Promise: Last Monday I was praying. I knew that our festival was coming up on saturday and that it was supposed to rain. Rain would ruin the event. Rain would cost us lots of money. Rain would really put a damper on our morale.

I was praying about the rain and asking God to step in...in one of those times I really can't explain I heard got speak to me "Nick, I got this." Funny how God uses the same phrases I use. So the week went on and I prayed about the rain but trusted that God was in control.

Thursday night Bible study came and everyone knew about the rain and...everyone said the same thing. We won't worry about it. God's going to take care of it.



This is a shot of the sky at noon. God delivered on his promise. "Nick, I got this."

Fall: Heather loves fall colors. She really loves the fall more than most colors. Because of her love my love for fall has grown immensely. Yesterday after I preached in Richmond we had decided to come up to Frederick and stay with some friends. Today we went for a drive to a park we used to enjoy when we lived here. Last time we were up at the waterfall Nathan was just 8 months old and not moving around too much. Today he was much more active and really enjoyed himself- so did we!

The weather was just about perfect. At times cool enough for a hoodie but other times just the t-shirt. We had a few minutes before lunch and Nathan had fallen asleep so we just pulled off at one of the overlooks and fell asleep ourselves. It was a great day.

We got to see some old friends and enjoy some of the relationships we built the 4 years we were here. It was a very good day!

Community Festival: Yesterday we had our largest preview event yet. The 2006 Community Festival was great. We had vendors from local and home based businesses. We had games for kids and lots of food and candy. It was a great event that really embodied the value of community. It wasn't just a clever name it really was community. Our 4500 piece mailer was great and we had over 200 people come out to the festival. Kristy O'Neal did a great job organizing the event! I'm so tired today but yesterday was incredible. It was the first of many great things for The Bridge Church!

Community Festival Pictures

Politics: For a few years now I've been trying to figure out what to do with politics. I feel responsible to vote and I feel responsible to have an answer to the question- why do you vote the way you do. There is this dichotomist separation between the repulicans and the democrats. They simply don't represent the same things. The problem is I want to pick and choose from either party. But apparently politics isn't a buffet...

The biggest problem: Right now I'm a staunch republican. Probably because I was raised that way and I've been corrupted from the conservative church. So I'm coming at it from a biased angle like anyone else would. I'm trying to convince myself to vote the other way. But in our system if you vote for one democratic, or one republican you vote for them all. Because of party allegiance most swing the same way.

This post lacks the passion I feel...maybe more to come later.

Stretchin it Out: We're in the home stretch for the Community Festival. I swear I spent most of the day on the phone confirming all of our orders and or setting up some last minute orders. All of the calls were positive and I haven't run into one situation where the answer was- no way we can't do that. I'm very much not a last minute person but I am continually amazed at what can be done at the last minute.

But back to the festival. The inflatables are rented, the tents are being put up tomorrow. I even have helium balloons. We have a score of local and home businesses coming to demonstrate their goods. Our goal this whole time has been to throw an event that will serve the community while previewing our idea of community and to expose the community to The Bridge Church.

If you pray then please pray for this event. If you don't pray- start!

Bridge Link: I got this idea from North Point but adapted it to fit our church, probably drastically adapted it. I'm very exited about it. Generally I wait to blog about an event until after I've put it before the launch team. This time I can't wait. I did a little write up for it in my prayer email this morning.

“Bridge Link” is a two hour event with an atmosphere that is highly relational; connecting people to people through refreshments and interactive activities, and connecting people to God through a brief message and a challenge to join a small group and to commit to coming to The Bridge. The first of these will be on Friday November 10 (just 2 weeks away!) and possibly Friday December 1.

Delegation: Delegation. Sometimes it’s hard to delegate. Not because I have a hard time trusting people, that’s not it at all. The fact of the matter is the reason delegation can be so hard for me is that sometimes I can handle it on my own. And sometimes I have way more time than most people on our launch team. I have a hard time delegating because at time I honestly have time to get it all done…this week.

But two reasons I delegate even when I don’t think I need to.

1. What happens on the week that I don’t have enough. People are so used to me doing it all that they don’t understand anything else.

2. When people contribute to a task they own it. And ownership is key to a successful church. But not really that ownership of the church helps one own the acting out of their faith. It’s a beautiful thing really.

3. When the Health Department calls and tell me I need a permit for the food on Saturday and I already have a list of stuff to do. I think of all the stuff that others are doing and I sigh in relief because that’s all the stuff I could be doing but others are doing…better than I can.

4. And another reason I delegate. Because others are far more capable at certain tasks than I am. Truth be told others might be more capable and talented at all tasks than I am…



Growth: This summer my lawn took a beating from the sun. When we moved in the grass was green and looked good. It was nothing to write home about but it was nice. This summer the sun was so hot and there was so little rain that lots of grass in my backyard got burnt. Then with the sudden rain at the end of the summer we got a ton of rain and weeds grew rampant.

I asked Robbie, my lawn care specialist, what I should do. So I put round up on the weeds and killed off all of the weeds. I had massive spots in my lawn with no grass or weeds at all. Just brown death. Then we rented an airator and airrated our lawsn (Brandon, Robbie and I). After doing that we seeded and fertilized. I had these huge plugs of dirt all over my lawn and I have to be honest. I thought we had just wasted money and time doing that. I thought there was no hope for the bald spots and little help for my lawn.

I watered faithfully then I went to Russia for 10 days. I left Heather with specific instructions on how to water and how often. When I came back a miracle had occurred. Grass had started to grow. It was only growing in the plug holes at first and looks like rows of crops. Then it started growing all over. The grass thickened and was greener than ever. My grass now looks much better than ever before.

Growth was what grass was meant to do. I shouldn’t have been surprised it was it’s natural function.

Horses: Nathan has a new love. Horses. He got to ride a pony on Saturday at Driver Days and the got to ride on a wagon pulled by horses. Then Sunday we went up to Williamsburg and he got to see lots of horses pulling carriages. Everytime he would see one he would yell- who- which is his version of "check that out!". Then last night at Bible Study Maylene had two toy horses that she brought for the kids to play with. He quickly claimed them as his own and wouldn't let them go. Maylene left them with Nathan to play with and last night he wouldn't put them down. The problem was he kept chewing on their legs.

Tonight I'm sitting on the couch and Nathan brings me a book to read. It's about horses. We read the book then he took the book and was looking at it on his own. I look at him and he's chewing on the book. I think Nathan likes horses because he secretly wants to eat one.

Group: We've been hosting a new Life Group on Sunday afternoons. This group is especially for people with children because we offer adult childcare for the toddlers and children's programming for the older kids. We have two highly committed couples come out for the last 2 weeks and have some very good prospects for the future.

It's been highly encouraging to interact with these couples. We're at a point in our church plant, just a few months until launch, that we need high commitment from people and we need this commitment fairly early on in the relationship. These couples have demonstrated this and it's been great.

Knowledge: I had the privilege of growing up in a home that went to church and I was taught the basics of the bible and stuff like that. Then my education at Toccoa was good and I received a solid regimen of theology and while it might not be the theology I now subscribe to it gave me a strong basis as to how to develop my own theology. So with all that said I so often forget that I meet people on a day to day basis that know very little about the Bible. To tell you the truth it exhilirates me but humbles me at the same time. My ultimate goal for people is to see them reading and studying the bible on their own but until then anything they know about the Bible, Jesus Christ and relationship with him is on our small faith community.

Some pictures from the weekend...

Won't: I won't comment on this piece I'll just post the link. I think it needs to be read and often. And what's more I think we need to hear some ideas on what to do with it not just drop the bomb and let others deal with the carnage.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601019_after_pats_birthday/

Article

Disturbing: This story started out as very disturbing and has turned to something much worse than that. Original story said that this woman, who was carrying a full term baby, had been shot in the stomach and the baby was lost. After investigation it turns out she shot herself. Yesterday her case was dismissed. Apparently there is no law for killing your own baby if it's still in the womb.

Story Here

Does it disturb anyone else that a baby in the womb just doesn't matter until it's born? I should say doesn't matter to lawmakers or to legislation but there are plenty of couples that have lost children or can't have children that unborn children matter to.

I don't really get into this stuff often but it's disturbing that we live in a society with such warped values.

Wild: The Community Festival is really consuming a lot of my time right now. On one hand we've/I've never done anything like this and I should be overwhelmed. On the other hand I think our team is equipped to handle it all. We're busy but not going crazy. Everything is going to be great.

I know this event is going to be very positive for the community and our prayer is that God uses it and us to impact people for Jesus Christ.

This festival has been very good for me in determining how we want to advertise in the future. While I was aware of the incredible cost of advertisement I wasn't really AWARE at how much simple advertising can cost.

Reminder: I want to use my blog as a platform for a few minutes. I know there are pastors and other church workers that read my blog on a consistent basis and I'm talking to you. Really talking to myself and to you and wanted to give a reminder.

The reminder is this. If another church is preaching the same gospel of Jesus Christ that you are teaching- treat them like a friend and not an enemy. Don't even be indifferent to them. Support them, encourage them, give them money, give them support. As a church planter there is no greater blessing than I have received from churches that support me not just in theory but in actual support. Often these churches just pray for us and when we visit them they ask us to stand up and be recognized. Some of these churches provide us with people to help us run events and others even contribute money to our church even though we may be trying to reach the same demographic in the same cities.

Equal to the blessing these wonderful churches give is the pain of being undercut or rejected from other churches. We are perceived as competition as the enemy or at best we're perceived as a distraction for current members. I have news for them. I don't want their members. I don't even want the nominal christians in the community. I want people who haven't heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, I've got something to tell them. I've got a place for them in our church and God feels the same way.

But the truth is when church is viewed as a product and you spend years prepping your product and making it ready for purchase when something new comes along you get a little nervous. But I don't want them to be nervous I want them to passionately pursue lost people. And that reminds me what this is all about- not polishing our product called The Bridge Church but making bridges to be able to connect people to people and most importantly people to God.

Nathan told us what he wanted for Christmas!



Hannibal doing the bull dance feeling the flow- working it, working it.



This picture is of Peanut Butter Sculptures at Peanut Fest. Peanut Fest should be better known as Redneck Fest. But c'mon peanut butter sculptures are always cool.



Last night, Chili, football, and 5000 postcards that needed to be stamped and labeled. We started about 7pm and by 11pm it was mission accomplished!

Postcards: I like to comment on companies I use, particularly the ones that are excellent. www.clubflyers.com goes on the more than excellent list. I ordered the postcards on Wednesday, October 11 and they were sitting at the local airport waiting for me by Friday. 5k postcards for $175 (before shipping). They look exactly like the artwork submitted. If you have print needs I strongly recommend going with clubflyer.com. They had lots of shipping options and the fastest and cheapest for me was to have them send it Delta Cargo (deltacargo.com) from Miami to Norfolk.

Books: After what was turning out to be quite a book drought I have received a barrage of books, good books. Because there is little worse than bad books.

About Christ and the Church by Alexander Men: I heard about this book from my friend JB. He had a copy I was reading while in Russia but I didn't want to take it home with me because it's so hard to get books in English in Russia. So I read as much as I could while in Russia and figured I'd buy it when I got home. After I got home JB emailed me and told me he had bought it for me and sure enough it came this morning.

Father Alexander was a russian orthodox priest during the soviet era. Right as the curtain was falling he was murdered. You can read more about him ---> here

Chazown by Craig Groeschel
Wire: for a life of worship by Louie Giglio
God's Blog by Lanny Donoho

the beauty of those books is that Catalyst sent them to me for free. They actually sent them before their annual conference last week but they were sent to my old Maryland address and just made it to me on Friday. What kind of conference/company sends someone 3 great books for free? The kind that I can't wait to go to next year. If you haven't checked it out yet go NOW Catalyst

I also picked up a few dead guys at the Christian bookstore the other day.

Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a' Kempis

and finally I finished two books on my trip
Creating Community by Bill Willits and Andy Stanley
10 Dumbest Things Christians Do by Mark Atteberry

I'll do a write up on these in the next few days.

For those of you who read and prayed for my friend JB I wanted to give you the good news I got this morning from JB's wife Iris. That the polyp is not cancerous! This means that if the removal goes well tomorrow the family will be able to return to Krasnodar next week and resume language school. Praise God for his provision in this.

Pray again tonight at 11pm (7am Moscow) that the operation is a success and the removal is complete!

Thanks to God for answering prayer!

Disease: I was in a conversation lately of someone whose college aged child has gotten the mumps. She goes to Wheaton college and there is a mild epidemic of sorts on the campus. She has been immunized against it, like everyone else as a baby and she still got it.

Then I got an email from my mom telling me that my stepdad has Rubella (German measels). Old diseases returning...weird!

Prayer: There is one resounding thing that God taught me on my trip to Russia and that is the necessity of prayer. So I have vowed to make prayer not only my first work but my most important work of the day. In holding this value it means asking others to pray for needs I am burdened for.

The need that stirs my heart this morning and this week is for my best friend, JB. Doctors have discovered a very large polyp in his colon. Today JB, Iris and his son Gavin flew to Moscow for JB's operation. They will operate tomorrow morning (midnight our time) and remove the polyp. They also will determine if the polyp is cancerous. If it turns out to be they will fly the family immediately to the states, leaving their home in Krasnodar under the care of others. If removal is successful and the rest of the search turns out to be encouraging they will recover in Moscow until next week and then return home to Krasnodar.

Please pray for my friend and his family.

Pants: On a lighter note. People that are still wearing their pajama pants in public- I'm not sure that was ever cool. But in case you are wondering it's not a good look, save yourself, get dressed in the morning. It's worth it!

"Forgiving is a serious business because it is basically for our own spiritual, emotional and physical benefit. We may or may not establish a new relationship with the person who injured us; that is not the heart of forgiveness. When we forgive, we finally stop hurting ourselves, hand the whole matter over to God, and believe what he says: Vengence is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

-Peter Dyck

Forgiveness: I was reading the paper yesterday and was not surprised to find stories about the amish school shooting that happened last monday. What I was surprised to find out was the nature of the stories. Surprised is the wrong word...amazement is more likely. What a I read were words of regret from the amish leaders. Words of regret that the live in a fallen world where tragedies like this happen not to those who deserve it but to those who often do not deserve it at all.

But what I mostly read were words of forgiveness, sadness but forgiveness. It really hit home when I read that over half of the 75 people at the funeral service of the gunmen were...amish.

It seems that despite their lack of technology and puritanical methods the amish are teaching us all a lesson we need to learn.

To my blog readers: I've been wondering for 9 months now why no one has left me a comment on my blog. Yesterday I switched to blogger beta and suddenly all of my comments arrived at the same time. So I'm sorry for not responding or replying.

Blog on!

Berlin, Germany


At the end of the war England was in the mood for revenge so like London was bombed Berlin had the favor was returned. This is a bombed out church and to the right of the old bombed out cathedral is the new Lutheran church and the windows are made from the glass from the stained glass in the old church.


A van.


A mini-van?


This is what remains of much of the Berlin Wall. A slighly discolored marking on the sidewalk, occasionally it's marked by an off colored cobble stone but true to where the wall was always it always marks the spot whether over a street on through a grass field.


This is the longest remaining section of the wall.


An old cathedral.

Krasnodar, Russia


This is a brand new Russian Orthodox church.


The mullet is univeral.


Me, Monsoon (JB), and Monsoon Jr. (JB's son Gavin)


One of three people who smiled at me in Russia.


The open air market...not a commodity a way of life.


Old Russian block style apartments.

Vienna, Austria

St. Stephen Church

29/09/06
Arrived: After such long travel- 2 flights and a 14 hour layover it was great to finally arrive to our destination of Krasnodar, Russia. I was a little nervous about immigration but I made sure I had all my forms out and filled out correctly and before long I was through immigration and ready to get my luggage.

Only when I went to get my luggage there was none. The moment you learn to prepare for when you travel overseas had happened once again. I asked some questions of my new Russian friends who were returning from Ocean City, Maryland. They told me that the luggage was never put on the plane and that we can expect the luggage next Friday. I looked at my watch and realized they meant next Friday October 3rd. This was going to be fun.

I passed the news onto my group and we stood in line for another 2 hours waiting to fill out a lost baggage form in line with the other 200 passengers on board. One of the students said it right when he said “Welcome to Russia”. The only city where they can totally miss a while planes worth of luggage, tell you they’ll get it to you in a week and act somehow you are bothering them.

Russia: But I brought a full change of clothes and my toothbrush so besides having to wash clothes every other night until I get to Berlin it’s not a big deal. I even have my laptop with me. It’s great to be with JB and iris. They are doing so well here and while I know they have had their share of trials I am impressed so much by how they are learning the culture and language.

I really love being with them and the only regret I have is that our entire families can’t be together on things like this. But times will come and I know we’ll take advantage when we can get together the entire family and enjoy one another.

More tomorrow on Russia pizza, manholes and missions. But for now I need to catch up on some of that sleep I’ve been missing. I’ve gotten 4 hours of sleep in the last 50+ hours.

1/10/06
I’ve been in Russia a few days now and have had the cultural experience I thought I would have but in different ways than how I thought I would have them.

Russia is intriguing and yesterday in going to a Cafe, the main downtown street, riding the tram and going to the market I got to experience Krasnodar, Russia. The Café was nice, well decorated and played American music…The main downtown street, like much of the city, has the eastern European feel like Krakow and Prague but seems to lack the history and culture of both of those cities. This was communist Russia no more than 15 years ago and it shows. But like American there are cell phone stores but the primary difference is that nothing is in the same place. Like the markets of old (I assume) you have to buy everything here at a separate place. You don’t buy soap, toilet paper or tooth paste at the same place as you would buy your groceries and you don’t buy your groceries at the same place you’d buy your fresh produce or cheese. Even electronics have a separate store. All products at the toy store are behind the counter and the whole store has a counter running around it. Unlike other European cities, I’ve been to you really need to speak Russian here and at times its frustrating that I know NOTHING of the language but then at other times it’s kind of like being in a play and all the characters are going on about their business and then there’s you…

Cell Phones: Cell phones here are cool looking and they are also cool because every phone is like a trak phone and you purchase and then just repurchase when you need more. No monthly charge no calling plans.


*Authentic: Tonight I had authentic Russian food. JB and Iris treated me to a great dinner. IN the south of Russia there used to live a people group called the Cossack. This restaurant serves Cossack and Georgian food.

4/10/06
Shell Shock: Last night I laid on my bed and I wrote JB and Iris a letter. In the letter I told them how proud I was of them and how much I loved them and valued them. It was hard to type through the tears but the words were too important to let pass. The more I typed the more I cried but they were tears that I wasn’t ashamed to shed. I was missing Heather and Nathan and I was missing JB and Iris and I was trying to process the idea of coming from Russia and my responsibility as a church pastor to the mission field. I was shell-shocked.

Today we had a great facilitator meet with all of the Mid-Atlantic District people that went on the trip. He helped us debrief what we experienced, told me that my tears were normal and helped me figure out how to use that passion back home. Because to be honest I was trying to figure out how in the world I was going to be able to go back home and still have my passion for JB and Iris and the Southern Russian field.

Berlin: What I’ve seen of Berlin has been very beautiful. Today we visited a bombed cathedral from WWII. Berlin was the last city defeated in the war and so instead of repairing the cathedral they left it bombed in honor of the war dead. From the stained glass that fell out of the windows they created the windows in the new Lutheran church that was built directly beside the old cathedral.

*Possibly offensive note- a very nice lady from the Berlin Church took us to the cathedral. She was talking to me and told me that the Germans suffered greatly in WWII. Even though they started the war they still had to endure the burning in the streets. She even made a comment as to the effect that the Germans suffered the most in WWII. I must not have been thinking or perhaps I was in learning mode and not debate mode because about 2 minutes after she said it I said in my head “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard uttered from a human mouth. What about the millions of Poles that were killed through various forms of TORTURE in concentration camps and the millions of Jews that were also destroyed through various forms of TORTURE. So frankly any suffering the Germans had to endure during the war and even the generation after…they deserved it.”

So here we are several generations removed and all is forgiven but lets not get crazy.

6/10/06

The plan was to blog about these things as they happened but like most trips I take the days were long and downtime short- which means little time to blog about my trip. But right now while sitting in the Frankfurt airport and through the day traveling I will try to recall important or interesting events that happened.

Bread: On Sunday we went to the Russian service. I understood what was happening but understood none of the language. Communion however was a wonderful experience. They serve the elements by row and when the server comes to the end of your row you stand. As the elements are passed and you take them you are very careful not to spill.
The bread is so important as the body of Christ that to drop any is frowned upon. When I took the bread I was careful not to drop crumbs and I used two hands for this small morsel of bread. I expected…but what I got was the strong flavor of bread it was hearty and sweet and I remembered that the body of Christ was strong and was hearty and it was broken to redeem us from our sins.

And then the wine was passed. Again being careful not to spill we stood and received the wine. The wine was strong and sweet, like the blood of Christ. I saw how it would stain your clothes but this was redeeming blood not the staining kind.
The communion experience was incredible.

Ghetto: The security in Frankfurt is intense. You go through metal detectors and baggage at least twice and one of the times- at the international terminal they not only check your bags but give everyone a free pat down to make sure no one is smuggling liquids on their person. It’s intense but the security agents are friendly, do their best to speak English and never treat you like a criminal.

Then I connected in the states. Where they don’t make much of an effort to communicate to the foreigners, security instead raise their voices as if yelling will get their point across better. The also gab among themselves and act altogether unprofessional but proud of their power! I think I’m going to write a letter to TSA about my observations.

Mark: I had the privilege of praying for a German brother last night. He asked for prayer because he says he loves God but has a hard time living it out. A couple of us prayed for him and I could tell God was working so hard on his heart and that this guy was changing. After we prayed we all hugged Mark and he thanked us. Then later he came over and asked if I needed prayer for anything. For a split second piety rose it’s nappy little head and I almost told him now. But before I could speak God told me to shut my mouth and this time open it and tell Mark that I did indeed need prayer. I knew exactly what I need prayer for…against bitterness. So Mark prayed for me and I felt a release from this bitterness and I haven’t thought about it since.

Tip: Malcolm Gladwell mentions in the Tipping Point that things “tipping” is not always a positive thing. He uses the communication of STD particularly in large intravenous drug use areas like Baltimore. He mentions suicide being a tip and generally when one person in the community takes their own life it is followed by repeated suicides. The initial person “gives permission” by their actions for others to follow suit. I suppose to add to this study would be that of school shootings. 3 in one week is a horrific thought and the copycat style of one to the other is chilling.

Likely incoherent *read at your own risk*

9/27/06

Post Liquid: I’ve live through the post 9/11 flying procedure and while there were some inconveniences during the whole process I think we all understood and handled well the new restrictions. Things might take longer but flights would be safer.

I also recognize that a major terror plot was uncovered in England where gels were involved and we’ll never know the potential tragedy that was averted because of intelligence….but…. I really have to admit that the whole gel/liquid ban is just crazy. I’m not saying it’s unnecessary but it is simply crazy.

9/28/06
Trans-Atlantic Part 1: The trip across was one of the more comfortable I’ve ever had. The plane had TV’s for every seat and played several movies including RV and X3- which was a great way to pass 2 hours by watching X3. The best part was the two seats next to me opened up so I could really spread out. I also finished the book I’ve been reading and listened to a few pod casts I’ve been needing to get to.

Vienna: We went into Vienna today, which sure beat the heck out of spending 14 hours in the airport. We spent about 9 hours out in the city and are now here in the airport spending our remaining 5- layovers are going to be in hell- I’m sure of it.

Vienna was…unimpressive. It is a European city, which is neat but doesn’t hold a candle to Krakow or Prague. Vienna is also expensive! But it was a good day and considering I’m operating on about half hour of sleep it’s been a great day. I like my travel mates and we’ve had fun.

Light: Today I woke up at that precarious point where the darkness of night seems to be at its strongest. It's that point where you actually start to wonder if the sun is going to rise to push away the darkness. Today that happened to be 5:15 am. I finally decided that I would have faith that the sun would rise today. Here I sit typing this blog entry starting to see the glimpses of light on the world but still in fact having my doubts as to whether the sun will make it up today...

Celebrate: I want to celebrate some people stepping into leadership roles the past few weeks. I began to forget the perspective change that occurs when you step from participant to leader of a certain group or ministry. Their excitement is exciting to me. So hooray for these people.

Kristy O'Neal: leading our next preview event- 2006 Bridge Community Festival

Robert and Jenni LaCroix: now leading our Thursday night small group- Starting Point.

Mark and Maylene Garrett: facilitating and coodinating leadership for our children's programming for our Sunday afternoon family small group.

Brandon Boyd: serving as my "bounce things off of guy". Great minds think alike...but fools never differ.

I'll stop before this starts to sound like the inside of a cd cover.

The Devil's Highway: Probably the spookiest book I've ever read. I think it was the first book that I just sat down and finished so I could be done with it and not have it plague my thoughts any longer. With that said thought the book was worth every penny I paid for it. A story of mexican entrants into the United States. It starts in Veracruz, Mexico way down on the border and it ends in Arizona with 14 of the 26 immigrants dead in the desert and the others severly damaged to the point of death by the sun.

It's a story of immigration but moreso a story of the illegal trade of people that happens every day. I know now that most mexicans don't wake up and decide they're going to hop the border and go work at Bennett's Creek Nursery, your local construction company, or McDonald's. They are lured by rich mexicans that tell them their money is in the united states. They are charged thousands of dollars and shipped to the border when they are continually charged until they start the walk from Mexico through the Arizona desert, hiding from border patrol the whole time. Every step of their journey someone is there pulling in profit from the point they leave their home to the point they die in the desert or the point they are found a job in Chicago, Washington DC or Suffolk, VA.

Special Delivery: We were finally able to deliver the pictures from the Back to School Party. We had about 10 to deliver, all to people in our neighborhood. A few people weren't home but most were. We used the delivery as opportunity for some conversation as well as to invite our neighbors to a new Life Group we'll be starting October 8. It was enjoyable and we followed up with lots of good contacts. Connecting with our community like that is always eye opening. I learn so much about people when I do this. I'm going to work on being able to do this more often.

Flight: I saw this article on Foxnews.com this morning. Passenger tries to open exit door of plane during cross-country flight. Basically someone when crazy during a flight and was pulling on the handle for the emergency exit door. A quote in the story that says "noone was injured". I'm sorry but if I was on that plane then there would have been at least one injured person and it would have been the guy pulling on the emergency handle.

In other news: What's the deal with people not parking in between the lines of parking spaces? I think the parking lines are a great idea, I wish people would use them. I've noticed it's generally large suvs. As an owner of an suv I'm here to tell you they aren't hard to park. You don't have quite as much room on the sides but with a little effort you can get the bohemoth in a spot.

Waiting: I'm waiting for lots of stuff right now. I ordered some books from buy.com the other day. 4 books. I saved a few dollars getting them from buy.com but if I would have ordered them from amazon they would have been here by now. I ordered some small group materials for our new small group Starting Point, out of North Point near Atlanta. If you haven't looked into this study and are looking for a good one I recommend it! I'm also waiting for my visa to come so I'll have all my stuff for my trip to Russia.

And the biggest thing I'm waiting for which probably has intensified my sense of waiting is for my trip to Europe that starts September 27th. I'll be heading to Krasnodar, Russia where my best friend JB is in language school. He is there with his wife, Iris and son Gavin, who is 2 months younger than Nathan. I have known JB since my first day of college and we have shared many life memories together these last 9 years. I haven't seen JB in well over a year, which is the longest time by far. Thank goodness for cheap calling cards and skype! For 4 days I get to visit JB and I know it will be simply incredible. I also get to go to 3 countries I haven't been to yet- Austria, Russia and Germany.

Working: But before I go there is lots to do. It's weird how hard it is to leave for 10 days. I honestly feel like the whole thing is going to fall apart if I leave. But that thought is absurd. The Bridge Church is made up of a group of highly committed people who are focused on planting a Christ centered, community driven church. So really I'm focusing on making sure they have the tools and resources needed to do what God has called them to do for not just the time I'm away but for the next 3-12 months.

God is good and he works through my doubts, insecurities and through my mistakes. He either works through them, around them, or just makes them irrelevant Regardless of how he does it all the fact of the matter is he works through US (me, you, them) and that thought is as amazing as any I've ever tried to fathom.

I remember: I was working nights as a 3rd shift security guard at the college I had just graduated from, Toccoa Fall College. Heather was teaching school and we had only been married a little more than 2 months, almost three. I would come home and sleep while Heather worked so we could have our evenings together before I had to head to work at midnight.

I remember watching the news that morning before I headed to bed. It was a slow news Michael Jordan was talking about coming back out of retirement. I went to sleep instead of watching.

I was sleeping soundly when the phone started ringing. I ignored it a few times but it just kept ringing. I finally answered it figuring it was Heather and she needed something. I answered and just heard Heather say "there's something wrong with the world". I asked her to explain but she couldn't. She just said "there's something wrong with the world, go turn on the tv". Ok I love you, goodbye.

I went out to the front door passed the tv and looked outside. The sun was still shining.

I turned on the tv and immediately was aware that Heather was right- there was something wrong with the world. I stood there frozen, in complete disbelief. Then the tower fell, then the other. I don't remember sitting down but I know I did and I just watched for hours. I somehow knew the magnitude of the day and here I am 5 years later and I still remember where I was and what I did and even how I felt. I do remember calling my mom and brother, dad and sister (who was 9 months pregnant) to make sure they were ok with everything and that they knew I love them.

If there is one thing in my life that changed after 9/11 is that I never left a family member without telling them I loved them. I've spread this practice even to some of my friends that live distances away. Because in case something does happen and one of us dies before we see the other again I want to make sure they know how I feel about them.

Sound small and so simple but I can't think of a better lesson for me to have learned from all that tragedy than love.

I learned two things today.

1. I have small dreams. I was dreaming about things and goals that I probably could have somehow figured out by myself. Today I was reminded that I should be planning for things I cannot fathom, I need to be dreaming bigger than I am. I shouldn't be striving to accomplish tasks but to set up systems and processes that can stretch and flex as needed. Then I went outside to work on my lawn and I learned number two.

2. The people that really need Jesus aren't going to be all put together or quick fixes. They are going to be basketcases with deep problems. They aren't going to be ready for leadership in 3 short steps. They are going to be fractured. Somehow this is not troubling to me at all.

Rejuvenile: I heard about this book by reading one of the blogs I keep up with. I was interested in reading something outside of the typical religious circles I read books from. I wasn't disappointed at all in the book but even still after having finished it I can't quite figure out what the author was trying to accomplish or where he stood on the rejuvenile tendency of some adults.

He exhalted the ability to return to favorite childhood games, hobbies, and toys, which gave me a sense of normalcy. But he also admitted to some freakiness of certain actions towards childhood things. I think ultimately what I apreciated was his stance on maturity doesn't mean we forsake things from our childhood but somehow fun loving and at times carefreeness can be coupled with maturity. He marked maturity as being able to care for and make decisions for oneself.

Books: I just ordered a new set of books. 10 dumbest things Christians do, The Devil's Highway and Go to Hell (a history of the underworld)

Pardon Me: Pardon my dramatic anger. When I make an appointment with someone at 9:30 then I expect to be seen within 10 minutes of 9:30. I can't tell you how many times we will take Nathan to a Doctor's appointment and we get there 10 minutes early like we're supposed to and then aren't seen until 30 minutes after his appointment time. If Nathan were a layed back easily entertained kid then it might be a little different but he's very active and likes to go. Asking him to wait that long just isn't fair for him.

But it happens to me when I'm by myself. I made an 11 am appointment to have my new car stereo installed. I walk in at 11 an there is no one in the bay. After I wait for 10 minutes to show up I go to the front of the store and they tell me someone should be back there. This is when I want to say "I'm sure they should be back there but they aren't".

But seriously a little bit more respect of appointments would be great.

Invincible: Heather and I went to a movie last night. It's called a cinema cafe and for those who might not know what that is, it's a movie theater with tables and chairs rather than theater seats and they serve food...and bring it right to you. I assume other places in the country have them but we seem to have a few more than usual around this area.

We were dropping Nathan off at my moms and at my moms house ran into one of our friends that we've met through my mom. She said she had coupons and offered them to us. So...with coupons we enjoyed free admission, a buy one get one free meal and a free large popcorn. We walked away winner and enjoyed night out on mostly coupons.

The movie...one of the best I've seen in a while. In a way it's a classic disney sports movie like Miracle or Remember the Titans but in another way do those feel good sports stories every grow old?

The only problem is that the movie features the Philadelphia Eagles and that's just immoral!

Mockingbird: Derek Webb is giving away copies of his cd mockingbird at www.freederekwebb.com. You have to submit 5 of your friends email addresses but it's a free music download of a very inspired album.

Ernesto: We are now getting our version of Hurricane Ernesto which means rain, some light winds and depending on the tides, flooding. As Robbie and I decided last night it's hard to take a Hurricane named Ernesto seriously.

Backpack: When I was a young teenager I was at my friends house and we started watching this movie. The lead actor was in really good shape and every morning he would get up and put on a backpack and would go for a run. The crazy thing is that the backpack was filled with bricks. So every morning this guy would get up and put on a backpack filled with bricks and go for a run. He was tough. Sometimes he would add bricks because it wasn't heavy enough but he never took out bricks, only added them.

Then one morning he takes his brick filled backpack and forget to look both ways as he crosses the street and WHACK he gets hit by a car. He is paralyzed from the waist down or maybe from the neck down...I don't remember. Then I think there was something about a white faced monkey...it was a long time ago.

Sometimes I get to feeling real responsible for life. I feel responsible for The Bridge Church and guaranteeing success for the church. I feel responsible to change people's lives to connect people to God. I think on the surface those are pretty good things to feel responsible for and sometimes it is. But then I get to feeling too responsible and rather than conduit or a vessel of these things I must be the initiator and creator of these things. I assume the role of God. I remove God from his throne in my life and in other's lives and I feel responsible to take over. I put on my brick filled backpack, which as illustrated by the guy in the movie probably isn't such a good idea. I might get attacked by monkeys.

The backpack isn't mine and it's a ridiclous burden to think I can carry. It will go on for a few days and I start getting tired and I feel these bricks jabbing into my back and I start thinking all this work just isn't fair and this responsiblity just isn't good. Then I realize I'm carrying that darn backpack again and I ask God to take it off of me and to carry it for me.

Taking the pack off is generally harder than putting it on. God gives his grace though and he's carrying it again for me.

Way Off: You know I don't think I've ever had anyone tell me when I shared with them a new thought I've had "Nick, You're way off!" Even in a bible study sometime someone will share something (is that ambigious or what?) and what they share will be so off kilter and wack I barely contain my facial expression and I'll try to gently try to help them refocus their thought but I've never told someone straight out that they were way off and living poor theology and had a wrong view of God. Not saying I'll start I just wonder if there's a place for that.

Plan B further thoughts on faith: I finished the book and as I was reading it I would wonder why I was still reading it and I concluded that I wanted to finish so I could fell justified when I wrote this blog entry. I think Anne Lamott is a very creative, endearing and interesting writer. I really do enjoy her writing style but not so much her content. Maybe it's because she's west coast and I'm east coast. Maybe I'm just not hippie, left, or pessimistic enough to get it this time. But honestly I don't live in the sky is falling world she lives in. Life is just not that bad for me. I do value her consistent idea that God brings hope and that God uses mankind to be instruments of hope in this dark world. I agree with that.

There were certainly other truths I got from her book. For instance she talks about how she talks to her son and how nasty she can be with him and him with her. She says that she talks with him that way because...she can. That got me thinking about how family will treat family sometime. How the ones we spend the most time with and the ones we love the most can be the ones we treat the worst. We do it because, like Anne says, we can. We talk to a stranger that way and they would punch us in the face but we talk to our children that way and they have no choice but to take it. The thought has stayed with me and I want to learn from it. I want to treat my family better than I treat perfect strangers.

Nathan Son: Heather and I took a day off yesterday and went up to a state park about an hour from our house. It's right on the river so there is a beach and the river is huge so the water is calm and shallow. Nathan played in the water, I went fishing and we had a great time. It's amazing how much Nathan already wants to do what I'm doing. When I was fishing he wasn't happy until Heather made him a fishing pole from a stick complete with line and a bobber.

Last night I was playing with Nathan and I threw some folded socks at him. Well he smiled and threw what he was holding at me. Which happened to be his drink. Oops.

Back to School: Yesterday in Kempton Park we hosted a back to school party for our neighborhood kids. We were joined by New Hope Christian Fellowship (Va Beach) and they helped us set up, run the games, and clean up afterwards. We used the pool area and had registration, craft, photo area, games, snack and checkout which awarded prizes for "bridge bucks" that were won playing the games. The kids played the games and cashed in their bucks for really cool school supplies. We had great attendance despite the sweltering heat and all of the kids and parents had a great time. We made good contact with our neighbors and will be following up with this this week about The Bridge and how they can join us.



This is our photo area which our resident interior decorator, Kristina, decorated. It looks great!

Sunday: Sunday afternoon and it's almost 1. We hit the early service at one of my friend's church and we've been home more than 2 hours now. I'm preparing for my fantasy football draft tonight and throwing down a little blog entry.

Love: I been told twice this week that it's apparent how much I love God and the way I live seems to inspire others to desire a better relationship with Christ. I hope this confession is appropriate. I really do love God but honestly I'm not sure how much that matters. What matters is how much God loves me. I'm sure it's not a popular thought but sometimes I follow Christ out of obligation. That might not sound romantic, or lovely or even desirable but it's the truth. I do love God and there are times in my walk with him that I feel God but sometimes...like right now in my life, I don't feel very close to him. Nothing changed, no sin, not even apathy, I'm laboring for the gospel day in and day out and I don't feel God.

But I believe growth is developed in the valleys and the not feeling very close to God is one of the ways we experience the valley.

Prayer: Heather and I pray before every meal and that includes us holding hands across the table and praying for our food. Nathan normally gets quiet but doesn't pray and every now and again he'll want to hold hands with us.

Yesterday we were eating Chickfila at the mall and we prayed like normal. About halfway through the meal Nathan reached for both of our hands and he quickly bowed his head, shut his eyes real tight and said a few words. What he said we have no idea but he said his first prayer. Then for dinner he did it again. It's his new trick and it's funny as heck. He shuts his eyes real tight and says a few words. His prayers are about as long as mine, 2.5 seconds.

Friends: It's nice to hear from old friends, especially old friends that have been reading my blog. So shout out to Phil Horner- Press on!

Ask for Help: I'm not an ask for help person by nature, I'm assuming most guys aren't. But I've learned to ask for help. I mean for heavy lifting and moving I'm quick to ask for help but say audio set up or electronics "I got this yo". But I'm finding somethings are much quicker when you ask for help especially if you've never done it before. So just today I called up a friend from my old youth group who has experience in sound and he talked me through the set up process for the sound equipment I need to use tomorrow. Thanks Jon, baby huey, sloth, super sloth, super duper, you're the best!

Back to School: No, not me, at least not yet. But we're hosting a back to school party for our neighborhood tomorrow. This is our first preview event and we are previewing children's ministry and community. It's going to be a great day and I'll have pictures by monday.

Books: Two new books to comment on. I finished reading the first and am currently reading the second.

Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones- I'm not sure Andy Stanley can write a bad book and I'm fairly certain it's because he has surrounded himself by a team of people that are exceptional and they contribute mightly to his success. This book is a great book and I'll even call it a must read for communicators in the church. Lately I have been pondering and kind of exploring the idea of communicating from the pulpit. Mostly I have been aware of the drastic difference in the types of speaking I've been doing lately. In the past few months I have spoken at a 400 person youth retreat, I've spoken in churches to fundraise, I've spoken in churches in the traditional preaching mode, I've lead group devotionals and I've done little 10 minute blips at a informal beach retreat.

I want to be an excellent communitor. I want to be one of the best and I've decide that I'm willing to make this a goal and work on it.

Because of this I've been listening to communicators that I've found effective and I determine their effectiveness by how much I'm impacted by their messages. I also listen to young and upcoming communicators to hear them to be impacted but also to tune my ear to what might be annoying or ineffective that they do that I probably do. But basically I could flounder in the dark on this quest for the next 15 years...

and I still might. But this book, Communicating for a Change, is a great tool to help me on my way. Andy Stanley is one of my favorites and I highly value what he says, in spoken and written word. If you are a communicator buy this book, if you desire to be a communicator one day or get a shot every now and again at this pulpit then buy this book.

Plan B- Further thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott- let me say I really liked her previous book Travelling Mercies. It came at a good time in my life. So perhaps this books timing just isn't right or perhaps its her incessant whining about George W. Bush. I'm on chapter 7 and she has mentioned once per chapter that the president has ruined her life, thrown her into a depression, or caused her to not want to live anymore. Suck it up cream puff. I mean seriously I'm not a real big fan of our boy George right now but when politics can have so much control over your life I think you need to reevaluate life. Step back and take a long hard look. But then again it's fun to be popular and it's fun to say cynical and popular things. But Anne is bigger than that, or so I thought.

Which leads me to my weekly left/right conversation...

I've heard it say if you're not a liberal in your 20's you have no heart, and if you're not a conservative by the time you're 50 you have no brain.

Theology: Theo- of or relating to God or deities. Logy- dull and heavy in motion or thought; sluggish. (I know it really means "study of" but this definition is real and seems a bit more appropriate right now in my life). This whole emergent thing I'm largely able to ignore. Rarely is it showing it's head and while I think we see characterisitics of it in life especially in the under 30 crowd it is still largely...not relevant. Here's why I say this. I'm not an opponent of Emergent and for a while I took a long hard look at it and I ran with the pack of emergent theology, I read some books, I tasted the bait. Now I've back off a little, not as an opponent but not as a buyer either.

As I understand it people want to follow someone who stands for something. They want a leader that is...a leader. They want someone to tell them everything is going to be ok and if it's not going to be ok then that's ok, life will go on. People want answers more than questions. They want to know how to be holy and what to do to hear from God. Taken to an extreme this is dangerous but handled correctly and biblically I don't think this is wrong at all. Afterall Jesus did tell his disciples everything would be ok, but not in the ok they originally thought. Jesus ok not disciple ok.

God is mysterious and following him sure does seem like a paradox a bit more often that I'm comfortable with but we aren't left out here without answers. We aren't on a mystical journey through the fog, we are on a tough journey through the valley. Our destination is clear and our objective is clear.

This is all a semi-reaction to some stuff I've been reading and hearing so to most observers I'm just ranting an answer that noone is asking...I'll do more to clarify later.

Vietnam Wall: This memorial continues to be my favorite. I think that's too much of a positive word for such a sombering monument so perhaps I should say it contines to be the monument that stirs my heart the most. It's not fancy, just a list of names of those dead, but more than that I think it's the things left at the wall. I only know about Vietnam what I've read or seen in movies and tv shows. But I can still feel the pain when I visit and I can see the sense of loss and remorse from soldiers both past and present.

We were involved in conflict in Vietnam for 16 years, I'm sure the casualties didn't seem like more than a few thousand those first few years but before they knew it the numbers totalled in the tens of thousands and then finally equalling almost 60,000.

2604 American's killied in action in Iraq as of August 18, 2006.

Trip: Here's a little photo blog of baseball extravaganza 2006. It was much fun spending the weekend with Robbie, Brandon, and BJ.



This was stop number 1- RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. The Nats got beat in a 4 hit shutout loosing to Atlanta 5 to 0. RFK is a dump but the Nats are my team so I had a good time...and thanks to Byron (formerly known as BJ) I got a free pencil set to commemorate the event.



The fellas at the game.



This was the next stop, DC at night. We walked from the Smithsonian metro stop to the Lincoln Monument to the White house to our hotel up on Thomas Circle. It was quite the hike but I got to see my favorite monument, The Vietnam Wall. I think I'll post a separate blog entry for this.



Tomb of the unknown soldier. It has been guarded 24 hours a day since 1930. The guard must be between 5'10"-6'4" and his waist no larger than 30", they take 21 steps and pause for 21 seconds. Their first 6 months of service they can't speak or watch tv. To wear the honor guard pen they cannot drink alcohol or swear in public for the rest of their life. Wow!




I liked this picture of me. I'm giving my pope blessing to the masses!



This is Camden Yards. Baltimore won 7-2 and we saw a few homeruns jacked, it was great. Camden is a great ballpark and I think rivals any in the country.



Baltimore inner harbor at night.



If you look very closely you can see it. There is a tv taped between the two front seats. I'm talking about a 13" regular plug in tv taped between two seats.

Here they all are thrown together.

the last few days have been crazy, crazy excellent but crazy all the same tomorrow marks the start of baseball extravaganza two major league cities in one sweet trip my only regret is that all the guys from the bridge won't be coming with us but i know we'll do it again nathan rode a motorized scooter today as well as a motorcycle not bad for a 17 month old i'm going to start a new blog to attach to our website when i get back from basefest

i think that's all for now

cerda out

Preacher: I wanted to give a brief comment on a man that passed away early Thursday morning, Rev. Earl Freeland. Rev. Freeland was the first pastor that I had and while I was only 7 years old when he retired I still can remember some of the stories he told during his sermons. He is the man that performed the ceremony for my sister's wedding. More importantly it was his sermon 21 years ago that the Holy Spirit used to stir my heart and that night I prayed to Christ and told him to be Lord of my life...He took me up on the offer!

But probably even more important than that, Rev. Freeland was the pastor of the church when my mom first went to church in her high school years. And he is the reason mom clung so hard to The Alliance Church and why my sister, my brother, and I were raised in the church. He is probably the reason why all 3 of us profess Jesus Christ as Lord, which gave us great peace during the time of my brother's death more than 2 years ago now.

Preacher Freeland, as we called him, was a MAN in the pulpit and his charisma and passion for the word of God really played an instrumental role in my life and my calling to be a pastor/preacher/ or whatever the heck people want to call me. There are few in the world I might have more respect for than Rev. Earl Freeland, for now and for the rest of my life.

Distribution-Success: We distributed over 4000 pieces to our surrounding neighbors. The Students were excellent help and they really made the whole weekend a success. On Friday night they gave an hour of their time to help us stuff packets, which can seem to be an endless and thankless job. Then on Saturday morning after a quick briefing on what we would be doing we hit the neighborhoods. In under 2 hours we distributed ot well over 4000 homes and from what I could see and heard there were lots of positive contacts made. Conversations were had and smiles exchanged, it was a great day for distributing the name and efforts of The Bridge Church.

Weather: the weather has been amazing here the last few days. Warm, even hot, during the day but cool and comfortable at night. I love it.

Baseball: This Thursday some of the guys and I are heading up to DC to watch the Nationals play the Braves. That's a 1pm game. After that's over we'll do the tourists tour of DC and then on Friday night we're going to see the Orioles play the Blute Jays. 4 major league teams in 2 seperate major league cities in 2 days. It's going to be a great time.

Report: I'm please to report that 1500 packets are now put together and ready to go, including our special Kempton Park pieces. I'm in the home stretch of the printing and will take them to get folded later this morning.

I have to tell you this mailer has been good for me. Up until now talk of planting this church has been just that talk. I mean we've been casting our vision and peddling our cause for over 7 months now and gathering people to this cause. But last night was when the reality his that we have some hard work ahead of us. I know we've been preparing for it, I know we're ready for it but it's still a reality check.

And I want to send a thanks to Heather ;), Kristy, Mark, Maylene, Randi, Robbie, and Jenni for sticking around an hour and some change when I know you all were tired to stuff those packets. You're the best!

Cerda Printing Company: No job too small, no job too large except possibly this one. Change of plans today put me printing 5000 letters. I estimate I can print 1 page every 6 seconds, 10 pages a minute, 600 pages an hour. So it should only take me 8.33 hours to print this 5000 piece monstrosity.

World Trade Center: I've known this was coming out for some time but have succeeded in ignoring it until now. I suppose I could rant, like I did with Flight 93, that it's just to early for a movie. We're not even quite 5 years removed yet. I could also rant that this type of event is not to be for our entertainment so soon after. I mean it took almost 10 years to start movies on the first gulf war and that was thousands of miles away.

But I think what I'll rant about is this...do we need a movie? Is there anyone that was of adult age that doesn't remember exactly where they were when they saw or hear the news? Is there anyone that doesn't remember how they cried in fear, in anger, in the fact that they knew they were witnessing a tragedy of a magnitude that few events in history could rival? Is there anyone that didn't know that from now on things would just be different? I don't need a movie that's for sure- so in my silent protest I won't watch it just like I didn't watch Flight 93...

Oh and another thing...it's only rated pg-13...if any movie, any movie ever made could justify being rated R it would be this movie but...rated R movies don't make the money that pg-13 movies do.

Maurice Clarett: Maurice, you have as much chance at an NFL career now as I do. You blew it you threw it away, you're a sad story I'll admit that...but to quote the movie Liar, Liar- quit breaking the law #$%^#@!

Need: I've felt the desire to blog for a few days now but seldom does this desire come while sitting in front of my computer screen.

Rehearsal: I was watching Ironman marathon, the thing where the people swim, bike and run amazing distances and live to tell about it. This one guy has ALS also known as Lou Gehrig disease and he competed. He will be dead in no more than 5 years and he's competing in Ironmans he also has written narative poetry and I'm not sure if this quote is his but one I remembered is...Life is not a dress rehearsal

Victory?: Heard a story...a church planter's boys go to school and they ask their teacher if they can pass out flyers for the church's VBS. The teacher told them that was against school policy and that no religious material was allowed. The boys were naturally upset and went home to their father. The father went to the principal and was told what the boys were told, that religious material was not allowed. The father, a church planter, called some christian organization and the organization had their attorney contact the school board and the boys were allowed to pass out flyers, because the law was unconstitutional. A big praise report was sent out.

I see two sides of this. I agree that laws should apply across the board no matter the religion, cause or effort and that includes allowing passing out of VBS material.

I also see how this was the absolute wrong way to approach this problem. Now I'm figuring that this teacher has a bad taste of these boys, their father (a pastor) not to mention the prinicpal's opinion of forcing this matter. They waged war and they won but what did they win?

Wash and Wax: I spent the morning washing the Accord and even pulled it into the garage for a coat of wax. I took off the wiper arms and spray painted them a flat black, the black had worn off and they were a very faded silver. Heather washed the other two vehicles (man I'm a slave driver!) mine needed to be washed so I could put it for sale and hers just needed a rinse off.

Car: I bought a car today. A 1995 Honda Accord with about 130k miles on it. In type that sounds like a beater but the car is in pristine condition and only owned by one other. I'm excited about it. A picture below.

No comment on the above picture except that I'll tell you I laughed when I saw it.

LiFE Group version 2.0: Tonight we enter into LiFE Group v. 2.0. We took about a month off from meeting for Bible Study and instead just met for fun. It gave me a nice 4 week break from preparing a study as well as some time to do some master planning for the remainder of the summer and the fall. Tonight we are going to start a new study that will run for 5 weeks with a get together at the end/beginning of v. 3.0 on September 7. This will be a get together to present the options for the fall as well as a chance for our new contacts to meet the LiFE groups leaders and the others that are committed and by the end of the night choose a LiFE Group to be part of.

*why am I so tempted to call them small groups? I don't particularly want them to be small but I want them to be growing and excellent.

Extravaganza: Last night I went with Brandon to hang out with some of his high school buddies. We had a 2 and a half hour Crazy Wing Extravanganza where 8 dozen wings were consumed. It was fun and there were wings...is there anything else greater in life? I'm actually hoping to make a monday or tuesday night once or twice a month a wing/dude's night for our men's meeting.