Purple Cow: At the recommendation of David Trotter's blog I grabbed a copy of Purple Cow by Seth Godin. I understand that this is a marketing book and I am a church planter. I also understand that I'm not exactly marketing my product but in many ways I am marketing a product only right now I'm not sure what that product is. Sure I know what the end goal is and should be. But I think if most churches are honest with themselves, even the growing ones they are marketing more than just changed lives. They are marketing arts in worship, children's program, exciting preaching, captivating and moving worship, etc.

There is one truth that gripped me and whether you are businessman, pastor, church planter, school teacher or any other profession that might encounter these words this truth applies to you. Things that are remarkable get noticed. People's lives are filled with so much stuff really most of us have everything we want in this world. So to offer us something new it better be remarkable. I feel a strong need to be remarkable. Not for my own good but because I believe in a remarkable God that changes lives in a remarkable way. Be remarkable today. It's not easy, cheap or always beneficial but it's always remarkable.

Seek: Oh God let this be a generation that seeks, that seeks your face...

From the Cup:
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating – in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.
-- Anne Morriss

WBC: aka the World Baseball Classis is underway and I happened to catch a short bit of the Venezuela game yesterday. But this article was cool because it has two students from Olivet Nazarene where one of my former students goes to school.

Two other fans with split affections, Chris Eleiott (Yankees) and Paul Adams (Red Sox), expressed themselves by covering their bodies in Wal-Mart house paint. The two college students from Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois were in Phoenix for spring break.
"I'm not quite sure everybody is as pumped up as we are," said Eleiott, a mini American flag painted across his face. "But we've been jacked about this for a while. It's sick. Have you seen the U.S. lineup? It's so sick. Ten to 20 years from now, this is going to be huge. And I'll be able to say I was at the first one."

Bonds: News flash in a new book coming out there might be more evidence that Barry Bonds knowingly took steriods to increase his game because he was jealous of the cracker Mark McGuire breaking the home run record. Read an editorial here. My question is did we really need a book to know this guy was taking steroids.

8 Below: This post is delayed but still worth mentioning. Heather and I had a free babysitter on Thursday night so we decided to catch a movie. 8 Below was the only thing playing that look worth seeing. I'm not sure why I thought it was worth seeing, I don't think I had even seen a preview for it but I guess a friend recommened it and I thought we'd give it a shot. Granted it is a Disney Dog movie but I have to admit it was excellent. It had times of suspense and times of action and overall it was a really good movie.

Nametags: I've noticed in our visiting of so many churches that many churches put nametags on their staff. Staff being anyone doing a job of some sort. I'm not sure I really see the reason. If a greeter is greeting people then there is not need to describe her role because her actions are speaking for themselves. Really the only area these nametags seem like a good idea is with children that way people know they are leaving their children with "official" children's workers rather than some stranger with animal crackers and apple juice. I was thinking how funny it would be if we wore nametags with our mess ups on it not our positions. Moses' nametag would have said "murderer", David's would have said "adulter and murderer", yours would say...mine would say...

Saved by faith- covered by grace

Dedication: We had Nathan's dedication yesterday. We haven't seem to be in much of a hurry to get him dedicated but I figured we should try to do it before he started growing facial hair. In our tradition and from what I can find in the Bible this act of dedicating a baby or child is a reflection of the parent's heart to raise their child in a godly home and to raise their child in a manner pleasing to God. For Heather and I it seemed like a natural action. We have given our lives and our efforts to God why not our son. I view it as a covenant that I am trusting God to honor. I vow to raise my son as God leads and always pointing to the Father's love and I ask God to bring my son to saving faith at a very young age. Amen.

The "Online Bulletin Board" is up for the Athletics.

Baseball: After much searching both in the community and in my heart I finally dicovered a way to serve my local community. What's more amazing is that I also get to do something, well two things actually I am passionate about. I get to impact children and I get to coach baseball. I just got the official phone call I am now the manager of the Bennetts Creek Little League Minor League A's. I suppose I'll get a blog up for the A's but will mostly use it to annouce practices and keep the Kids up to date with stats and stuff...or should I use a myspace? Who knows?

I'm excited about the opportunity- I'm excited about the baseball!

Birthday: Today is Nathan's first birthday. What an amazing year this has been! I have understood the fatherhood of God more this past year than ever before in my life. It makes sense but the depth of love that a father feels for his son/daughter is unlike any other love on earth. Man and woman fall in love parents and children are born to love.

Nathan grows bigger and learns something new practically every day. My favorite thing he does is smile. He's been doing it for months now but I never get tired of seeing his toothy smile. In fact when he's doing something he shouldn't and I tell him no he smiles at me and I have to look away to keep from smiling back. My second favorite thing he does is give kisses. I worked on this for months with him, I'd kiss his cheek and then tell him to give me a kiss. Finally he did start giving big, wet, open mouth kisses on the cheek. Like any boy he doesn't do them all the time but when he won't give you one he smiles and knows he's being difficult. It's a win-win.

My Space: Well I opened up a myspace. The Thinking Padre. Check it out- right now!

Commies: No not the canadians! It seems like the Soviets took a shot at Pope John Paul II back in 1981. No legal ramifications but DANG!

Starting Point: I'm not a huge fan of curriculum, meaning I've never bought a set and then used it verbatim but I do like curriculum for ideas and tweaking. I just ordered Starting Point by North Point Ministries and will be using this for our LiFE Group meetings for the next 6 weeks.

This is a picture my friend BJ took on his cross country tandem bike trip last summer. Thanks for the excellent picture! It says more to me than any words ever could.

400th: This is the 400th post of The Thinking Padre. I did some math. I have been blogging for a total of 632 days and have posted 400 times. That means (if I did it right) I am posting a blog roughly once every day and a half. I'm sure you are all wiser for knowing that.

Study: Last night we had our 4th Bible Study and I'm so encouraged to say we had 14 people. Every study I pray that we have more people this time than last and that we see some people "stick" from their first time coming. The night went very well and I find it so comically ironic how minor the Bible study portion is as opposed to the socializing and getting to know. I really wouldn't want it any other way because at the end of the night when people are driving home they don't say, man I learned a lot I can't wait till next time. Rather people are driving home and they say, I met a lot of nice people that were really interested in my life I can't wait to see them again...oh yeah I opened my Bible too...that's a good thing.

Morning: I set out this morning to spend some time in prayer for the Church Plant as well as my family and the members or our launch team. I went down to my favorite park and did succeed in praying for Nathan and Heather. It's when I pray for them I realize how much God does provide for us. As I was praying and began to pray for members of our LT I was finding praying very hard. That's not unusual becuase very ounce of my being rejects praying and it is a fight to pray for impact. But this time the interuption was God and I felt the sense to just be quiet and listen. So I walked and I listened and I ever anticipated how I was going to explain this on this blog. The idea was simple and the ramifications not much more complex...God said "I change lives. I don't apologize, I don't do it gently- I change lives. And I have called you here to be and advocate and catalyst for me changing lives. So I don't need you to apologize for me and I don't need you to tip toe around issues I need you to proclaim the idea that I change lives and there is not a life in existence that I cannot change. So strap yourself in and let's go."

So I did.

RPON:

RPON (Random picture of Nathan):
I would get up almost every morning with Nathan and spend time with him for a few hours while Heather got some much needed sleep. He was about the size of my arm during the first month and would just lay on my chest while I worked on my laptop and watched foxnews and top 20 videos on vh1. To this day Nathan still likes to hear U2 and Jack Johnson...I wonder why?


This next picture is Nathan in Orlando at the beginning of February.

You know those corny phrases on church signs that no one gets in the community except the church people and the ones that leave non churched people scratching their heads thinking "everyone's a little queer, church folks even more!"- Well I didn't know african american churches have their own versions:

God can make your haters into elevators.

Here are a few pictures from our recent extravaganzas:

This is our friend Kristy, from Maryland, and Heather. Next picture down is Neptune on Atlantic and 31st at Virginia Beach. Last picture is Nathan and Savannah, his cousin, playing in the kitchen cabinets.

Sports: I was able to watch the first 2 periods of the Gold Medal game between Sweden and Finland. I'm not much of a hockey fan but I enjoyed what I saw. Speaking of not being much of a fan. The next two weeks in sports is one of the most dreadful times of year only rivaled by the dog days of June and July where MLB doesn't matter and the NFL hasn't started preseason games. The AFL (football) starts up today and I actually might try to catch a game. Baseball has another month before real games start. March Madness is right around the corner in Mid-March but what until then...NASCAR? Help!

Two more pictures of Nathan. These were taken in early May when Nathan was 2 months old. This picture here is us sitting on our deck at our townhouse in Maryland. I also remember this being the month Nathan started reciprocating love by a little thing called a smile.









This botton picture is the first time I did something silly with Nathan. I enjoyed it as much as he did!

To Own a Dragon by Donald Miller

Dragon: I had aspirations to read two books this week, neither very long, but I thought this would be a good mark to get back into books like I have been wanting. As Saturday morning hit I was pretty sure it wasn't going to happen considering I had only read one book and hadn't started another.

But Heather and Nathan decided to take a marathon nap right at the same time I decided to pull To Own a Dragon by Don Miller off the "to read" shelf. It was a very fast read and for a pretty avid Miller fan it gave lots of insight into his life and again like a typical Miller book it is always asking how does my story help you out in your story.

The main crux of the book is the idea of growing up without a father and what implications that has on a man. Don Miller is always funny and witty and at the same time thoughtful and frankly in this book down right sweet. Even though I grew up with a father parts of this book really hit home and I'd recommend it for any one. It explores the fatherhood of God and the idea that God fathers us and explores this idea from a fresh perspective that I've never heard before.

Olympics: Well they are pretty much over and I have to say towards the end I believe then generated some interest. The Sasha Cohen story was exciting for a day or so and towards the end I think we were all rooting against Bode Miller. Ever notice how it's as much fun to cheer for someone to fail as it is for someone to win. Sick people! ESPN has an article highlighting 10 biggest bust in the Olympic games. A few of them I think are undeserved but the others...chomp away.

Ernie: I went to see my Grandma on Thursday. Granddad wasn't home so it was just me and her for a while. I took the time to learn about her life and her upbringing. My Grandma is 90 years old and was born in 1915. Every Monday she goes to the bowling alley and bowls in her Duckpin league, every thursday she goes grocery shopping. When I ask her how she's doing she tells me she's tired and then complains about the neighbors. She tells me stories about when I was a kid, stories I would never remember without her memories but after she tells me I can somehow dig them up. She tells me stories about her antics and for 90 she sure does get into her fair share. I learned that her friends call her Ernie (short for Ernestine). I also learned where I get some of my behaviors, like my generally cool temper that sometimes gets a little too riled up. Needless to say it was a great day!

Tutored: George went to the vet today to get tutored.

Idol: Heather and I watch Karaoke Idol. I like it during the auditions because it's great to hear how bad people can actually sing and I find the antics pretty funny. Then comes when they go to Hollywood and I enjoy seeing the drama unfold and still lots of embarrassing singing that takes place. Then comes the America votes portion and I get pretty uninterested. I mean does American know what they want anyway? Since when have Americans know what we wanted?

Friends: So this story has actually been interesting...one of the few in the olympics. Shani chooses not to compete in a team event so he is rested up for his race...the one he has a good shot at winning. Hendrick, the one going for 5 golds including this one in the team even, gets mad at Shani for not competing with the team. Shani is called selfish, sports reporters blast him and in my opinion give Hendrick the easy way out. Turns out after they both fail to take gold in a seperate event Hendricks acts like the jerk that he seems to be. Here's a little more on that.

Olympics: While the olympics have been a serious let down they still make for some decent blogging action.

American?: I'm not sure how I feel about this one but what's the deal with athletes from other countries changing their citizenship a few months before the games and then competing for their new country. This seems to happen more for the United States resulting for more medals. From what I gather from reports President Bush even had to sign emergency legislation to get certain athletes citizenship in time to compete.

Bear: Just saw this article. When's the last time you fought a bear? Does anyone know if there are bears in San Francisco- maybe one will meet up with Barry Bonds and be hungry?

Here's Nathan's birthday invitation. Heather did a great job creating a nice looking invitation. I can't believe it's almost been a year. Nathan grows so fast and learns new stuff everyday but he's still the sweet little baby that made me cry the first time I saw him and the same little baby that I was so frightened to take home from the hospital because the world is such a scary place.

I think this week and nextI'll randomly post pictures of my boy in honor of his first birthday March 3. I forgot to mention this before but Nathan now has a blog. Crazy kid- www.accordingtonathan.blogspot.com

Here are the ladies with babies. From left to right Heather and Savannah, Annie and Reid and Heather and Nathan.

Fest: Two of our cousin's are visiting. Both of them have babies so right now there are three women and three babies in the house. 16 months, 11 months and 4 months are the ages of the babies respectively. I honestly don't think I've been around this much estrogen ever in my life. I like to call this week Estrofest.

But it's been great fun so far and it's neat to see Nathan interact with his two cousins.

an unSTOPPABLE force: I just finished this book by Erwin McManus and as I stated before it turned out to be a hard read but well worth the effort. Erwin loves people and he loves Christ and he loves to see people redeemed through Jesus Christ. His words are contagious and they cut right to the heart. The epilogue alone is worth the price of the book and before you read the epilogue you might as well read the rest of the book.

He talks about and apolstolic ethos that pastors must form and how the pastor is a cultural architect mastering both science and art to benefit the body of Christ and making christianity a movement rather than an instituation. Much of the book was affirming and encouraging to continue on this journey, other parts were guiding and correcting to my thinking.

I am not but I know I AM: I heard Louie Giglio speak two seperate times this fall. The first was at Catalyst in Atlanta and the second was while he was on tour with Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman. Both times I was both moved and challenged by his words so I decided to pick up this book. His opening metaphor challenges the way we think about ourselves and this life. Most of us view life as a play and we are the main character. Everyone else in this play is playing a supporting role. One day when the play is over the curtain will be drawn and the applause fades and we're going to step back and view how pathetic we really are and how much time we wasted thinking we were what it's all about.

In reality we are in a play where God is the main character. He is vast and mighty and what it's all about and miraculously we are invited to have a part, our small insignificant selves are used by God to bring honor and glory to him.

We'll see what the rest of the book holds.

Hand: On a personal note I think something is wrong with my hand. I fell down the last step about a week ago and hit pretty hard on the way down. I guess I caught myself enough to jack up my thumb on my right hand. It started feeling better but on saturday really starting hurting again. I'm going to give it a few more days and then I might need to go see a doctor.

PostSecret: I was at Barnes and Noble today and I saw a book on the new releases rack that caught my eye- PostSecret. Inside is a collection of post cards sent anonymously to a guy in Germantown, MD the two criteria is that they have to have a secret that you have never told anyone and they have to be true. It started as a random community art project- it has turned into something much more.

Honestly...mostly it's depressing and shows the isolation and pain we have created for ourselves and those around us.

www.postsecret.blogspot.com for this weeks top postcards.

I've had a theory for some time. No, not my already famous 'theory of limited success' this is a theory that explores the area of human communication and behavior in communication. The theory began to develop in college, my initial research took place in the cafeteria where I had time to watch people, mainly member of the opposite sex, dialogue with one another.

I'll post it tomorrow...

Question: At Barnes and Noble or Borders how long are you allowed to read a book or magazine before you need to buy it? Possibly more ambiguous is- at Starbucks how long are you allowed to peruse the front page before you need to buy it? Opening is a definate tell right?

Skype: I read in the newspaper that Skype is the most secure way of talking. Evidently the encryption is so advanced that there is no way to decrypt it. Just seconds of conversation would take very long to decipher. I can't find the article online but Skype phone calls are better encrypted than credit card purchases over the internet...go figure.

Skype uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) – also known as Rijndael – which is also used by U.S. Government organizations to protect sensitive, information. Skype uses 256-bit encryption, which has a total of 1.1 x 1077 possible keys, in order to actively encrypt the data in each Skype call or instant message. Skype uses 1024 bit RSA to negotiate symmetric AES keys. User public keys are certified by the Skype server at login using 1536 or 2048-bit RSA certificates.

Group: Last night we had another get together/bible study. The night was good and we had 3 new people. The people that were new last time that didn't come this time made sure we know where they were and why they couldn't come.

The study has has become a bit of an anamoly and I'm not quite sure how to put words to it. The first thing the study serves as is a front door. This is the "church" that we invite people to that are interested in the church. This is also the front door of the church for our new and mostly non-christian friends. There is quite a difference for people stepping through the front door of the church for the first time as believers and as a nonbeliever.

Baby: My friend Jason will soon have or might already have a new baby girl. Last I heard things were progressing nicely with the delivery. My son Nathan is almost a year old (March 3) and hearing about Jason and Jenny having a baby brings back all the great memories and causes me to want to celebrate new life. It really is such a beautiful experience to see new life come into the world. If you've ever seen a delivery you will understand I'm talking about poetic beautiful. It is amazing to ponder on the idea of how God created us to create and to be creative.

Doing: What in the world have I been doing all week? I feel like the only thing I've been doing all week is working on my blasted newsletter, that's not true but certainly what it feels like. This newsletter serves as the main source of income for The Bridge Church while we are in our incubation stage so I see the value of it. I also want to do the best job that I can while making it but do get a little frustrated about the length of the process. I'm going to actively seek ways to make my life easier between this months newsletter and next months newsletter.

I don't have our website active yet or I'd post a link to the pdf of the newsletter. I guess I could post it here as a picture...maybe later.

www.joinbode.com

I checked out this website after all the Bode hype going into the Olympics and then after seeing His commercial a few times. Make sure you look at some of the videos.

Agree: I have a group of college friends that I have kept in touch with since graduation. We generally keep in contact via email and the occasional phone call but we always work hard to see each other when we are in their area. We really are a strange brew of guys held together by certain other relationships within the group. We have reached a stage that some of the people that served as the intitial catalysts for the group have moved to the foreground.

What has emerged is relationships or one in particular that I would never have had generated on my own. The amazing thing is that I really enjoy the company and conversation with Nate. He thinks differently than me and what can be scary generally turns into something amazing.

Nate asked a question of me over a year ago and still to this day I think about it often. He asked "How often are you around people or read books that don't agree with your way of thinking?". I wasn't sure to answer but if he asked me now I'd be able to give and answer. My answer would be "more than I used to be but not as many as I'd like to be?"

I mean how many "christians" have read books on/about Charles Darwin, evolution or non-creationist theories on the existence of life? How many liberals sit down to the 700 club with an open mind? Fact is we don't do that. Maybe it's too hard, too much strain on our phyche, too hard to be willing to flex and adjust.

But what it's done is segmented our society and culture into these sects that don't agree and only listen to people that quote their same mantra. We don't this to the point that we can't even find common ground. What's more is that we do this out of what I believe is good intentions. We want to know truth and to believe in what is right and believing in what is right means everyone else is wrong.

One Year: One year from tomorrow will be the first of four launch sundays for The Bridge Church of Suffolk, Va. A year sounds like a long time and that's probably a good thing because there is much that needs to be accomplished in the next 365 days. Originally our plans were to hold our first launch sunday in the fall of this year but after going through the training this past week it makes the most sense to give ourselves another few months to incubate.

We won't be idle during this time and in fact the largest obstacle mentally is to know that we are "Church" even though we won't be having weekly services. Currently we are recruiting and seeking potential Launch Team members. Starting in April/May we will begin our Small groups and for the 9 months until launch will be a small groups based church. During this time we will begin to preview to the community different aspects of The Bridge. One of my main goals for this time is to begin to meld ourselves into the community. We will also preview our children's ministry, worship style, service events, teaching style and discovery groups.

Generations: I've been thinking about generations lately. What started the process was The Rolling Stones doing the half time show for the Super Bowl. I think the fact that they picked a band with a 62 year old lead singer is pretty telling of the demographic they were trying to keep happy. Complete with last years Paul McCartney's performace I don't think I need to go any further in figuring out who they were trying to target. Boomers for years have dictated the flow of our society and even in our successful churches.

2006 is a big year for boomers. They are hitting 60 years old for the first time. In the next decade or so we are going to see a transition in the generations as the boomers leave active roles in society and in the church as they head into retirement and probably to some condo in Florida.

I can't even really speculate what this is going to mean. Hopefully positive things...

Olympics: Speaking of generations...am I the only person my age that watches the Olympics?

Absent: I didn't just neglect my blog for the past week. I was in Florida for some Church Planter's training. The training was excellent and I returned home equipped to do the job God has called us to. It was also nice to spend time with the other 2 planter couples in our District as well as some other guys around the C&MA. There were other denominations represented but C&MA had the majority by far.

Orlando: The training was in Orlando and I have to say...not impressed with the city. The traffic was terrible and considering it is January and I'm sure not a peak season for the attractions I can't imagine what it is like in the warmer months. But we did have a nice evening walking around Universal.

Airport: I don't fly a ton but I do fly to some odd places. So for a few years now I notice and note how each airport is and the ease of getting around in them and to your plane on time. Orlando has just surpassed Chicago-O'Hare as the worst airport I've ever flown from and keep in mind I've flown to/from both Mexico and Poland. The security line took us 45 minutes to get through and the whole process was just frustrating, from waiting in line to how things were organized to being given poor information on 3 different ocassions.

Well that's a whole lot of griping. Enjoy.

As promised here are the Mello Yello pictures. What I'm curious about now is why does this area sell Mello Yello and no where else in the country?

A google search gave some answers.

Wrong: Well I was way off on the Super Bowl prediction. What I saw of the game was good and Pittsburgh played very well. I thought a few times momentum was going to change but the Steelers never made enough consecutive mistakes to let the game shift. Still not on the Steelers bandwagon but they played well.

Party: We had about 25 adults at our party and about 10 more children. I was very pleased with the turnout considering I know about 25 adults in this area. What was most amazing was that we had a good number of neighbors show up and even some neither Heather or I had met before. The food was very good and everyone seemed to have a great time. Heather and I both had a very good time! It was a great night!

Well, I found your website because I had the same questions; so I googled "rob bell range rover." For the record, he drives it in 'Flame' too. My guess is that pretty much every camera angle, every location, and every other video tidbit has been carefully considered and mapped out by his crew (In 'Trees' he drives a groovy vintage truck). From that perspective, I think the Luxury 4x4 is a bad idea.

In pretty much any urban centre, you will find Soccer Moms at the mall with their top of the line SUV. As the tricked-out Cadillac Escalade has become the hip hop symbol of excess, the Range rover is an equally potent symbol of upper-class success. If he has his reasons for driving the same vehicle as the Queen of England, that's his business, but if he wants to show that vehicle off in thousands of churches, I think he has made a serious error in judgement.

Does Rob Bell think that Nooma videos will only be shown in richer-than-average yuppie churches? When a church or downtown outreach centre has a smaller budget than the price of his car, they might just miss out on all the other things he has to say. I just hope it's an honest mistake.

I just received this comment about my commentary on Rob's sweet choice of vehicle selection. I hope that the person that left the comment is ok with me posting it here. It's also pretty scary that my words were found via google search. I really respect Rob Bell and my original comments were more moment of reflection and self introspection rather than a critique of Rob's lifestyle. In the end I have to ask myself "how much STUFF do I have that I don't need?" Honestly quite a bit. I also have no problem with successful pastors having nice things. I think God's ok with it too. I'm not sure where I'm going with this...

Super Bowl: I'm having my very first Super Bowl Party tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to watching the game and since it's my party I know there is going to be good football grub there. I think the turn out is going to be pretty good as well so it should be a lot of fun.

Call It: 24-17 Seahawks. Sorry Steelers fans your dream season is about to turn into a nightmare.

Ethos: I have been reading Unstoppable Force by Erwin McManus. It is a very good book but it has been a slow read for me. I'm not sure if it's because I have been distracted by other stuff and not dedicated much time for reading or like some books they just don't read very fast. Either way it has been beneficial and has caused me to rethink the idea of values. When thinking and praying through what is now been named The Bridge Church of Suffolk, Va I wrote down ideas that becam our mission, tagline, values and vision for the future. The idea of values are very important because they speak of the innate traits of a being as well an organization, such as a church. Values are essential. What's tricky about values is that they can be viewed as important but not actually valued, they are aspirational values not actual values. For instance I'm sure most people in American think that being healthy is important, but most of us are not. Health is an aspirational value not an actual value. McManus talks about ethos, not just the things we believe are true but actual things we care about. It might sound like just semantics but ethos vs. values is a question every person must answer. One that The Bridge Church must answer. I heard a quote "we do what we value not what we say we believe".

Prayer: At the prompting of the CMTC manual and leading of the Holy Spirit I set out today to spend a half day in prayer. While the full half day is something I'm going to have to work towards I did have an excellent time communicating with and worshipping God this morning. The park down the road from my house has excellent walking trails beside the water. The weather was cool but not cold in my black coat and the full morning sun. There is also a great little fishing pier that you can walk out over the water on. It was nice just to pray. That sounds silly but I find myself working and staying busy because productivity is like crack but this morning was time to pray. I did my fair share of talking but at time I just felt God say..."just be still and rest".

All creatures of our God and King,
Lift up your voice and with us sing,

Church: Heather was sick yesterday and Nathan was recovering from the same stomach bug so my friend, BJ and I were on our own for church. We had planned to hit the early service at a church he had visited about a year ago. He said the church was enjoyable and that he would like to check it out again, it sounded like a good plan so we followed through on it even though it was just the two of us. Besides there isn't much else to do at 8:30 on a sunday morning. (There is always the Golden Corral)

I'm going to leave the church nameless because of what I'm about to say about it. Overall I would say it was one of the worst church experiences I've had in my life. During the worship through song I just didn't connect with the style, which is fine, it's not all about music. What was hard was the preaching. The church was charasmatic by name and theology. I knew that going in. What I wasn't prepared for was the fact that I was made to feel second class because I am not charasmatic. The kicker is this. As a believer I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the gifts of the spirit...all of them not just the ones that are easy to understand.

In my denomination (C&MA) we are taught to "seek not forbid not" regarding the speaking in tongues issue. I confess now that a few years ago I wondered by I did not have the gift of tongues and prayed that God would give me the gift. For a while this was my prayer but after some I came to the conclusion that God did not desire to give me that gift and I instead felt led to nurture the other gifts that he did give me like preaching and teaching.

So what do I do? I sit in a fellowship of believers that say I am not baptized in the Holy Spirit unless I speak in tongues. They say I'm a skeptic and just don't believe enough but I am a man of great faith so that answer is without merit. So where does that leave me. Well in their eyes and how I'm made to feel while in their church is that I'm second class, I'm a semi-christian. I know but I don't believe.

I know where I stand in God's eyes and I know I am equipped mightly as he calls me to ministries. That's not a source of insecurity at all, but it does bother me that my brothers and sisters would view in that light.

Two mullet sightings in the past week. The picture above was taken at wal-mart and is a beautiful example of the female version of the mullet. Also known as the She-Mullet or as I like to say the "chic-let"

This mullet is pretty rare and you don't find it very often...of course who's looking. This is what I like to call the "moca-mullet", part moccasin part mullet. This was a hard call because is that a mohawk or not. I finally just had to make the call and take the picture. The final vote was it is a mullet not a mohawk because the 'hawk clears the collar and is not sticking up. Behold the Mocamullet.

Packing: I was looking at and dreaming about a new handgun last night. I don't have that kind of cash right now but will keep saving. This morning I see this article in the paper.

By WARREN FISKE, The Virginian-Pilot © January 27, 2006

RICHMOND — An Henrico County legislator apologized to the House of Delegates on Thursday for firing his handgun in his legislative office.

Republican Jack Reid said the weapon went off accidentally about 9 a.m. while he was ejecting the clip from his .380-caliber Kel-Tec handgun.

The discharged round was stopped by a bullet-proof vest that was hanging on Reid’s office door. No damage was done to state property, according to a report filed with the Capitol Police.
Reid, who has a concealed weapons permit, notified the Capitol police, and no charges were filed. Several hours later, the chagrined lawmaker personally apologized at separate meetings of the House Republican and Democratic caucuses and then before the entire chamber.

"Everyone has a right to feel safe here,” Reid said on the House floor.
Reid’s colleagues applauded after his apology on the floor and accepted his explanation.
“Just like anything else, accidents do happen,” said Del. Kenneth Melvin, D-Portsmouth. “I’m sure he’ll learn from this and be more careful with his handgun.”
Several lawmakers said Reid is not the only member of the General Assembly who carries a concealed weapon.

“I do know factually that some people have obtained concealed weapons permits because they have had life-threatening phone calls,” said Del. Harry Purkey, R-Virginia Beach. “Their families have had life-threatening calls. They decided to get a weapon in case one of these kooks decided to follow through with their threat.”

Reed said the bullet-proof vest was a gift from law enforcement officials that he leaves hanging in his office and does not wear.

Sick: Heather is really sick today, with what appears to be either food poisoning or a bad stomach virus. That means I'm with Nathan and we're having a good time but that means Heather is on her own just in case it might be a virus. A virus that neither Nathan or I wants to get.

Super Bowl: The flyers are done for the Super Bowl Open House we are having. I need to get them distributed but am hoping for a warmer day so me and Nathan can go together. We're hoping for about 30 people.

Va. Beach Contd: I hadn't had time to completely process my speaking on Sunday. Not only was this the first time I had spoke as a church planter and as a representative of the Mid-Atlantic District but the first time I had cast my vision and dream to a group larger than...5. It was amazing how I was able to articulate so well exactly what my heart is passionate about. It was also so amazing to see the overwhelming repsonse from the congregation to my vision. They caught it and by the time we left they were passionate about it as well.

For His kingdom and His Bride.

Meeting: I was up at our District Office yesterday for a voluntary committee meeting. This was a meeting for the church health task force. I don't say this flippantly but considering I work in a district where very few churches are growing this is a pretty daunting task. Honestly I wasn't looking very forward to it. God has given me a passion for his church and I desire to see the Bride of Christ healthy but at the same time I felt like I was trying to wrestle a monkey that just won't stand still.

Fortunately I wasn't being asked to do it by myself and by the end of the day I think the committee had discussed matters that are directly responsible and/or related to the fact that our district churches are unhealthy. These were very candid and upfront conversations and what I think is a good step in the right direction.

Before we left we also developed a plan to evaluate churches and help get them on paths to health. Real solid tangible stuff.

Sermon: Yesterday I preached as a church planter for the first time. This isn't at the church I'm planting but to represent the district and it's church planting efforts. It was at New Hope Christian Fellowship in VA. Beach, VA. I served on the church multiplication committee with the Pastor- Peter Daley. He is a kindred spirit with me and church planting and the church was very supportive and loving to me and my family.

The sermon went well and I was encouraged by how God spoke through me. The purpose of this message was to not only make aware the vastness of the harvest in our world but to raise prayer support and financial support to church planting efforts. I was pleased with the results.

"Personal computers have brand names. But inside every pc is an Intel chip and an operating system, Windows," Warren says. "The Purpose Driven paradigm is the Intel chip for the 21st-century church and the Windows system of the 21st-century church."—Rick Warren, Christianity Today, Oct. 2005 in talking about his global peace plan.

um...Rick might want to rethink this metaphor.

A friend send me this picture. Cowher after they lose to Denver tomorrow. Click this link to have some fun with Cowher's Face. It's a party.

We got our new chair yesterday. Nathan wanted to try it out first.


I was walking George, my dog, this morning and saw this sign on the community bulletin board. Do your best to see around the glare. So I have just one question. If the cat has a phone...why are they still looking for it? Sound like the cat wanted to leave if you ask me!

Youth Group: Last night I spoke at a Youth Group for the first time since about Thanksgiving. It was at my old youth group and the church I grew up in so it was a neat experience for me. It was probably one of the first times I spoke at a group that wasn't "mine". I realized how much I rely on relationships and rapport with people when I speak. I think that is a good thing but the dynamic changes when you have no prior relationships and have about 3.3 seconds to gather their attention.

The night went very well and I left feeling like the students knew me better and I knew them better. To top it all off I'd say at least half were paying attention when I was talking, either that or they are good pretenders.

Sunday: This sunday I preach for the first time representing my district for Church Multiplication. I'm excited to get this going and, I must admit, kind of nervous. The good news is about the nervous part is that it's never about me but about what God wants his people to hear, I just have the privilege of being the one who says it. I just want to work hard to be faithful to such an important task. That and I do want to generate support and excitement in people across our district for church multiplication (aka- church planting).

Mark 4:26-29 will be my primary text with a little back up from Nehemiah. I also need to share about Suffolk and the church plant so the sermon can't be very long. I want to give a basic overview of the text and some observations I've made.

1. Growth is God's responsibility (planting and harvesting ours).
2. Grain has been growing and we haven't been looking.
3. Reaching the harvest now will look different than ever before as it must for every generation.
4. The harvest is ready.

IPOD Scare: I had an ipod scare this morning. I couldn't get it to work at all, nothing, complete freeze up and I even tried resetting it the way they instruct on their website. Still nothing. Then I called tech support and while waiting they described another way to reset. It worked. I was sweating it. Something that cost $300 should work for a little more than 7 months...and it does. It just wanted to scare me.

MAC: I have been debating the idea in my mind in getting a mac. The primary reason is that for pc's to be so widely used and windows to be the software of choice and used by almost every person in the world with a computer...it sucks. Millions use your product so make it mediocre. I don't understand that. My brother in law is better than most with computers he tells me that if I want optimum performance from my pc I need to completely reformat it every 6 months. Now that's just silly, not him saying that but the fact that it seems to be true.

Apple has just released the news about the intel chip being inside the new MacBook Pro that boast 4x the speed of the powerbook G4. Holy Crap I want one!

Divorce: I was at wal-mart today like I am every other day and while walking through the checkout I saw the tabloids. Not the freaky ones with 400lb toddlers and aliens but the ones that have a strange love for celebrities and are always reporting on the lives of fallen celebrities. On the cover of most is a picture of Nick and Jessica Simpson. DIVORCE plastered across the covers. Then under this heading are questions like; "What went wrong?" "Who's Fault?" or Jessica pleaing "I didn't do anything wrong!".

I'm sure these magazines don't want an answer but rather a juicy story. But in reality they are asking all the wrong questions and I think overall perception of marriage and divorce in our culture is all wrong. I think the prevailing attitude for marriage is that of a boat. If two people get in a boat and take off on a voyage together and as long as noone does anything stupid they will arrive on time and at their destination.

I think this attitude is all wrong. I think rather the better attitude is if I let this boat drift I will be divorced it's really only a matter of time. I think all marriages are destined for divorce unless measures are taken. I know my boat metaphor will break down eventually but for the time being: If you get in a boat and drift you wind up where the current takes you. If you get in a marriage and drift you get where the culture takes you, divorce.

So put up your sails, paddle like hell and be counter cultural.

MLK: Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Yesterday while at Grace Harbor Church the pastor put together a mini-presentation with pictures and MLK's I have a Dream speech. It was very moving I think for the first time I was able to appreciate the civil rights movement.

Grace Harbor: I heard about this church from a friend, Paul Richards who is the area Young Life director. His friend, Greg West, is a local church planter at Grace Harbor (UMC). They've been around about 3 years. It was good to meet Greg and good to be in a service where we were comfortable. The worship was familiar and the Greg is a good communicator. You could really sense the idea of community from the people. To top is off Greg publically welcomed Heather and I and announced us as church planters. For a church of about 80 that is right down the street from where we are hoping to meet that is a very unselfish move. It was very nice and I felt very honored.

Recognize: I was sitting in Starbucks early this morning using my coupon, reading my bible and making some changes to my newsletter. A guy walks in orders his coffee and goes to put his book down. I notice that his book is a bible, I was a little surprised because I thought I was the only one that does their Bible reading in a coffee shop. He noticed me about the same time I noticed him and walked over to say hi. Turns out I met Gary, a youth pastor, when we were scouting out the area and area churches last summer. We had a good conversation and he encouraged me and when he was walking out about half hour later told me he had prayed for me and would be praying for me. He also told me to call him and we'd hang out.

You don't plan stuff like that. God does though.

From the Cup: Modern life is remarkable, but we’re still human beings with basic human needs. We need real community. We need satisfying and compelling work. We need health, play, love, and companionship. A century of remarkable technological advances can’t undo the millions of years of evolution that have made us who we are, and to pretend otherwise is to do ourselves a huge disservice.
-- Moby

I'm not for bashing any president but this quote was funny:

Frodo Failed
Bush has the ring

NFL: Seahawks vs. Redskins- yeah I knew my skins didn't have much of a chance but it was a good run.
Broncos vs. Patriots- I called this one a mile away. Broncos in the superbowl.
Colts vs Steeler- Basically anything good that comes out of pittsburgh is an anomoly but I didn't think they had a chance against the colts.
Panthers vs. Bears- I saw the Bears as the most overrated NFL team this season. Man it hurts being this right.

Chili's: Heather and I went to Chili's tonight. The one we went to is in a really cool mall and there is also an excellent play area that Nathan really enjoys. Another reason we went there was our friend BJ was working. I had the Fajita Pita and Heather had the Monterey Chicken with taquitos. BJ supplied the free drinks, chips and salsa and the broccoli cheese soup. Even without the free grub it was the best dining experience I've had in a long time. The food was good the company great and the server excellent.

Snow boots: So I'm not fashion policeman but these snow boots the girls are wearing around are down right silly. I'm sure someone told them somewhere down the line that this was style but let's let common sense rule the day. So I thought I'd write a brief method for finding out what you are wearing looks stupid regardless of what stores are selling.

1. Put on desired clothes for the day
2. Look in mirror
3. ask self "self, do you look stupid?" if the answer is yes repeat steps 1-3 if the answer is not proceed with regular schedule.

Pat: So I now live in the dominion of Pat Robertson. I'm not going to comment right now but I will later. In the meantime check out this article.

I got a new set of computer speakers yesterday. They are really great...except they pick up a radio signal all the time even when they aren't hooked up to anything.

Impact: Last night went very well. During the afternoon hours I was putting the final touches on what I wanted to say and what parts of the vision I wanted to cast. The main thing that happened during those hours is that God told me to relax a little and with a few well placed phone calls that I received that is exactly what happened. So last night was the first meeting of our Impact Group. I chose that name because for the next 8 weeks or so our main objective is to get to know one another and to get the name of our new church into the community. My first inclination is to bound forward but I know that a time of incubation and growing together is very necessary.

I am trusting God for continued contact and in the next few weeks anticipate some strategic mailings and phone calls.

Free: So I went to Starbucks today just to clear my head and get some vision and believe it or not ask God to speak to me. I just hear better with the smell of roasted coffee beans in the air. So I go in with my man purse containing my bible and church planter's work book that I need to get done. I hear the girl behind the counter complaining that their signature sharpie that they use to write on cups is out of ink. I'm a sharpie freak (within reach right now I know of at least 4 and there is one in my truck) so I reach in my bag and find the blue one, that I seldom use and I handed it to the girl. I figured they would give me my drink for free for the sharpie and was regretting only ordering a tall iced coffee I should have gone for the triple shot venti white mocha or something like that. Well better than giving me my $2 iced coffee for free she gave me a coupon for a drink in the future. And then I get to the counter where you get your drink and that girl gave me a coupon too. I told her the other already gave me one but she told me to keep it anyway. So because of my sharpie fascination I was given about $10 worth of Starbucks today. Whooo-hoooooo!

Insert: I'm talking to a new neighbor today. "Hi I'm Nick" she says "my name is Tonya" I notice Tonya has an accent it sounds Wisconsin. "Are you from up north somewhere?" she says "Germany"

Well that explains the accent but what explains me being totally off as to where she was from?

Hebrews: not that I'd ever go into business for myself or start a coffee house but if I did I'd have a name for it- He Brews. Probably a good idea I'm not opening one soon.

Core Group: Tonight is the first act of The Bridge Church of Suffolk, VA. Tonight we get together for some core group development. I'm expecting about 5-7 people and they are all people that have expressed interest in being part of the group that plants this church. I am excited and nervous but mostly...ready. I will be sharing the vision that God has directed me towards and the vision I believe God has for this church and this community.

News: I think I have discovered one of of my gifts. I'm not sure it's a good thing. So we lived in Frederick for not quite 4 years. Before I moved there I has never heard of it before. As soon as I move there we start making national news and during the time I lived there we made the news more than a handful of times. Including the DC snipers capture, large sinkholes, the post 9/11 anthrax stuff, planes flying over the capital and a few others.

So I think it has begun for Suffolk, Va. While not quite national Marcus Vick was arrested here a day or so ago...

Neighbors: Like most people in this world we have neighbors that live to the right and to the left of us. I have had limited contact with both sets, general neighbor stuff. One of our neighbors has 2 kids, one is in the eighth grade and the other fifth grade. Because they locked their keys in their house one day they had to spend the afternoon at our house playing with Nathan's toys. Seeing as he was 8 months old at the time that still strikes me as funny. The other neighbors son is probably about 40 and seemed to really enjoy talking to me.

So that is the background now for my point. Both neighbors I met were ladies. I met the neighbor to our right and was not given the feeling of being very welcomed. In fact I got the idea that if she never spoke to me again she'd be happy. I shrugged it off and just let it go. Our neighbor to our left came over the other day to introduce herself. She was very pleasant and very talkative and I felt like I knew a little bit about her when she went back home.

So two very different meetings. The funny thing was my attitude. The neighbor that was rude or indifferent at best I wrote off immediately. My thought was well if she doesnt' like me then i don't like her. Basically I didnt' see how she had worth in my life. The other neighbor was nice and I immediately saw that she would make a great neighbor and possibly a great friend. She had value.

I'm being honest here. When most people meet others they immediately evaluate their value in their lives. People we see that might be valuable we strike up conversations with, others we leave alone. I'm trying to recognize that I do this. I think most people do. It's not good, just a fact of life. But it doesn't have to be.

Read a quote: I'd rather be used up than rusting away.

Bowl: College football is the greatest sport. I think one could convince me that college basketball is but right now it being bowl season I'm going to say that college football is the best. People complain about there being no playoffs and sometimes a split championship but I think the rankings do add a good bit of excitement to the game. It is obvious that the rankings aren't perfect when #3 ranked Penn State inches out a win over #22 ranked Florida State team but I think they add something to the game. This year, of course, there is no debate. The two time champ is still unbeaten going up against an excellent Texas team. I'm rooting for texas because afterall who doesn't like the underdog.

The other reason I'm cheering for Texas. Three-Peat. Did you know that Pat Riley gets paid 300K every time that is used because he came up with it when the Bulls three peated in the 90's. I don't hate Pat Riley or anything but...make money off of a word. Crazy.

Redskins: So by birth I'm a Redskins fan. Back in my boyhood days life was good. We won 2 Super Bowls within 5-6 years. Well the last ring was in '91 and I believe we've only made the playoffs a few times since. Well this year we not only finished the season well but went 5-1 in our division and made the playoffs. Hail to the Redskins, Hail Victory, Braves on the warpath we'll fight for ole' DC.

Tomorrow: First day of work tomorrow at the new job. No time clock, no going to the office for the first time. Did someone say job? Serioulsy though I know I'll have my challenges. I'm working from home for the first time and I am also working in a ministry that is not always going to have tangible measuring devices for success. But isn't that like most ministry?

2005 in Review:
(typed on my pda/smartphone)

This is supposed to be a blog entry and it will be but probably not until I make it home. Problem is here I am New Year's eve and I am sick. I'm as sick as I have been in a very long time. but I guess the good news is I get to watch the giants game not because I like the giants but because I want them to lose so the redskins can win their division. too abd Tiki just broke a 95 td run.

I've been planning on doing a year in review for a few days now so I guess now is a great time to put it down on paper.

• my son Nathan was born March 3
  
• I was affirmed and placed as a church planter for the Chriastian and Missionary Alliance
  
• my best friend JB had a son April 29
  
• JB and Iris and Gavin went to Russia to start language school
  
• I resigned as youth pastor leaving the best youth group in the world
  
• I celebrated 4 years of marriage
  

A list can't define a year but it gives a start. Most of all I learned a little more about my savior Jesus Christ, a little more about grace, love and surrender, I think the most memorable is the stuff Nathan has taught me about life and loving him. Most of all a glimpse of comprehension of the Father' love for me!

Band: Try to track this. Matt is my wife's best friend's brother. Matt is in a band called CLING. You can listen by clicking on this link-->CLING.

Here are some of the pictures from Portrait Innovations. They did an excellent job and I'd recommend them to anyone. Since they do everything digital they are quick to take lots of pictures. Our photographer took almost 90 pictures and had some really great shots. Here they are.

Pictures: We had some pictures taken yesterday. Mostly they were of Nathan but we also did a family portrait that really turned out great. I'll get those up soon I just don't have the disc with me at the desk.

Twice: I was reading in Mark again and I got to the place where Jesus starts healing people. I'm sure I've heard the story but I didn't catch this before.

Mark 7
Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva;

What a funny thing to do. Stick your fingers in someone's ears...and then spit.

But what was most fascinating was this story in Mark 8
Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, "Do you see anything?" And he looked up and said, "I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around." Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. And He sent him to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village."

It took TWICE. I can't even speculate why. Was Jesus running out of power? no, I don't think so. Why?

Tipping Point: I'm reading an excellent book called The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. I'll post more on it later.

Christmas: I thought I'd put up a post and some pictures from our Christmas 2005. This is Nathan's first Christmas so it's been a very fun one and for an almost 10 month old he had a great day. My wife treated me great, of course, and gave me some great presents. I don't have a favorite but the expresso maker, coffee, wallet, and a Robert Jordan book are all excellent and things I wanted but would have never bought for myself.

Left to Right:
My sister Beth, my wife Heather and my Mom
and then Luke, my nephew, Nathan my boy and Abby my neice. Too bad half of them aren't looking.










Me, Nathan and Heather at my in-laws house












Here is Nathan with his Granddad. Nathan is sitting on the coolest Christmas present I have ever seen. Granddad made this rockin' airplane by himself. When I say "made" I'm talking about with some wood and a saw. Unbelievable!









Babies are always cute so I thought I'd finish up with a shot of some babies and their mothers. From left to right Heather and Savannah (my wife's cousin Greg's wife and daughter) then my wife Heather and Nathan and then Annie and Reid (my wife's cousin Bryan's wife and son). Reid is 2 months old and Bryan is in Kuwait and soon heading to Baghdad.

Christmas: Well I just finished wrapping up Heather's presents and good thing because we are leaving out tomorrow for our Christmas voyage. First stop will be Hickory, NC for furniture shopping. Next stop will be Spartanburg, SC for my neice's birthday and then of course Christmas...which will be on Christmas eve. Then last stop will be Atlanta to spend with Heather's family. It should be a good trip.

Santa: So like I mentioned I've been spending time with an old childhood friend. BJ is two years younger than me and I did things growing up that reminded him of that...probably more often than I'd like to admit. We were riding back from church the other night and BJ said "Nick do you remember...who told me there was no such thing as Santa Claus?" "YOU DID."

So now that he mentions it yeah I do remember that. I think he was only 5 or 6 years old. In my defense my sister told me and I was so distraught I had to share the tragic news with someone. After BJ reminded me I was the bearer of this news he whispered under his breath so I could hear it..."bastard". We had a good laugh.

BJ: I have known BJ longer than any other person in my life except for family. BJ is two years younger than me and I remember my sister baby sitting me and BJ. Well BJ never left the area sowhen I moved back I made sure to get in touch with him. We had lunch one day last week and spent the day yesterday together... clarification. Heather, Nathan, Christina, BJ and I spent the day together. We went to our old church Portsmouth Alliance and then went out to lunch (where Nathan pulled the drink tray out of the waitresses hand and had coke dumped on him). We then went up to Richmond to visit a church BJ had gone to when training for his cross country trip (www.4pedals.com). So qe went to be sevice which was a great "experiiential" service. Then we ate at the nicest Arby's in the world and drove the hour and a half back.
It was a good day and good to spend time with BJ and his sister Christina, they are almost family. I have been praying for a friend dare I even say best friend to plant this church with me. I can't help but think...

P-town: So my old church is...old but it is also home so we went there on sunday. The church is about 6 miles from where I am going to be starting the Bridge in Suffolk anf I even live down the street from the SR. Pastor there. So needless to say there is much room for ill feelings.

Yesterday Palmer Zerbe gave me an excellent introduction and a big hug and made it obvious he was in full support of this new work and that they were going to give resources and people to this church plant. I was literally overjoyed by his public support, thanks God!

Involved: I have led many times a hands on worship experience I realized last night I had never been a participant. The stations were well done but for the first five minutes all I could think about is how much time this syuff cost and hoe much time it all took. But after not too long I was able to relaz and I went to the stations. The theme was realizing the incarnation of Christ and that it not only meant a human bitrth but a human life and a death. When I think of Christ as a babe I don't think of him as a baby destined to die. The experience was helpful.

Birthday: My birthday was on thursday. I turned 26. I know 26 isn't much older than 25 but it feels weird to say that I'm 26...I can't explain it better than that I guess. My birthday was excellent. Reasons why:

• I slept till 10.
• The painting I had worked on the previous 2 days was finished.
• I had lunch with my Dad.
• I saw my Grandma and Granddad.
• I had dinner with my Mom and JD.
• We ate an excellent seafood restaurant.

There are more reasons but it simply amazes me that I was with so much family for my birthday. That honestly hasn't happened since I was a junior in high school which was exactly 10 years ago. It's nice to live back home again.

inbubblewrap: I was reading David Trotter's blog that is listed in my "blogs I read section" and he mentioned a free giveaway site for businessmen. I've been checking the site everyday and registering for my free book for about a week. Well I finally won! Whoo Hoo. So if you are interested in free stuff check out inbubblewrap. Tell them I sent you.

Graduation: My dad graduated with his associate degree last night. I have to tell you that my dad isn't perfect but I really admire so much of what he has done in his life. A few years ago he retired from the Navy after 29 years of service and getting promoted to the 2nd highest rank he could go. After he got out of the Navy he went to college to get his associate degree. So last night was a big deal. He is currently going to Old Dominion University to get his B.A.

Quote: I heard a quote last night that I'll put here and then comment on later, after I process it.

Leaders are meant to be the custodians of our ideals.

Paint: Yesterday I painted our living room. It wasn't all that bad- about 8 hours of work. The pain in the butt was the 7 windows and tv nook that I had to paint around. Today I painted our kitchen. They are really bold colors but they look great. Heather and I almost had a meltdown on Monday trying to figure out the colors we wanted. We even ended up going to Sherwan Williams to get them to help us match colors. Turns out we had exact matches and we went with what we orginially picked out but it was so helpful to have a 3rd party tells us we were going well and the colors would look good.

So I'm the cheap labor of the week and it's so nice to cross more stuff off the list!

Mark: I have been reading the Gospel of Mark in my not-so-daily daily reading time. I read Matthew earlier in the fall and his emphasis on the "Kingdom of Heaven" is so prevelant it really is hard to miss. So when I started reading Mark I noticed that Mark wasn't all about establishing Christ's kingship but seemed to focus on the outcast.

I recalled as I read that Mark is the same guy that is in the garden the night Jesus was betrayed. In some of the gospel accounts you read about one that ran off and the soldier was able to catch his coat so basically Mark ran off naked. What a loser!

Then Mark is the same guy that went with Paul and Barnabas on their missions trip and made it only a short time before he got homesick and wanted to go home. What a loser!

So with all that loserific experience Mark writes his gospel. He gives 6 verses to the calling of James and John (of the infamous three) but gives 10 verses to the calling of Levi, the sell-out Jewish tax collector.

Mark has a thing for putting losers in his gospel. What a glorious idea! Jesus has a thing for putting losers in his kingdom. Only he doesn't call us losers, he calls us disciples and followers.

So after our mini-adventure with church sunday morning I was a little gun shy to go trying new churches. I had almost sworn off churches until we get ours going but I was still looking to get my Jesus on. So I set out to find us a sunday evening service. I decided on The Wave Church. It's a ways away in Va. Beach but I figured "A church alive is worth the drive".

The worship was what I was looking for and the guest preacher was great. He talked about some stuff that I really needed to be reminded of. The main point was "Jesus died not to make bad people good but to make dead things live."

I forget that sometimes, I get caught in the mental trap of behavorial modification.

Church: So Heather and I don't have a church home for the first time in over 6 years. Last week we went to a Community church that seems to be doing well and has hit their 16th year of effective ministry in this area. After meeting with their pastor and our conversation I am encouraged by the ministry that he has. So like I said we went to their service last week and we enjoyed it and the sermon was excellent the music isn't quite as rockin' as we were hoping.

So this week Heather and I had decided to move to another church to try to find the music we were looking for. The phonebook said the service started at 9 a.m. so we got up early and after much searching we found the church (it is called New Life). We drove into the parking lot and there were about 2 cars in the parking lot and I decided we weren't staying. I guess I want a little bit of anonymity for a little while.

So by now it's about quarter after nine and we have just crossed off the biggest prospect for this Sunday. But not easily defeated we decided to go grab some breakfast and catch an eleven o'clock service at the community college.

So we eat breakfast at the Golden Corrall (I'll post about this below) and head up to TCC for Tidewater Bible Church. On the way in we see that there is another church called Greater Grace also meeting on the campus and so we go to their parking lot. I didn't want to get out of the car but only check it out but a woman caught us in the parking lot and invited us in to stay. Heather persuaded me to go for it so we did.

We walked in the door and the people tried not to act surprised but didn't do a very good job. It as evident that not too many (or any) white people come to their church. We had come this far and I wanted to stay open minded. Afterall I just wanted to get my Jesus on, I thought this might be the place to do it.

I don't even know how to go into it but after about 20 minutes Heather leaned over to me and said, I'm heading towards the bathroom meet me in the car. So after she leaves I wait the appropriate time and grab out bibles and head for the car as well.

I guess I won't be getting my praise on this week.

Maybe next week?

Golden: So we used to live in Frederick, MD which is only about 30 minutes from West Virginia. We used to joke that if you wanted to meet a West Virginian then go to wal-mart or golden corral.

Where we live now is at least 5 hours from west virginia and still the west virginians commute all that way for the buffet. Go figure.

Narnia: Heather and I saw The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe tonight and I must say...excellent. I was highly anticipating this movie hoping it would fall in line with the excellent fantasy such as was demonstrated in the Lord of the Rings...I was not disappointed. They stuck to the book well enough but not so much as you knew what was happening every second. The battle scene was excellent!

I have some criticisms but I don't want to criticize a movie I really did love. I think it is amazing that thousands and maybe millions of people will see a beautiful depiction of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in such a way that is easily understood.

I was reading in Mark the other morning and I remember seeing a verse that I underlined. It said (NPV) that whenever he (Jesus) taught them he used parables. Metaphors speak to the heart like raw facts don't!

Worship: I woke up today and I just prayed "Lord, make something happen today that is exciting." I'm not sure that's a fair prayer or that God answers prayers like that but it was my prayer. So Nathan and I went to the Post Office. Not terribly exciting but better than sitting around the house. So we're heading from the post office to the quick lube and Nathan got a little fussy so I started singing to him like I always do and this time it happened to be a worship song. Strange enough it wasn't a song I had ever heard before but a song from the heart, In that quiet between verses I felt the Lord ask, "exciting enough for you?" I'm not sure that' sa fair question...

The crazy thing is that the same experience happened again on the way to the mall to do some Christmas shopping, this time it was listening to the Derek Webb cd I posted about earlier.

God is good even when I make unfair requests.

Narnia: Heather has loved the Chronicles of Narnia for as long as I've known her and her love for the books has been the topic of our conversation for sometime now, especially with the movie coming out. To refresh my memory I reread the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe last week and tonight Heather, my dad and I are going to see the movie. I'm not looking as forward to it as any of the Lord of the Rings movies I am looking forward to it as much as any other movie.

I don't think it will disappoint!

Waiting: So I'm technically not employed this month, which is funny because I have been employed every day since I was 16 years old. I'm not bored yet either. The past two weeks we have unpacked the house. I painted Nathan's room and put up a chair rail. His room is smoky blue above the chair rail and is lion's mane (golden yellow) below. The rest of his room is a sort of Narnia theme complete with the huge stuffed animal Aslan. Blue and gold are my high school colors and well as the colors of my favorite store, Best Buy. Go figure.

I also painted my office. I chose a color called corkboard and it is a brown of sorts. I was going for the coffee house feel and after much searching I think I have found all of the office furniture I am going to buy.

The last two full and complete jobs we have finished are shopping for living room furniture and organizing and sorting the stuff in the garage.

So I said all that to say while I haven't been bored, by any means I am itching to get moving on this church plant. I think rather I'm overready for something exciting to happen for something to come by and get me jacked up!

You know what old ladies problems are with driving? I finally figured it out today. As I stood beside an old woman as she backed out of her parking spot I figured it out. Of course if you think about anything for as long as I did you'd have figured it out as well. She was backing out of her car and I was visualizing the 300 ways I could make her move faster, the best of which included a rocket launcher and a meat loaf, and that's when I figured it out. Her car was too big for her. Back after the war when she bought her Buick I'm sure it was stylish. But now the 27 foot monstrosity is so big the old lady can hardly steer it.

Of course the ladies that drive the new contraptions aren't any better. I was at DMV yesterday getting my new VA driver's license and the lady asked for my help. "I can't turn off my windshield wipers". Although cold it wasn't raining and I wasn't sure why her wipers were on in the first place. In my mind I was aksing the question but my good sense said just turn off her wipers for her. So I did.

What a useless and pointless rant...I'm not even sure it made sense...but darn the old ladies, can't kill, can't teach them how to drive can't suffocate them with meatloaf.

History: When this blog started about a year and a half ago it was called "Step into the Party" one of the lyrics of my favorite John Reuben song. As the blog evolved it was clear to me that this blog needed a new name. It needed a name that made a statement, that said something clear, than sent a message so then ignoring all of those requirements I went with The Thinking Padre. That is afterall who I am.

So I was thinking with the job change and the change of focus in ministry that maybe I should rename my blog. Same great thoughts, same provoking posts but new name. I was thinking of mixing some of my favorite books or movies with my current name so far the submissions are:

• The Thinking Future
• Present Padre
• Padre Gump
• U2 Padre

All of those seem pretty lame but one I'm really consider is

Velvet Padre- after a great book by Rob Bell called Velvet Elvis.

What do you think?

I was going to lay down a sweet post but I'm on slow butt aol dial up and the 10 minutes it took me to log on took up my blog time. Now LOST is on in 2 minutes and I'm not going to make an entry.

Back: Well I'm not really sure if I'm back or not but I wanted to get an entry in so that my faithful know I'm still kicking. I have enjoyed the time away, not necessarily from my blog but from technology. I can tell that as the date draws closer that I actually go on payroll with my new job that I will start using technology again.

I like it, I really do.

To commemorate my time of absence I bought a Palm Treo 650, which for you not technogeeks it is a palm pilot and a cell phone in one. It has a full thumb keyboard and so far I really enjoy it and has already made my life easier. The whole point of technology after all.

Pain: We made the move to VA on November 23 the day before thanksgiving. I'm not sure how much I want to recollect of the drive down not because I don't want to type but because the event was so tramatic for me.

It started at about 9:30 in the morning on wednesday November 23. We picked the cat up from where she was living and we hit the road heading south from Maryland. I need to mention that I drive a green '96 Ford Explorer. She's been a good vehicle for me, I really enjoy driving it. But in her old age the "Green Machine" no longer has working heat. Well with an outside temperature of about 38 F (for my canadian friends 3.3 C) having no heat can be quite the experience. So there I am shivering my butt off with the cat sitting beside me in her crate and the rest of the Beast loaded to the max with my office books and furniture. This goes well for about 4 minutes before the cat start meowing at the top of her lungs. The volume was literally equal to a child's scream and/or a chain saw.

Me shivering, cat screaming. Then I smell something really awful. Cat's don't pee in their crates so it's not Maggie. I'm shivering real bad and after checking realize I didn't pee my pants either. So back to the cat. Sure enough she has peed in her crate and now is giving a death cluth to the front of her crate where there is no urine. This lasts for a short while until I hit the brakes and the pee go up to the cats feet and she slides down to the sespool awaiting her. I actually feel very bad for the cat but trying to help her would have been as useful as...well it would have been pointless.

So for 5 hours we drove. Both freezing both whimpering. Occasionaly one of us would cry out in pain.