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.

She Must and Shall Go Free...: I've been wanting to get this album from Derek Webb but either haven't had the disposable funds or the store hasn't had it. Well today I needed to use up some gift certificates that we have that are for stores only in Frederick and lo and behold the Christian bookstore had it, so I bought it. He wrote the album to illustrate his passion for the church as the bride of Christ and I must say that the album is beautiful.

He wrote an album about the Church like Rich Mullins did for Jesus Christ.

Moved: We have moved from Frederick, MD to Suffolk, VA this past week. The truck was loaded on tuesday and then unloaded on friday. We made it in one piece and enjoyed staying friday night not only in our new home but in our own bed as well. We're back in Frederick for a few days. Today is my final sunday and farewell luncheon and youth party and then Heather needs to finish up work. So on Wednesday we'll drive back to Suffolk to stay, thank goodness.

Fly: I was driving around Frederick last night just gathering my thoughts about this whole transition, thinking about the years past and imagining the years future. The past was comforting, the future was exhilirating but at the same time frightening. EAC has been a place of preparation for me, I have learned much and am ready to use what I've learned in a new ministry. EAC has also been a safe learning place, where people didn't try to beat me down when I messed up or fire me when I made a mistake. I look very fondly at the people of Emmanuel, they will always have a special place in my memories.

The mental picture I keep getting is that of a bird ready to leave the nest.

Birds are meant to fly.

Settlement: We closed on the townhouse today. Things went very well and the people seemed as pleased to buy it as we did to sell it. I'll miss our first house. I think mostly because of Nathan. That's where we brought him home to, where we used to walk around the block...little stuff like that.

Wal-Mart: I saw a big yellow flag flying just under the American flag at walmart. I looked closer and it's the smiley face flag. Can walmart do that? do they own the smiley face as their logo? What is this world coming too?

I was sitting down to type this entry and heard a knock at my door. It was my next door neighbor, David. He wanted to make sure I knew he wouldn't be able to help me out this week packing the moving truch but that he was going to miss us. He also returned the reply card to my newsletter with a nice financial contribution. It's amazin how those keep coming in. It is encouraging to me because I feel that people are embracing the vision that is Suffolk, VA.

I preached today out of Matthew 6:25-34. This was the least nervous I have ever been and that means, I wasn't nervous at all. It actually made me nervous that I wasn't nervous. OH well.

Zorro: Heather and I saw The Legend of Zorro last night. It's one of those movies that doesn't blow you away but it was a good movie. The plot went way deeper than either Heather or I expected.

Etiquette: So I'm a pretty on time person and anytime someone is late, without good reason, it actually gets me a little angry. I've learned to calm down about it but it still irks me a little. Last night I was able to figure out why. So Heather and I sit down in our seats about 15 minutes before the movie starts, the theater is small but not crowded. So the movie starts and...people start coming in. So they are climbing over you while you're trying to watch the movie. I'm sure they don't like it but don't inconvenience me for your lateness.

Winter: Winter came to town this morning. You always know when official winter comes because the wind goes from non existent to blowing your front door off the hinges. It's really incredible. My lunch box shaped Explorer gets blown around the highway like a kite. Yikes!

Truth: Truth...truth is...truth is I'm done.

I preach this sunday (the 13th) and it's going to be a meaningful sermon from Matthew 6. Then on the 20th is my last Sunday (where I get to present the church plant in Suffolk!) complete with our farewell lunch. I know it will be special. I also have youth group tonight, next wednesday and then our final night tuesday the 22nd. That will be special as well.

Come to think of it...I'm not done at all. There is a group of students that I need to say a strong good-bye to and bring this bad boy to the end!

Redskins: I've been a Redskins fan all my life and I know they are not beating down the doors of the Super Bowl but there is some hope...thank goodness it's been more than 10 years.

Gank: I don't mean to steal ideas from fellow bloggers but this is worth posting one more place.
Professional Christians

Our Contract was accepted on the house.

Our New Home!

Fall Colors: Fall is probably one of my favorite seasons. The rain is tolerable because the temperature is so nice. That and that rain makes for beautiful fall colors on the trees. The hoodies come out, shorts are still being worn, flip flops and the floor heat on in the truck. It might be heaven.

Green Machine: I noticed yesterday that the Green Machine, my 96 Ford Explorer, has seen better days. It was a beautiful work of art in it's prime complete with a 2" lift, 31" BFG AT/KO's, a Safari Brush Guard and KC Dayliters. I'm still real proud of it but...she's starting to wear down.

Giraffe: So I get back from the camping trip and there is a giraffe in my office. This is no small stuffed animal either, it's at least 4 feet tall. I guess it will go with Nathan's stuffed lion. I hope the giraffe doesn't get eaten.

This weekend we went on our 4th annual camping trip. We went to Cacapon State Park just outside of Berkeley Springs, WV. I made sure that none of the kids that went were cousins and that kept the romance down a considerable amount. There must be something in the water in West Virginia.

The camping trip is always the best retreat we do. The students get real with themselves, others and God and this year was no different. God moved in mighty ways. We had a girl that has basically shut herself off from God for the past 3 years finally breakout of that, we saw a "spiritual" kid admit to a addictive sin and get help. We saw students recognize that this is all a process and that while they will fail they are not failures.

I prepared it all well and things ran smoothly but I can't take credit for the work of God. He did some amazing things.

Miss You: I've been studying the Life of Christ and specifically the parables and metaphors he uses. I started in Matthew and will work through all 4 gospels. I wanted to do this because in my opinion we spend more time studying Paul's words than we do Jesus' words. I enjoy the epistles they are so practical and fairly easy to understand. Jesus on the other hand...not so easy to understand.

Nevertheless, i have enjoyed doing this and today I reached Jesus entry into Jerusalem. You know that feeling that you get when you meet someone you really like but you're away from home and they don't live in your town. Getting to know them is awesome and you know you'll always remember them and will hopefully see them again one day but you enjoy them so much you don't want it to end but deep down inside know it will end. That's the feeling I got.

I know it's not over, you know, me and Jesus. But we have so little of his words, so little of his teachings, so little of knowing the humanity side of our Savior. Very sad, Very hopeful...one day.

This weekend is our annual camping trip. It always rains, is always cold and is always the best retreat we do.

Failure: I have heard that it is not how we handle success or even the amount of success that displays our character but rather how we handle failure. Before I say what I'm going to say I want to make it clear that I'm not against failure. I fail all the time, too often. I'm pretty much a big failure but because of grace and because God uses failures like me...and Moses- life turns out pretty good.

I keep hearing it said that when something goes wrong it means we are doing something right. Meaning that as pastors or God's children we are working to expand God's kingdom, when things are going well then Satan or his minions come along and try to stop it, hence the bad things happening. Now I agree that we need to remember that our battle is against spiritual forces but I do not agree that if something is going wrong we should be so fast to blame evil forces.

What about blaming our evil world? Remember the apple.

I also think it's funny that when failure strikes we are quick to blame everything else except ourselves. Why didn't that outreach event work? was it the weather, society, or the tide of the ocean...maybe but more than likely it was poor strategy or excecution. Why wasn't that message effective? was it God's fault, was it society anti-jesus atitude, maybe but more than likely it just wasn't a very good sermon.

Maybe we're to blame for failure more often than not. I think so. But still the beauty remains that God uses failures and ugly things.

So fess up!

I stumbled upon this list while reading Brian's blog (who left a comment about the C) so while taking no credit this list is very strangely true...and funny.

michael lukaszewski has a great list of the same 21 students you’ll find in any average youth group on his blog:

I read somewhere that the average size youth group in the US is 21. The more places I go, and the more students that I meet, the more I am convinced that there are really only 21 different teenagers in the whole world. They just keep moving around from city to city. Here’s my breakdown.

1. Weird Home school Kid. I’m sorry, but I’ve been a youth pastor for 13+ years, and most home school kids are kind of strange.

2. Star Wars Freak Boy. This is the kid that dresses up and buys lightsabers off eBay.

3. Christian Band Groupie. They have lots of t-shirts, CD’s and autographed paraphernalia and strangely refer to members of the Newsboys by their first name.

4. Facial Hair Guy. This guy could be 12 or 18, but he’s got that scruffy patch of something occupying space on his chin. It doesn’t look very good.

5. Super spiritual girl. Sometimes known as “I’m dating Jesus” girl. She likes to read books like lady in waiting and usually closes meetings in prayer.

6. The IT specialist. He will have a promising corporate career or become an underground hacker. He illegally downloads things from the Internet for his youth pastor so his youth pastor doesn’t have to break the law.

7. The “I refuse to leave” individual. This person graduated from your ministry at least one year ago, but tricks himself into thinking of himself or herself as a chaperone so they can stick around. The will
be in your youth service for some time.

8. Overdeveloped Middle School girl. That’s all I need to say about that one. This group of students did not exist when I was in middle school.

9. The Bible Scholar. This person likes talking about Calvinism and other topics. They are the first to look up verses when called for and like to share their deep thoughts.

10. The Christian School Only Person. Closely related to weird home school kid (see #1), this person will go to Christian elementary school, a private Christian high school and when it comes time to go to college, he will only consider Christian colleges. This person can make it through life without ever talking to a lost person.

11. Little Drummer Boy. AKA Rock Star. Very proud of their $150 acoustic guitar, they are experts at leading worship and being part of a youth praise band.

12. The Event Addict. This person keeps their youth group event t-shirts color coded in their closet. They show up at camps, ski trips, weekends, conferences and every other event known to man.

13. The hoochie. If unchecked, overdeveloped middle school girl may develop into hoochie. This girl rarely wears enough clothing.

14. Smothered by Mother. No matter where this person goes, they can’t do anything without checking in with their parents every few minutes. Their parents require extra information on every event and activity.

15. Middle School Cheerleader. Usually traveling in packs of three, these are very small girls, typically wearing braces. They show up to any event wearing cheerleading shorts.

16. The forwarder. This person will forward you at least four or five e-mails every week. Thanks to him or her, you’ll know about all the companies supported by Mormons. This person might be associated with the IT specialist (see #6)

17. The EO. EO’s only show up to your fun events. They don’t care about anything you have to say, but will surface several times a year. Due to the massive amount of events attended, they have amassed a large quantity of t-shirts, which they use as rags or to mow grass.

18. FBI Parent Agent. While this is not technically a student, this parent is always there watching your every move. They probably have a “Smothered by Mother” (see #14). They want to know who will be driving and will question your word choice in your messages. Even though they are not a teenager, go ahead and include them and count them, because they will always be around.

19. The Drama Queen. This girl is usually the center of attention and needs lots of counseling. They are always involved in a major event or scandal.

20. The Questioner. The questioner will ask you if they can read their poem at your next youth service. They may have a painting or a song that will really encourage everyone else. They want to lead worship even though they can’t really sing and lead a bible study, even though they don’t own a Bible.

21. The all American. These are your regular, everyday teenagers. They don’t fall into any particular category.

Yawn: I learned on Animal Planet last night that the average yawn last 6 seconds and the average person yawns 10 times a day. That means in the average life humans spend 3 weeks yawning. Bet you always wanted to know that.

All my life I've noticed something was wrong but couldn't pinpoint the problem. So we're driving by a bank and It's always nice that they provide the time, I normally check the bank clock then check my radio clock and make sure all is well with my clock. Sometimes they provide the temperature which I again check against the guage in my truck.

So you look at the bank clock and it says 17 degress "C". I mean who in the US even knows what that means? Really it's just an inconvience, we have to wait for that to leave...what a waste.

We were house shopping today so I'm real tired. But when I get back expect thrilling topics such as Bank Clocks...

I sell Houses dot com: There is someone in our city that drives a Hummer, I'm not talking an H2 I'm talking the real deal Hummer. Complete with 35" tires that cost $200 each. On the side of the hummer is the magnetic advertiser that says Isellhouses.com. I ask: So let me get this straight. I use you to sell my house. You get rich and can buy and H1, I still only get to sell my house. Yeah no thanks I'll pass.

On the same note we were watching a Nooma video last night, Kickball. I like to ask the kids goofy questions to get them warmed up like, What store was the kiosk in front of? and one of my kids asked "Nick, what kind of pastor drives a Range Rover." I said Rob Bell does apparently. I then explained to them the size of his church and how God is blessing that ministry with lots of people. The kid just said "oh". I have no problem with Rob Bell driving a Range Rover or pastor's having nice things (I like nice things) but I was just wondering if there are people that think like about Rob Bell and his Range Rover like I do about the Isellhouses.com Hummer.

Books: I don't mean to overspiritualize this but there is something about books that is very...well spirtual. I'm not necessarily talking about the fact of reading but more of WHAT I am reading. It amazes me that if I sit and let God guide me the book he leads me to never fails to speak right into my life.

Water: The book is currently If you want to walk on water you've got to get out of the boat. I heard John Ortberg speak at General Council for my denomination and his message was encouraging to me. I thought his book would be the same so I bought it and it has sat on my shelf asking to be read for about 4 months now. I knew the time wasn't right and then finally on Monday I knew the time had arrived to read it.

Like his message the book is convicting but mostly encouraging. It kind of goes back to the Teddy Roosevelt quote I posted yesterday. Dare mighty things...you may fail, correction you WILL fail but better try and fail than never try at all.

I was reading a book this morning that reminded me of a quote my dad gave me when I was about 12 years old. I loved the quote so much I used to carry it around in my wallet. I eventually lost the paper my dad had typed it on but not before I memorized it.

Far better is it to dare mighty things, win glorious triumphs, and suffer much defeat- than to live in the grey twilight where one does not suffer much nor enjoy much. -Theodore Roosevelt

Weird: I saw that I missed a phone call while I was getting a hair cut. The message they left only said "I'm trying to reach Nick" and I saw it was a 678 area code which is around Atlanta so I figured I'd better call them back. The guy answers and I don't recognize his voice but he acts like he knows me so I go with it. Finally I ask him who he is and he laughs and says Ken Tyree.

Ken Tyree is my brother-in-laws brother-in-law. I play in a fantasy football league with him and his wife and some others in his family and I see him at holidays that we're at my sisters. So he talks some more and I can't help but wonder why he's calling me. So he talks and asks me how I'm doing, what I'm up to and how's the job. This isn't the Ken Tyree I know.

Finally it dawns on me that I actually know 2 Ken Tyrees and this one I met in NYC in 1999 and then ran into him in Chesapeake, Va about 2 years ago. It was just weird. Turns out he's trying to sell me some products and I guess he's so desperate he went digging through old business cards. So I made sure he had the wrong contact information and email address and told him to keep in touch.

Penguins: Last evening the family and I went to see March of the Penguins. Nathan (7.5 months) seemed to really like the penguins and he was even laughing at them at one point. Then he got bored and threw cereal pieces all over the floor.

I've been fascinated with Penguins since I read Blue Like Jazz and Don Miller mentions how penguins breed and how the female leaves the male to keep the egg warm and then returns at the exact day the egg is hatch to feed the baby chick and then care for it. He states that if God can do that with penguins, that they know exactly when to return and which mate out of the thousands is their mate, then he has put something in us to know that we need a relationship with God and where to find him.

Really the movie was downright amazing. Basically go see the movie but I'll point out a few incredible things. Like I said the penguins hop out of the ocean and walk or scoot on their bellies up to 70 miles to get to the nesting ground, the exact place they were born. Have you seen penguin feet?

The next is that after they pair off and copulate then the female lays the egg and they have to transfer the egg to the males feet w/out it touching the ice. If it touches the ice it dies. Have you seen penguin feet?

Then with 1/3 of her body weight gone the female goes back to the ocean. Oh yeah, it is 50 below zero this whole time.

Then winter hits the males and they have to huddle together for warmth. It's about 80 below zero and the wind can reach 100mph. The wind is so strong it's blowing penguins over. Of course many eggs are lost during this 2 months wait.

Then on just the day the eggs hatch the females return to take care of the chicks, they have to do that foot shuffle thing again and not let the chicks touch the ice. Have you seen penguin fee?

Then after going 160 days with no food and with 1/2 of their body weight gone the males scoot back to the ocean to feed up. And so the process goes, take care of the chick, get foot, and on and on.

Web Only Content: This is a insider tip for my blog readers. This information is not being told elsewhere and is a reward for my faithful readers. As you know I'm going to be moving a couple hours south of where I am currently living. While Suffolk, VA is not necessarily the "South" it is further south that I live now which makes it the "south".

So the real reason I'm moving: Sweat Tea and Carolina BBQ

Concert: I went to a concert on Saturday night. The concert was $20 a ticket and for me and Heather that is a crazy amount of money to spend on any one night of entertainment. But one of our good friends, Kristy, bought one of our tickets as a going away so we were able to afford to go. I can't thank her enough. The line up was Chris Tomlin/Matt Redman leading a good long worship set and then Louie Giglio came out and spoke and then Chris Tomlin did another worship set. HERE is a decent write up for it. It was part concert/service/worship but all in all it was a very worshipful time and the sole intent was to glorify God. It was refreshing and encouraging.

Saw a lady driving down the road on friday. The lady only had one arm. She was talking on a cell phone. Not hands free. Problem?

I'll be preaching for the last time at EAC on November 13, then I'll drive the U-Haul to Suffolk and put our stuff in storage until we find a place. Next weekend we're heading down with our house's contract in hand with the hopes of being able to put an offer down on a house in Suffolk. I'm also hoping and praying that we'll be able to close on our new house very soon after Thanksgiving...like Friday.

Altar or Stage, it's your choice how you follow Christ

Death is Grace: This topic has come up in two seperate social circles I have been in the past few weeks and while I had thought about it before but the conversations prompted me to put it down on paper...err...lcd screen. Nothing profound, nothing profane.

Death is grace

In Genesis 2: 9 there are two trees in the garden. The tree of knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. In Genesis 3 we know that it was forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Woman and Man eats, God comes down. God curses the serpent, God curses man and woman.

Genesis 3:17-19 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

And then after the curse is given God comments on the tree of life.

Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

I do not believe that this is part of the curse, it seems like God is talking with the Godhead about this decision. And the decision to take away the Tree of life is to ensure that man does not have to live forever in his sin.

So I conclude a few things.
That humans were created to be eternal beings
Redemption is freedom from sin NOT eternal life (we already have that)

Back in the Saddle: So I'm back in the office today for the first time in what turned out to be 2 weeks. It started with Prayer conference the week fo September 26 and then ended with Catalyst Conference last week. In the time in between I was around for a few days but was doing such things as putting the house on the market, hosting open houses, and accepting an offer on the house. Just last night.

So here I am back in the office actually relieved that the work has piled up so I have somethings to do and somethings to check off the list. I have a list of "lasts" that will be coming up soon. Tonight is my second to last governing board meeting at this church, our last youth retreat is October 28-30...

Vendors: One of the things on the to-do list today is to sort through all the stuff I got from the vendors at Catalyst. It really is unbelievable the sheer amount of quantity that some of these booths give out. I was also amazed at some of the cool stuff I got. I'm not talking about pens and flashlights. The Bible Society was giving out free copies of Today's New International Version, leather bound with a need snap flap. Multanomah gave out 600 copies of Rick McKinley's book Jesus in the Margins. I've had this book in my cart at amazon.com for about a month now so they saved me $15...simply amazing.

It was also very good for me to be able to see all of the products available and get information to store away for the church plant. Nothing revolutionary but products that will really be of help and some of it merely jogged my memory of things I need to add to the budget I will need to submit.

c'mon all the jokes about Uranus...it has to be funny.


Josh- the sign says DO NOT lean on the railing.

Today we went down to the DC Festival. The actual festival wasn't amazing but I had a blast with the teens. Stuff is starting to wind down. I think we have 6 more youth group nights and we'll do one more event (corn maze) and then our final Fall Retreat. Things are winding down but today we were wound up and we had a blast. We were down in DC and the Festival was dragging a little bit so we hopped in the Air and Space Museum, I think our favorite part was the art section, which is where I took this picture.

Cell Phones: I've been at 2 conferences in the past 2 weeks and I've noticed something really annoying about cell phones. But I know I'm not the first to rant about cell phones so let's review. People talking real loud in public- it's annoying but kind of interesting to hear at least 1/2 of people's conversations. People talking with an ear piece but the ear piece being on the opposite side of their face that you're looking at- I've never mistaken it for them actually talking to me (like the commercial) but I get scared that a crazy person is walking by me.

But this one, this new one is really annoying. Cell phone traffic. In a crowd it's important to keep moving. Crowds are tolerable but as a collaborative group we need to move towards the exit. Like exiting an airplane we need to move to baggage claim, in a conference we need to move towards the cafeteria, we need to keep moving. But NO! People get on their cell phones, then they can't walk and talk at the same time so they stop. Then I'm faced with the perilious decision, do I run them over or do I walk around them. Well my evil twin, Rick, wants to run those mofo's over but the good twin, Nick just walks around them.

So here it is again a blog entry about nothing. Drive safely and be sure to tip your waitress.

Catalyst: With one day of Catalyst left I have to say that the experience has been unbelievable. I love the fact that I have been able to attend and have been taking copious notes. I hope to be able to share them when I get home, I hope I remember half of what I've heard.

Last night I got to meet Don Miller. He is my favorite author and as cheesy as it sounds reading his books really have changed my life. This morning I was able to finally put words to why that is true. Don Miller is somehow able to stand in the middle of our Christian ghetto and somehow have an outsiders perspective. That gift is one in a million...maybe scarcer than that. Don Miller is able to describe the Jesus that I met as a little kid and then as I grew up I was taught that that Jesus doesn't exist but somehow in my heart I knew he was still out there. Don helped me see again that that Jesus really does exist and he is the Jesus I have a relationship with and he is the Jesus I live for. I don't like the other Jesus I know...because like Santa he really doesn't exist (sorry kids), that Jesus is the institution created by the church, I want to know the Jesus of the Bible.

So back on track...I got to meet Don Miller. I enjoyed saying Hi to him and thanked him for writing his book. He signed my old copy of BLJ and I told him if he ever started a cult to give me a call and I'd be there. He laughed...I wasn't joking.

I'm in Atlanta for the week and I'll be starting the Catalyst Conference this morning. We came down a few days early so my wife can see her family and I thought I'd take the chance yesterday to visit with some old college buddies that still live in the area. Two of my friends met me at the Mall of Georgia for lunch and as I expected it was a great time. One of the guys had to get back to work but my other friend Nate was able to stay around a while.

Nate and I were never terribly close in college but we had mutual friends so that kept us together as friends. Out of college we started an email group with about 6-7 of us guys and that's how we've been keeping up for 4.5 years now. We try to throw in a reunion every year or so...

Well funny as it is, Nate is emerging as one of my better friends. I see Nate about twice a year, it will be 4 times this year and it just seems like our lives are going in that same direction at times.

Nate told me yesterday about how he's tired of the world the way it is and that he's ready to change it whenever God tells him he can.

I didn't know what to say.

I was relieved that I'm not the only one who is ready!

300th Post: For the record this is my 300th post on this blog.

Pastor Appreciation Day: I'm sure that Christian bookstores are actually the ones that created pastor appreciation month to boost fall sales but I'm sure not complaining. Every year our church generously gives to us money, gifts, and gift cards. They even gave to us this year even though we are leaving them in a little less than 2 months.

October: October is one of my favorite months. Normally the routines have become routine and October is the month when we start to do new things. I also love the weather around here in october. The heat finally starts to break so I can break out the hoodies, I carry the football around in the truck, the leaves are starting to change colors and fall off the trees. I love October.

Courage: I have decided to try to be a more courteous driver. It's really hard around here because there are three types of drivers. The really aggressive drivers (city drivers) and then there are the overly cautious drivers (country drivers) and then there is everyone else. My natural tendency is to be a city driver, they get places faster and have more fun getting there. But I know that makes people angry and what right do I have to ruin so many people's days.

Yesterday I was pulling out of a strip mall and the two left lanes were allowed to turn left. I was in the most left and an old woman was in the lane to the right of me but still turning left. As she was rounding the corner I guess she didn't realize other people used the other left turn lane because she was helping herself to both lanes, about 50/50 in each one. I saw she was older so I didn't want to give her a heart attack so I gave the horn a little tap. Well...she didn't like that.

She made some hand gesture out her open window.

Then she looked at me.

Then she was afraid.

As fortune would have it the next light caught us both. So there we were sitting side by side. I had decided to let it go but she wasn't convinced. She wouldn't pull up beside me and she wouldn't pass me even when I was turning left and she was going straight. She got lippy but then got scared.

Don't do that.