two reviews for this books. The first review would say that this book is one of a dozen books about basically the same topic- a christian who was jaded, is jaded and their stories of leaving the christian religion and finding Christ. These are books I'm drawn to because I find my story in them. So that's my first review, unoriginal and nothing extraordinary.

And here's my second review. I enjoy the stories of faith. I particularly moved by the story of his trip to southeast Asia and witnessing the child prostitution and sex slavery that takes place. That story really wrecked my day but in a very necessary way. I also like where he landed on the end with the church. He has chosen to remove himself from it despite once being a very successful pastor but he makes room for it in the believers life.

I don't know how to say this. I resonated with much of the book...perhaps too much. Perhap a little bit of bitterness that I saw I feel in my own heart sometimes...and that scares me a little.

18 of 52

I have a few book reviews and things like that I'd like to get down before too much time gets by. So here goes.



The Starbucks Experience by Joseph Michelli. When I started reading this book I was wondering why I had paid money for it. Not that it started bad but I started to ask mysel how many books can be written about Starbucks. I read the one written by the sort of founder of Starbucks Howard Shultz and I believe I read another one so this was my third book. However the author did a good job stating that while he is an honest 3rd party perspective that he also was given priviledges to learn some insider information about the company.

Long story short Starubucks is an exceptional company that has changed the face of retail and food service industry. By offering benefits and other employee perks they have raised the bar of what is expected by other employees. The thing that stuck out to me the most was the mention of the "homegrown" coffee shops that are popping up everywhere. Most people when they hear Starbucks is coming to town figure the local shopped is doomed to fail. But the truth is that this challenges local shops to raise the bar and most local shops increase in revenue when Starbucks moves into town.

16 of 52



Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. I've read this book before and I wanted to read it for our Father's day service back in June. I remember being moved the first time I read it and this time was no exception. To any man this book is relevant and real. Most of all it's powerful and can be life changing. If you are a man and have never read this book do yourself a favor and go buy it and read it.

In the next few days I'll post the quotes on courage toward the end of the book. This book inspired me to be a man of biblical standards and inspires me to great things and to be a great husband, father and pastor.

17 of 52


Transformers: The movie. I saw it on Tuesday and then I saw it with some friends last night. The first viewing left me simply amazed. I went into the movie with high expectations and left with no disappointment at all. Last night...I enjoyed it as much the second time as the first. This movie is incredible and when it was over Brandon said to me. I think that movie ranks up there with Gladiator...I couldn't argue.

Telling: I thought it would be more telling if I asked what are the first 10 songs in your top 25 most played list in itunes.

1. You're Beautiful by James Blunt
2. Bubbly by Colbie Caillat
3. Fade me away by Graham Davis
4. Pootermobile by Five Iron Frenzy
5. Falling love by Lisa Loeb
6. My savior my God by Aaron Shust
7. Lose Yourself by Eminem
8. Stuck in a moent you can't get out of by U2
9. Stinky Hippie by Fire Iron Frenzy
10. Red HIll mining town by U2

So I'm kind of a woman.

who's next?

Tagged: I've been tagged. Which where I'm from means I've been spray painted on but apparently to others it means I have to post first 10 songs my itunes comes to on shuffle.

Word of God speak by Big daddy weave (not sure I've ever listened to this song)
Freedom by Blues Traveler
Lame by Seven Mary Three
A boy named Sue by Johnny Cash
Fade me Away by Graham Davis
Here I am to worship by Tim Hughes (of course)
Oh, Canada by Five Iron Frenzy (How cute! God save the queen)
A look back at last by D.C. Talk
Sing along song by Stryper
Have yourself a merry little Christmas by Diana Kroll

After a strong start it appears Nick really faded off towards the end.

So I'll tag...Brandon and Kristy for this one.

Why it's funny being a pastor part #1: After church Sunday I'm talking with 2 couples and we're just shooting the breeze. One of the guys asks me "what's the deal with having munchkins in church every Sunday are you trying to get everyone fat?" The other guy says "yeah but look at Nick he's lost a ton of weight. Nick how much have you lost?" I reply "52 pounds so far." Guy #1 goes "DAMN, how much did you weigh?" Wife of guy #1 gives him startled and panicked look. I carry on as if nothing was said while dying of laughter on the inside.

Why it's funny being a pastor part #2: I'm working out at the gym today and I see one of the guys that goes to our church. We talk a little like we normally do and his step son is with him. We've met a few times before but I don't really know the step son. We all three end our workout at the same time and so we get to the locker room at about the same time. I hit the hot tub for a few minutes while they go to shower. I then head to the shower and we're all in there together. The step son says "Hey Manny, what are you going to do now that your pastor has seen you naked?" Then he cracks up laughing and walks away...laughing the whole time.

Random Friday:

If you mix the letters of the word AUNT around it spells TUNA.

So I've got this crazy new invention. We'll make these ear piece things and attach them to the side of our heads on our ears. They'll be wirelessly connected to our cell phones that way we never have to be seperated from our cell phones, we don't even have to hold them up to our heads. Star Trek never saw these coming.

My friend Todd is an IT guy. He sets up and repairs networks for companies. His email signature says under job title "solutions architect" does this make me a spiritual architect?

Before



Now



50: Today I lost fifty pounds. Actually today I achieved one of my new year's resolutions. I've lost 52lbs so far. For my canadian friends that's 23.5 kilos and for my british friends ( I actually don't have any) that's 3.714 stones. I can't explain the feeling of victory to have continues success in this area. I am working hard at something and it's paying off.

The most surprising part of losing weight is how much I enjoy it. I'm nuts about excercise and I love excercising every day. On my days off I feel like I'm missing something. I'm also enjoying seeing the fruits of my labor in the weight lifting category. I wasn't sure I had muscles in certain very flabby regions but turns out I do...who knew?

The most important thing I've learned so far is to just go for it. If you're sitting there reading my blog and thinking "Good for him, but I'm not ready" I understand that. I did that many times. I has to be something you do for you because no one else is going to be able to make you do it. But who doesn't want to be healthy? Who doesn't want to have to stop buying bigger sized clothes?

So do yourself a favor and go for it.

50: Today I lost fifty pounds. Actually today I achieved one of my new year's resolutions. I've lost 52lbs so far. For my canadian friends that's 23.5 kilos and for my british friends ( I actually don't have any) that's 3.714 stones. I can't explain the feeling of victory to have continues success in this area. I am working hard at something and it's paying off.

The most surprising part of losing weight is how much I enjoy it. I'm nuts about excercise and I love excercising every day. On my days off I feel like I'm missing something. I'm also enjoying seeing the fruits of my labor in the weight lifting category. I wasn't sure I had muscles in certain very flabby regions but turns out I do...who knew?

The most important thing I've learned so far is to just go for it. If you're sitting there reading my blog and thinking "Good for him, but I'm not ready" I understand that. I did that many times. I has to be something you do for you because no one else is going to be able to make you do it. But who doesn't want to be healthy? Who doesn't want to have to stop buying bigger sized clothes?

So do yourself a favor and go for it.

Dear Blog,
Happy 3rd Birthday! It's hard to believe it's been that long.

Sincerely,
Nick

Fresh: So what's happening this morning? Nathan had a rough night. Fortunately it's his first one in a very long time, unfortunately that doens't seem to make me any less tired this morning. I thought I'd throw down a few thoughts. Mostly about the best weekend I've had in a while and maybe then a few other thoughts.

Wedding: I performed my second wedding ceremony last Saturday. The best part was the relationship Heather and I were able to build with Josh and Sara leading up to their wedding. It made the day very special especially the fact that they are part of our regular lives. I have a heart for strong marriages. I think the family is the strongest instrument of God to change our world.

This picture could be accurately titled "the boys".




Now don't be confused the woman beside me isn't my wife it's our friend Kristy. I knew it was going to make for a funny picture when we took it so viola here it is.



To avoid confusion and show off my pretty wife here is a picture of us.



Busch Garden: On a whim a load of us went up to Busch Gardens on Saturday night I think it was the best time I've had in a large group in a long time. Brandon will post the 'Tard Chariot picture here soon I'm sure and I'll link to it.

Church in the Park: Then on Sunday as if we weren't tired enough we had church in the park. I need to get the pictures from the ladies in the church and I'll put up a few. It was a great time!

Um...: I went to the Christian bookstore today. I have mental problems with these things as I've mentioned here before. I need counseling just so I can go to these on a regular basis.

So I walk in and I'm ignored. No "is there anything I can help you with?" I'd have settle for a blank stare, nothing just total ignoring. After lapping the store a few times I find what I'm looking for...the lyrics to Kum by ya. Then I proceed to checkout and the lady spastically tells me she'll be right with me. I think she was smoking crack or something. She rings up my items and then I hand her my pastor's card. I get the blank stare I was hoping for earlier. Same blank stare wrong timing on it. She then starts working on the computer to get my card to work she gets really frustrated and she muttered something "oh $%^&". I almost lost it. The lady at the Christian bookstore swore, hilarious.

5 Miles: I've been making sure I excercise five miles a day at least 4 days a week- Monday through Thursday. Friday I take off, Saturday I go about 3 and Sunday's I do work around the yard. I either walk or ride my bike. So far it's always a challenge but one I enjoy accomplishing.

Yesterday I was riding my bike and I noticed I had a stiff head wind coming at me on my way away from my house. I was tolerant of it because I knew a head wind one way meant a tail wind going back. Much to my chagrin as I turne to head back to my house the wind seemed to shift and I had another head wind, then I passed my house and went down to the park taking on a head wind the whole way, then on the way back...you guessed it...head wind. I'm not sure how that's possible but it was happening. I could only laugh.


Hairnets: I saw hairnets at Farm Fresh yesterday while picking up a few groceries so Nathan and I had hairnet night last night. They're sweet! In case you're wondering what Nathan is doing...he's taking a picture. Only he's using my headlamp instead of a camera.

From the Vatican: Fresh from the Vatican...driver's ten commandments. Thanks Benedict.

'Drivers' Ten Commandments'

The "Drivers' Ten Commandments," as listed by the document, are:

1. You shall not kill.

2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.

3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.

4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.

5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.

6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.

7. Support the families of accident victims.

8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.

9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.

10. Feel responsible toward others.

100 Degrees: So it's 100 degrees outside today. You know it's hot, nothing we can do about it so we live with it. This woman in Starbucks however takes it to the next level...she's wearing a hoodie.

He comes up with this stuff himself!


On his head is a bathtub basketball hoop and over his eyes is one of Heather's headband...completed with riding his Go Deigo Trike.

Celebrating 6 years of marriage!

Anniversary Heather and I are off to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary today. I'm looking forward to our surprise trip that I have planned for her. Heather is one of the strongest and most disciplined women I know. There is no woman who challenges me in my faith more than her. I think that's rare in a woman. Because of this she really is my confidant and my best friend. I'm able to share things with her that I think most men would feel obligated to protect their wives from.

I don't mean to sound all pastoral. She really is the love of my life as well. So beautiful and funny and enjoyable to be around.



700 Posts: This is number 701. June is my blog's anniversary as wel. 3 years on the 28th of this month. If I'm doing the math right I submit a post every 1.5 days.

and a picture of the boy for good measure

Collision: At church I have been bringing messages on worship and just taking us on a journey of worship. We've looked at the glory of God that merits our worship, we've looked at our physical and spiritual response to worship and then last Sunday at baptism the outward expression of our being all in. For this final week I wanted to talk about community and how worship is designed to be done with others. I think I chose the word community first of all because it's one of our values and two because I think it's so darn important. I would guess that 25% of all my messages center around being in community with others.

The antithesis of community is isolation. Isolation is tricky because you can have lots of friends and still be isolated. You can be incredibly busy and/or successful and still be isolated. You can attend church, life group and a dozen other things the church does and still be isolated. You can appear all put together but really you're the most isolated of them all.

Isolation happens to people that are married and people that are single. It's also one of the greatest tools of our enemy and one of the greatest lies of our society. Isolation destroys, it lies. Isolation insulates us from being confronted with our sin and it prevents us from seeking help for our problems. Afterall if you're all alone who can possibly help them.

As stated isolation seems pretty nasty. Who would want that? But we do. We don't want to be challenged in our lives. We want to appear strong and put together and not needy. We want to hold the lie it so we isolate. What if living in community with others required us to sacrifice, to give up something, to stop a certain behavior that's paying us off? What if it meant we had to stop treating our wives like crap? Would we still frown on isolation.

Community is heavy, its hard but it leads to worship. And worship is what we were made for. Cue Chris Tomlin...You and I were made to worship.


Weight:

Here is a current picture of me. Aside from the color the shirts I'm wearing below and here are the exact same. You'll have to excuse the radiant like in the background. What can I say? His face shines upon me.

Weight: One of my goals for this year was to lose 52 lbs. I put down this goal probably because I knew it was a good idea rather than an honest and tangible goal. I knew it was possible but doubted I would actually follow through with it.

I should state up front that personal appearance is a very personal thing for me. Meaning I'm not exactly comfortable writing what I'm about to write but I'm going to write it anyway hoping that it will help someone else out.

On April 1st Heather and I decided to start losing weight. We had made this decision several years ago and did very well initially but then as time went on we lost the discipline and fell on the gravy train (with biscuit wheels). This time we decided we wanted to do it for real, set some realistic goals and do it together.

I wish I was writing this post from a past experience...this is something I've done; I'd be more comfortable writing this. But I'm writing this post in present tense, it's something we're currently doing.

This week marks the 10th week and my average is 4lbs per week.

Weight Loss Tip I thought I'd start with a weight loss tip.
Recognize your current reality.

1. Recognize you're overweight. Now I know that most every overweight person knows they are overweight. But not all of the time. When you're sitting down to scarf that thousand calorie fat burger and french fries you have somehow convinced yourself that you are not overweight or that being overweight can't be that bad or won't ultimately kill you.
2. Recognize it doesn't have to be this way. In our society of quick fixes we convince ourselve we can never be healthy because it will simply take too long. If we can't have it tomorrow it's not worth having. But you can be a healthy person. You need to be a healthy person, ultimately your happiness, health and life depends on it.
3. Recognize the role of food in your life. Food is meant as nutrition, not as reward or escape or therapy. Food is meant to nurture you to do the things God has called you to. This is the single most important step in the weight loss journey and a recognition that I believe will be the key to my long term success. When I recognize this and when I face this reality I am able to control the quality and quanity of food I intake.

Take away:
1. Know the nurtritional value of food and drinks and assess if you want to put that in your body each and every time you eat and/or drink.

2. Commit to walking 30 minutes 5 days a week...no matter what.

This picture is from March- before we started.


This picture is from week 6. I'll get a current picture up soon.

Graduation: This is the year that my first youth group class is graduation. They weren't my first graduating class but they were 7th graders when I became their youth pastor. Of course I'm no longer their youth pastor but with some of them I still maintain a relationship. They are the biggest reason leaving that ministry was hard. They were the ones I knew I would miss and I was right, I did/do miss them.

So they graduated this week! Congrats Class of 2007! It also marks my 10 year out of high school mark. Wow!

Evan Almighty: Schedule to come out June 22 I attended the sneak preview last night. I thought I'd write up a little review mixed with rants, tirades and periodic madness.

Before I begin the review I'd like to comment on the new twist to gear movies or rather undertones of movies towards the now recognized powerful Christian market. Remember the good old days when movies were just movies and church was just church? Then there was a time I like to call unearthing the sacred in the secular. This was the time that there were few movies targeted toward evangelicals but the inklings of spiritual undertones could be found. Then as of late probably being displayed best with The Passion of the Christ the evangelical market was viewed as too powerful of a force to be ignored and was now marketed towards.

What bothers me most is not that movie makers, product makers or advertisers now market towards this large chunk of the population, for that is the nature of business, but that evangelicals bite into the bait so darn hard. Hallelujah we've all been saved New Line Cinemas made a movie that Jesus would like. What would Jesus do? He'd watch this movie.

I'm all for using movie clips, stories and other things from secular sources but it can dilute the power of the gospel. That and out of the mouths of unbelievers comes the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's like asking me the formula for rocket fuel. I might be able to find it for you but it will be a twisted or diluted formula.

Evan Almighty- The Movie Review So now for the movie review. First of all what a great idea to cast Evan from Bruce Almighty into this role. He's a freshman congressman just moving his family to Washington to start his new political career. Complete with the new car, new monstrous house, comes the new stress of the job and the ever present tension of investing in the job as well as investing in the family.

Evan kneels to pray and asks God to help him fulfill his campaign promise to change the world. God delivers on this prayer and gives Evan the task of building the ark, complete with warning the people of immenient destruction and a timeline of doom. With a modern day twist Evan builds the ark, grows a long beard and has to wear a bible times tunic. Mix this with his work on Capitol Hill and you get a humourous twist and a funny movie. Definately worth watching.

Spiritual Emphasis I love how they depicted the craziness of Noah's call to build and ark. It was so counter cultural at that time as it would be today. People thought he was crazy. They heckled him, they made fun of him. It came with a cost. Many times we think the will of God will be good for us. It will be like our will but on steroids. It will be fun, it will be what we want to do anyway except with a divine twist. Ask Noah how that went for him?

Resources I'm sure there will be no lack of resources for this move but one that they gave us last night.

Ark Almighty

Evan Almighty: I'm a big fan of the movie Bruce Almighty so I've been mildly looking forward to the next movie Evan Almighty. Well much to my surprise I was invited to attend a sneak preview of it on tuesday night. So Brandon and I are going to preview. Should be a good time.