Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
You Asked
Even as a pastor, I have still received the same type of letters and emails as before so I figured that I would go ahead and to continue to answer them in the "You Asked" segment of my blog.
This one again comes from David G. of Easley
Dear Sammy,
With the thought of North Korea and possibly Iran getting Nuclear Bombs, I have begun construction of my very own underground fall out shelter under my home. So far I have poured 58 yards of concrete and used 275 linear feet of re barb. I have modeled my fall out shelter after the one featured on Happy Days episode #45 when Howard Cunningham decides to build a fall out shelter for his family. If you remember the episode then you remember how Richie didn't want to stay because he would miss his friends, Ralph Mouth, Potsy, and the Fonz and Joanie wouldn't stay because Joanie loved Chachi.
Anyway, I think I am nearing completion and getting ready to put the finishing touches on my shelter. I have stored away over 5000 gallons of drinking water in small 16 ounce bottles wrapped in lead.
The question I have is this: I am considering purchasing 15,000 MRE's(Meals Ready to Eat) from Military Surplus and was wondering if you recommended any particular flavor? Any advice would be greatly appreciated and for your help I would allow you to stay for a period of 16 days in my shelter should nuclear Holocaust occur.
Well David, that sure is a generous offer to stay in the shelter for 16 days and very much appreciated but quite frankly the thought of staying in a shelter with someone who seems a little bit too stalkerish really freaks me out. I will help you out with the MRE flavors though.
Just tonight, I was given a vegetarian MRE by my friend Scott Watson at home group.
I must say I was a bit skeptical about the taste. I first tried the crackers which was the best part of the meal. Next was some Pineapple mash looking stuff followed by pound cake. Melissa actually enjoyed the pound cake which was quite moist surprisingly. My favorite part was the mini Tabasco sauce bottle. Finally it was on to the Bean Burrito. I must say I was looking forward to this part but I really never could get over the rubbery outside of the burrito and the moving feeling that took place in my stomach afterwards. I have included some pictures David so that you will know which order to eat them in.
I will say stay away from the Vegetarian MRE or the results inside the shelter could be worse than a nuclear blast. Happy nuclear winter and I hope this answers your questions.
This one again comes from David G. of Easley
Dear Sammy,
With the thought of North Korea and possibly Iran getting Nuclear Bombs, I have begun construction of my very own underground fall out shelter under my home. So far I have poured 58 yards of concrete and used 275 linear feet of re barb. I have modeled my fall out shelter after the one featured on Happy Days episode #45 when Howard Cunningham decides to build a fall out shelter for his family. If you remember the episode then you remember how Richie didn't want to stay because he would miss his friends, Ralph Mouth, Potsy, and the Fonz and Joanie wouldn't stay because Joanie loved Chachi.
Anyway, I think I am nearing completion and getting ready to put the finishing touches on my shelter. I have stored away over 5000 gallons of drinking water in small 16 ounce bottles wrapped in lead.
The question I have is this: I am considering purchasing 15,000 MRE's(Meals Ready to Eat) from Military Surplus and was wondering if you recommended any particular flavor? Any advice would be greatly appreciated and for your help I would allow you to stay for a period of 16 days in my shelter should nuclear Holocaust occur.
Well David, that sure is a generous offer to stay in the shelter for 16 days and very much appreciated but quite frankly the thought of staying in a shelter with someone who seems a little bit too stalkerish really freaks me out. I will help you out with the MRE flavors though.
Just tonight, I was given a vegetarian MRE by my friend Scott Watson at home group.
I must say I was a bit skeptical about the taste. I first tried the crackers which was the best part of the meal. Next was some Pineapple mash looking stuff followed by pound cake. Melissa actually enjoyed the pound cake which was quite moist surprisingly. My favorite part was the mini Tabasco sauce bottle. Finally it was on to the Bean Burrito. I must say I was looking forward to this part but I really never could get over the rubbery outside of the burrito and the moving feeling that took place in my stomach afterwards. I have included some pictures David so that you will know which order to eat them in.
I will say stay away from the Vegetarian MRE or the results inside the shelter could be worse than a nuclear blast. Happy nuclear winter and I hope this answers your questions.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Sunday Update
Today was an awesome day. First off, Isaac was moved last night from a regular room at Greenville Memorial into a room in the Pediatric ICU. This afternoon he was released from the hospital straight from ICU to home and as of this afternoon he was sitting in the floor playing with his legos as if the whole weekend in the hospital never happened. We are certainly grateful he is feeling better and very appreciative of all of your prayers.
In other news, church today was great. You could sense the momentum beginning to build. I am excited to see what is coming in the coming weeks. We announced today that we have signed a lease on a building that will serve as our youth area and another part of it will serve as our church offices. We will kick our our student ministry on November 14th at the Velocity building on Highway 153 and then move over to "The Bridge" (our student ministry building) beginning the first week of December. This coming week we begin our new series Gravity and we hope to see you then.
In other news, church today was great. You could sense the momentum beginning to build. I am excited to see what is coming in the coming weeks. We announced today that we have signed a lease on a building that will serve as our youth area and another part of it will serve as our church offices. We will kick our our student ministry on November 14th at the Velocity building on Highway 153 and then move over to "The Bridge" (our student ministry building) beginning the first week of December. This coming week we begin our new series Gravity and we hope to see you then.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Isaac Update
Isaac is still in Greenville Memorial Hospital. Today was rough with his blood pressure causing him to vomit and hurt. As evening came around he got to feeling a little better. They have started a new blood pressure med and it may take a day or so to get adjusted. Meanwhile he will still be in the hospital until they get it under control. He can't have visitors due to his immune system but your prayers are appreciated.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Honor Roll and Hospital
Isaac got his first report card in two years today and he made straight A's and the Honor Roll at Hunt Meadows. He doesn't get to go to school but the teacher comes to the house and he still has to take tests and all just like the kids that are at school.
Isaac is currently in Greenville Memorial Hospital with some blood pressure issues. His blood pressures today were in the 160s over 120s which is dangerous high so they have increased his meds to help drop that down some. Melissa is staying tonight and hopefully he can come home tomorrow. He still can't have visitors due to his immune system so no visitors please. Just remember him in your prayers. Thanks.
Isaac is currently in Greenville Memorial Hospital with some blood pressure issues. His blood pressures today were in the 160s over 120s which is dangerous high so they have increased his meds to help drop that down some. Melissa is staying tonight and hopefully he can come home tomorrow. He still can't have visitors due to his immune system so no visitors please. Just remember him in your prayers. Thanks.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Volunteer of the Week
This week's volunteer of the week is really a staff member at the church but he isn't getting paid. My volunteer of the week is Chasen Callahan. Chasen and Casey were the first two people to come on board with the church. I told him about the new church start. I told him I didn't have any money to pay him, we didn't have a building, and we didn't even have a sound system, so would you like to come on board and be our Worship Leader. Sounds like an offer he couldn't refuse right.
The cool thing is that he jumped in with both feet. Chasen not only heads up our worship, he meets with me on upcoming messages and does our graphic print stuff and most of our video elements that we use in the church.
Another cool thing is that I told Chasen and Casey that we wanted to grow the church. They took this to heart and Casey is with child.(with child sounded like the Bible would say it.) Seriously though they are going to be parents in the next several months.
Chasen also travels a lot as his band is getting ready to release their first album at the start of the new year. Be sure to click on the link that says Chasen on the right side of the blog and check out their page. Be sure to support them by going ahead and pre-ordering their upcoming release.
The cool thing is that even though they are touring, he tries as much as he can to be back in time for church. That is something that you don't see everyday. Thanks Chasen for all you do.
The cool thing is that he jumped in with both feet. Chasen not only heads up our worship, he meets with me on upcoming messages and does our graphic print stuff and most of our video elements that we use in the church.
Another cool thing is that I told Chasen and Casey that we wanted to grow the church. They took this to heart and Casey is with child.(with child sounded like the Bible would say it.) Seriously though they are going to be parents in the next several months.
Chasen also travels a lot as his band is getting ready to release their first album at the start of the new year. Be sure to click on the link that says Chasen on the right side of the blog and check out their page. Be sure to support them by going ahead and pre-ordering their upcoming release.
The cool thing is that even though they are touring, he tries as much as he can to be back in time for church. That is something that you don't see everyday. Thanks Chasen for all you do.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Wednesday Update
Here's a quick recap of the week so far. I t has been busy but that is good. Keep Isaac in your prayers. His blood numbers dropped which the Doctors believe is because of a new medicine which they have now discontinued. Hopefully things will return to normal in a few weeks.
In other news, I saw this on the web today and it is pretty funny. These guys have just started as night watchmen in a cemetary.
In other news, I saw this on the web today and it is pretty funny. These guys have just started as night watchmen in a cemetary.
Monday, October 22, 2007
A Day in the Life of a Pastor
On Mondays, I have decided that I am going to do kind of an update on what is taking place in the church and some of the prep that goes into things. Mondays are always planning and meeting type days. Today was pretty typical of what the last month of Mondays have been like.
7:57 a.m.- Walked into my office and did some personal study. Why 7:57? Well I had to finish eating my Nutter Butter bar for breakfast and it just happened that I finished up at 7:57 a.m. On Mondays I like to get going before 8:00 a.m. . Last week I was in my office at 6:45 a.m.
8:25 a.m. - I try to plan out my week and even into the future weeks as well. Every Monday I spend at least 30 minutes thinking through the entire week and creating my weekly to do list. A check list has always helped me track what I need to get done and in what priority. If I don't write it down, it won't get done and will be forgotten. I pretty much go everywhere with my calendar.
9:00 a.m.- Edited my message on Final Cut Pro and began making DVD copies for all of our Children's Workers. We do this for everyone who helps out in Stepping Stones since they aren't able to be in the service.
10:00 a.m. - Headed out to FBC Pickens to return a Handbell I borrowed for a message illustration. Thanks to Bryan Hester for the help with that.
10:45 a.m. - Left FBC and stopped by and visited a few minutes with my friends at Norris Ford.
11:15 a.m. - Stopped by Staples to pick up a new external hard drive to store our video stuff on and picked up some more office supplies.
Lunchtime- Met with Chasen and Casey to discuss this past Sunday's service and look ahead for the next few weeks. This helps Chasen and I to know where we are going with the messages and music so that the service will flow. We also break down the service to see what we can do better. These meetings are really constructive and not destructive. We realize that we are human and we mess up from time to time. Excellence doesn't mean perfection and we always try to keep that in mind. These meetings last about 2 hours and are all productive.
2:00 p.m.- Stopped by the bank and picked up our deposit receipt for the offerings from yesterday.
2:15 p.m. -Stopped by our bookkeepers house and dropped off some receipts and let them know what checks we would need for the upcoming week. Even though we are a new church, I did not want to have the check book, so one of the first things we looked for was someone else to keep the books so that everything is above board financially.
2:30 p.m. - Met with one of our home group leaders.
3:00 p.m. - Arrived home at the office. Currently, the church office is our extra bedroom but as of today we have signed a lease on 4700 square foot of space in the heart of Powdersville. About 1000 sq ft will serve as our church offices and the rest will serve as our youth ministry building. It is going to be awesome. I am excited for our students. They have been really involved in serving and it will be cool to see them have a place of their own. We will also use the area for band rehearsals as well. Our official move in will be the first of December but we will begin painting and building the stage and stuff in the next couple of weeks. We want parents to know that we are serious about reaching students.
3:00-5:30 p.m. Worked on getting my points ready to drop off at Alpha Printing and sent my message points to our media guy. Went over my message for this Sunday and worked on some upcoming messages.
7:09 p.m. - Met up with Chasen and picked up our graphics stuff for the next series "Gravity" and an upcoming flyer that is going out into the community. Why 7:09? Well that is an inside joke between Chasen and I and I choose not to share it.
Throughout the day my phone stayed glued to my ear which was good because a lot of things are happening and I had a lot of people to talk to about upcoming stuff. Keystones our home groups/ life groups are kicking off all over the area in the next couple of weeks. We have groups kicking off in Anderson, Piedmont, Powdersville, and Easley. This is cool because these groups are the backbone of all we do.
That's about all for today. I am watching Monday Night Football waiting to see of my Fantasy Football team is going to win.
Tuesdays I lock myself in my office all day and write upcoming messages. It usually takes a couple of days for it to all to come together but Tuesday is my main study day for that.
7:57 a.m.- Walked into my office and did some personal study. Why 7:57? Well I had to finish eating my Nutter Butter bar for breakfast and it just happened that I finished up at 7:57 a.m. On Mondays I like to get going before 8:00 a.m. . Last week I was in my office at 6:45 a.m.
8:25 a.m. - I try to plan out my week and even into the future weeks as well. Every Monday I spend at least 30 minutes thinking through the entire week and creating my weekly to do list. A check list has always helped me track what I need to get done and in what priority. If I don't write it down, it won't get done and will be forgotten. I pretty much go everywhere with my calendar.
9:00 a.m.- Edited my message on Final Cut Pro and began making DVD copies for all of our Children's Workers. We do this for everyone who helps out in Stepping Stones since they aren't able to be in the service.
10:00 a.m. - Headed out to FBC Pickens to return a Handbell I borrowed for a message illustration. Thanks to Bryan Hester for the help with that.
10:45 a.m. - Left FBC and stopped by and visited a few minutes with my friends at Norris Ford.
11:15 a.m. - Stopped by Staples to pick up a new external hard drive to store our video stuff on and picked up some more office supplies.
Lunchtime- Met with Chasen and Casey to discuss this past Sunday's service and look ahead for the next few weeks. This helps Chasen and I to know where we are going with the messages and music so that the service will flow. We also break down the service to see what we can do better. These meetings are really constructive and not destructive. We realize that we are human and we mess up from time to time. Excellence doesn't mean perfection and we always try to keep that in mind. These meetings last about 2 hours and are all productive.
2:00 p.m.- Stopped by the bank and picked up our deposit receipt for the offerings from yesterday.
2:15 p.m. -Stopped by our bookkeepers house and dropped off some receipts and let them know what checks we would need for the upcoming week. Even though we are a new church, I did not want to have the check book, so one of the first things we looked for was someone else to keep the books so that everything is above board financially.
2:30 p.m. - Met with one of our home group leaders.
3:00 p.m. - Arrived home at the office. Currently, the church office is our extra bedroom but as of today we have signed a lease on 4700 square foot of space in the heart of Powdersville. About 1000 sq ft will serve as our church offices and the rest will serve as our youth ministry building. It is going to be awesome. I am excited for our students. They have been really involved in serving and it will be cool to see them have a place of their own. We will also use the area for band rehearsals as well. Our official move in will be the first of December but we will begin painting and building the stage and stuff in the next couple of weeks. We want parents to know that we are serious about reaching students.
3:00-5:30 p.m. Worked on getting my points ready to drop off at Alpha Printing and sent my message points to our media guy. Went over my message for this Sunday and worked on some upcoming messages.
7:09 p.m. - Met up with Chasen and picked up our graphics stuff for the next series "Gravity" and an upcoming flyer that is going out into the community. Why 7:09? Well that is an inside joke between Chasen and I and I choose not to share it.
Throughout the day my phone stayed glued to my ear which was good because a lot of things are happening and I had a lot of people to talk to about upcoming stuff. Keystones our home groups/ life groups are kicking off all over the area in the next couple of weeks. We have groups kicking off in Anderson, Piedmont, Powdersville, and Easley. This is cool because these groups are the backbone of all we do.
That's about all for today. I am watching Monday Night Football waiting to see of my Fantasy Football team is going to win.
Tuesdays I lock myself in my office all day and write upcoming messages. It usually takes a couple of days for it to all to come together but Tuesday is my main study day for that.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Sunday Thoughts
It's about 8 p.m. and I just sat down in my recliner to kick back for a while. Here are some thoughts from today:
1. Things went well at church today with another 15 or so first timers. Our goal is to get them plugged into the life of the church once they have received Christ and not just for them to sit as attenders. Making disciples is our main goal for anyone who walks through our doors.
2. We had two or three things happen today that could have been major problems but I must say that no one freaked out and everything turned out fine. Great job everyone.
3. Next Sunday we are doing something I don't believe I have ever heard of another church doing before. Don't worry, I am not going to be controversial for the sake of controversy, I am not going to jump from atop the catwalk, I will have my clothes on for the entire service, I am not playing any more air guitar or anything like that. It will be all good and a huge step of faith. That is all I am saying about it. You do need to be there because I doubt I will post about it after the fact.
4. This afternoon I took a mini nap and then Lloyd(our sound guy who does a great job) came over and raced go karts. We discovered that these new carts are a whole lot safer as I took a shot from his cart right in the side and it didn't do a thing to the carts. Later on Lloyd managed to find the fence coming out of turn 3. Let's just say that the back tire and rim are no longer functional. I'll try to post pics tomorrow. It was a quick fix with a new tire and rim and we were off racing again.
Well I'm off to check my fantasy football team where I believe I defeated Reggie Smith and took over the top spot in my division from Evan Silver today.
I'll leave you with this quote from Mark G as we rode back from the Clemson game yesterday. In reference to a guy who was playing Satan in a church play his church was doing Mark said the following "you know he sounds just like Satan". I then asked him when was the last time he heard Satan speak and he gave me a dumbfounded look.
1. Things went well at church today with another 15 or so first timers. Our goal is to get them plugged into the life of the church once they have received Christ and not just for them to sit as attenders. Making disciples is our main goal for anyone who walks through our doors.
2. We had two or three things happen today that could have been major problems but I must say that no one freaked out and everything turned out fine. Great job everyone.
3. Next Sunday we are doing something I don't believe I have ever heard of another church doing before. Don't worry, I am not going to be controversial for the sake of controversy, I am not going to jump from atop the catwalk, I will have my clothes on for the entire service, I am not playing any more air guitar or anything like that. It will be all good and a huge step of faith. That is all I am saying about it. You do need to be there because I doubt I will post about it after the fact.
4. This afternoon I took a mini nap and then Lloyd(our sound guy who does a great job) came over and raced go karts. We discovered that these new carts are a whole lot safer as I took a shot from his cart right in the side and it didn't do a thing to the carts. Later on Lloyd managed to find the fence coming out of turn 3. Let's just say that the back tire and rim are no longer functional. I'll try to post pics tomorrow. It was a quick fix with a new tire and rim and we were off racing again.
Well I'm off to check my fantasy football team where I believe I defeated Reggie Smith and took over the top spot in my division from Evan Silver today.
I'll leave you with this quote from Mark G as we rode back from the Clemson game yesterday. In reference to a guy who was playing Satan in a church play his church was doing Mark said the following "you know he sounds just like Satan". I then asked him when was the last time he heard Satan speak and he gave me a dumbfounded look.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Two Random Thoughts
1. Tonight I did something I have never done before and it made me feel Paul Bunyanish. No, I didn't cut down a forest or buy a blue ox named Babe. What I did was compeletly tear down a Briggs and Stratton 5 HP motor and put a new cam shaft into the block. I rebuilt an engine and to my amazement, when I pulled the cord it fired up. It made me feel that I had accomplished something in life.
2. Tonight after working hard in the garage, I came inside and went to get something to drink. And when I went to the fridge, this thought hit me,"Gosh I like Ice makers". Really I do.
That's about all the thoughts my brain can think of right now.
2. Tonight after working hard in the garage, I came inside and went to get something to drink. And when I went to the fridge, this thought hit me,"Gosh I like Ice makers". Really I do.
That's about all the thoughts my brain can think of right now.
Volunteers of the Week
This week I had someone picked out for volunteer of the week but I decided to use this person in my message Sunday and I didn't want to let the cat out of the bag.
So, having said all of that I have decided to recognize a whole group of volunteers.
Our volunteers of the week are the Stepping Stones volunteers. These are our children's ministry volunteers. Erin Brown, Casey Callahan, Shannon Tucker and Melissa Gibson have headed up the different areas and have knocked the ball out of the park. This past Sunday during the message I heard a loud scream. I knew that they were having a blast and learning too.
A special thanks to Dana Longley for heading up the check in process. Also, a huge thanks for all of our students who are helping out in this area. These students are the back bone of this ministry and they give the children's ministry a boost of teenage energy.
Thanks again for all do.
So, having said all of that I have decided to recognize a whole group of volunteers.
Our volunteers of the week are the Stepping Stones volunteers. These are our children's ministry volunteers. Erin Brown, Casey Callahan, Shannon Tucker and Melissa Gibson have headed up the different areas and have knocked the ball out of the park. This past Sunday during the message I heard a loud scream. I knew that they were having a blast and learning too.
A special thanks to Dana Longley for heading up the check in process. Also, a huge thanks for all of our students who are helping out in this area. These students are the back bone of this ministry and they give the children's ministry a boost of teenage energy.
Thanks again for all do.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Wild Kingdom
As of late I have begun to feel like my life at home is something akin to Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. Here's the tally of all the creatures that Isaac has living at the house and each of their feeding schedules.
1) Tinkerbell- This is Isaac's cat and she has to be fed and watered once each morning.
2) 5 goldish colored fish and one lazy white catfish(that sits all day on the bottom. I'm still not convinced that he is real because I have as of yet to see him move) They prefer night time feedings of one pinch of food.
3) Several dozen snails. They don't require feeding as long as the fish keep creating green gunk on the inside of the aquarium. They seem to have an acquired taste for the stuff. I'm considering putting a few of them in my shower to take care of the gunk in there.
4) Half a dozen hermit crabs. They must be fed these pellet looking things once a day along with watering their sponge.
5)Toad the Frog- This is Isaac's frog that lives under the porch. Isaac has created him a habitat that he comes and gets water from. He just needs water once every day.
6)Charlotte- Yes about three months ago we adopted a pet spider that lives on the side of the house. I am not allowed to touch her web. I have never seen a spider stay in one location for so long. She is big too, about the size of a nickel. Fortunately I don't have to feed her. She lives quite the high life on small winged creatures who drift unsuspectingly into her gelatinous web of death.
7) Tom the Turtle- This is our latest adoption within the last month or so. Tom lives under our porch and makes his appearance every morning around 8:30 a.m. looking for his two fresh grapes. He only eats two we have sat out three or four before but he only eats two. It is nice to know that our turtle isn't taken by gluttonous behavior.
We have quite and array of creatures and Isaac enjoys them all. I have trouble keeping their names straight. One day though, I'm gonna poke at that catfish just to see if it's real.
1) Tinkerbell- This is Isaac's cat and she has to be fed and watered once each morning.
2) 5 goldish colored fish and one lazy white catfish(that sits all day on the bottom. I'm still not convinced that he is real because I have as of yet to see him move) They prefer night time feedings of one pinch of food.
3) Several dozen snails. They don't require feeding as long as the fish keep creating green gunk on the inside of the aquarium. They seem to have an acquired taste for the stuff. I'm considering putting a few of them in my shower to take care of the gunk in there.
4) Half a dozen hermit crabs. They must be fed these pellet looking things once a day along with watering their sponge.
5)Toad the Frog- This is Isaac's frog that lives under the porch. Isaac has created him a habitat that he comes and gets water from. He just needs water once every day.
6)Charlotte- Yes about three months ago we adopted a pet spider that lives on the side of the house. I am not allowed to touch her web. I have never seen a spider stay in one location for so long. She is big too, about the size of a nickel. Fortunately I don't have to feed her. She lives quite the high life on small winged creatures who drift unsuspectingly into her gelatinous web of death.
7) Tom the Turtle- This is our latest adoption within the last month or so. Tom lives under our porch and makes his appearance every morning around 8:30 a.m. looking for his two fresh grapes. He only eats two we have sat out three or four before but he only eats two. It is nice to know that our turtle isn't taken by gluttonous behavior.
We have quite and array of creatures and Isaac enjoys them all. I have trouble keeping their names straight. One day though, I'm gonna poke at that catfish just to see if it's real.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Youth Ministry and a Busy Monday
Today was busy but all in a good way. I started off at 8:30 a.m. and didn't finish up working until 9:00 p.m.. There are tons of logistical and administrative things that had to be done today and I got a lot of them knocked out. I had my second staff meeting today. It was just Chase and I again at Nick Henrys in Powdersville. I've heard a lot of positive feedback about yesterday but we still found ways that we can improve.
Things are moving forward with a ton of different things. Keystones(our home group/life groups) are kicking off in the next couple of weeks. Make sure and stop by the info table and get signed up and someone will contact you about the different ones in your area.
In other news, we are officially kicking off our youth ministry in November. We have just worked out a deal where we are going to be meeting to start with and hopefully long term as well. Our youth ministry(grades 6-12) will be meeting at the Velocity building on Highway 153 in Powdersville beginning November 14th at 6:45 p.m. If you travel along Highway 153 you can't miss it. It is the largest building there sitting on the hill. Be sure to check out the info table for more details. It has been cool to see that we already have 10-15 youth already coming. I can't wait to see what happens when we kick this off in a month.
Thats about it for today. I am worn out.
Things are moving forward with a ton of different things. Keystones(our home group/life groups) are kicking off in the next couple of weeks. Make sure and stop by the info table and get signed up and someone will contact you about the different ones in your area.
In other news, we are officially kicking off our youth ministry in November. We have just worked out a deal where we are going to be meeting to start with and hopefully long term as well. Our youth ministry(grades 6-12) will be meeting at the Velocity building on Highway 153 in Powdersville beginning November 14th at 6:45 p.m. If you travel along Highway 153 you can't miss it. It is the largest building there sitting on the hill. Be sure to check out the info table for more details. It has been cool to see that we already have 10-15 youth already coming. I can't wait to see what happens when we kick this off in a month.
Thats about it for today. I am worn out.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Two Post Day Part 2
Most of you have read about the fact that I sold all of the other go karts I had in order to get something a little safer. With all of the preparation for the church, I haven't really had a chance to ride the go karts in the last three weeks. Today after church, I came home and piddled around in the garage and decided to get the karts out and run them some.
Well, later in the afternoon Bryan Holder came over and we raced some. I was proud of him. He drives better when he feels safe in the cart.(These have 5 point safety harnesses and real helmets)
Well, later in the afternoon Bryan Holder came over and we raced some. I was proud of him. He drives better when he feels safe in the cart.(These have 5 point safety harnesses and real helmets)Anyway, the kart he was driving, I just had installed the seat on it this afternoon. We had been riding about an hour or so when Bryan pulled off to the side. I pulled over to see what was up and he told me his buttocks was burning. He unbuckled and climbed out of the kart.
In my haste to install the seat, I apparently hadn't checked to see the ground clearance on the seat. The seat is made of 1/4 inch thick fiberglass. But during the course of riding for an hour the dirt had made mince meat of that fiberglass seat. The burning sensation that Bryan was experiencing was because the dirt not had not only worn a hole in the fiberglass seat but it had also worn a hole through his insulated camouflage coveralls, his favorite shorts under the cover alls and his boxers underneath his shorts. The burning sensation he was feeling was the dirt rubbing on his bare bottom at 35 miles per hour.
I must be honest and say that I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. As I type this post I am laughing hysterically. I have included some pics of us racing as well as the hole. I have fixed the last pic so that no flesh is seen.
Notice the hole in the seat.
Notice the hole in the seat.
Two Post Day - Post 1
Ok so today is turning out to be a two post day. This is the first of the two as I am still working on the second since it just happened a couple of hours ago.
Today at Stone Bridge everything was clicking. I was extremely proud of all of our volunteers and how quickly we were set up and ready to go. You guys are awesome and very much appreciated. Last week we experienced a few glitches along the way but today was silky smooth with everything working like clockwork.
Once again I was blown away by our children's area. They did an amazing job. At one point in the service I heard all the kids yell out. I knew right then that they were having an awesome time while learning as well. Great job.
We had between 20-30 first timers today which is equivalent to roughly 25% of our church which is in it's second week. The next two weeks are going to be awesome culminating with our service on October 28th that you don't want to miss.
Thanks again to all of our volunteers who made it happen today.
Today at Stone Bridge everything was clicking. I was extremely proud of all of our volunteers and how quickly we were set up and ready to go. You guys are awesome and very much appreciated. Last week we experienced a few glitches along the way but today was silky smooth with everything working like clockwork.
Once again I was blown away by our children's area. They did an amazing job. At one point in the service I heard all the kids yell out. I knew right then that they were having an awesome time while learning as well. Great job.
We had between 20-30 first timers today which is equivalent to roughly 25% of our church which is in it's second week. The next two weeks are going to be awesome culminating with our service on October 28th that you don't want to miss.
Thanks again to all of our volunteers who made it happen today.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Volunteer of the Week
Starting this week, I am beginning a new Friday post that will highlight some of our volunteers involved at Stone Bridge. Each week it takes tons of volunteers to make things happen within the church.
Our "Volunteer of the Week" is Jeff Garrison. Jeff heads up our media at the church. This is something fairly new to him and he is getting the hang of it pretty quickly. This past week was his first time ever using Pro Presenter and he did a great job. He also helps out with shooting videos as he did for an upcoming video this Sunday.
Jeff was one of the first two people that I told that we were going to be launching a new church. I asked him if he would come on board. The coolest thing about that conversation was that he told me straight up that he did not want a job. He told me that he was happy with his job and benefits of that job but he would volunteer with the church and help out as much as he could. This was the coolest thing to hear because after being in ministry for the last 14 years, I was tired of hearing people wanting to help out just so that they could get a job. Seriously, it seems that the latest trend in churches was that you volunteered your way into a job.
Now don't get me wrong, when we start to hire staff at Stone Bridge, we will look from within first but we will also make sure that they are the right person for the job.
I remember Bill Hybels one time talking about people in your church who could be placed in leadership roles but they necessarily didn't want a job. He talked about people who were happy with their current vocation but they simply wanted to be plugged into the life of the church. I knew when Jeff said he didn't want a job that I had found one of the people Bill Hybels had talked about and it was my job to get him plugged in to where he could use his talents and gifts.
Thanks Jeff and thanks to all of our volunteers who make a difference. Next week I will be highlighting another volunteer and I already know who that is. Just a little hint "Shake and Bake".
I hope to see you all at Stone Bridge Sunday. Remember the time this week is 10:00a.m.. See you then.
Our "Volunteer of the Week" is Jeff Garrison. Jeff heads up our media at the church. This is something fairly new to him and he is getting the hang of it pretty quickly. This past week was his first time ever using Pro Presenter and he did a great job. He also helps out with shooting videos as he did for an upcoming video this Sunday.
Jeff was one of the first two people that I told that we were going to be launching a new church. I asked him if he would come on board. The coolest thing about that conversation was that he told me straight up that he did not want a job. He told me that he was happy with his job and benefits of that job but he would volunteer with the church and help out as much as he could. This was the coolest thing to hear because after being in ministry for the last 14 years, I was tired of hearing people wanting to help out just so that they could get a job. Seriously, it seems that the latest trend in churches was that you volunteered your way into a job.
Now don't get me wrong, when we start to hire staff at Stone Bridge, we will look from within first but we will also make sure that they are the right person for the job.
I remember Bill Hybels one time talking about people in your church who could be placed in leadership roles but they necessarily didn't want a job. He talked about people who were happy with their current vocation but they simply wanted to be plugged into the life of the church. I knew when Jeff said he didn't want a job that I had found one of the people Bill Hybels had talked about and it was my job to get him plugged in to where he could use his talents and gifts.
Thanks Jeff and thanks to all of our volunteers who make a difference. Next week I will be highlighting another volunteer and I already know who that is. Just a little hint "Shake and Bake".
I hope to see you all at Stone Bridge Sunday. Remember the time this week is 10:00a.m.. See you then.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
New Favorite Site?
Everyone that knows me well, knows that I am a huge ebay fan. So much so that last year after many years of trying, I finally achieved ebay powerseller status. As much as a like ebay though, I also have become a huge fan of http://craigslist.com . Well it seems as though ebay has finally caught on to the popularity of craigslist and they have launched their own nationwide classified ad site. Their new site is http://kijiji.com . It is is swahilli for village which goes along with ebay's theme of being a global trading village. Who knows this could end up being the best of both worlds, part craigslist and part ebay. I may have possibly found a new favorite web site.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Mid Week Update
Good news, I just talked to Melissa and Isaac's blood studies are looking even better. They feel like the treatment that is removing the excess iron off of his liver is making some progress so they have decided not to make any changes. They told her that they expect it to take at least another year before his immune system is back up to normal. They return from Cincinnati tomorrow.
It has been work as normal the last two days. This past week God has shown me some really amazing things that are going to be happening at Stone Bridge in the next few weeks. Hold on because it's going to be an awesome ride.
This week we continue in our series "Life in HD" with Part 2 Experiencing Life. Be sure to invite your unchurched friends and family members. Just a reminder, this week the service goes to it's regular time frame of 10:00 a.m..
Tomorrow morning I am meeting up with a group of pastors in Greenville. They are all from new church plants and we are meeting together to share ideas.
It has been work as normal the last two days. This past week God has shown me some really amazing things that are going to be happening at Stone Bridge in the next few weeks. Hold on because it's going to be an awesome ride.
This week we continue in our series "Life in HD" with Part 2 Experiencing Life. Be sure to invite your unchurched friends and family members. Just a reminder, this week the service goes to it's regular time frame of 10:00 a.m..
Tomorrow morning I am meeting up with a group of pastors in Greenville. They are all from new church plants and we are meeting together to share ideas.
Monday, October 8, 2007
The Latest
It's been a busy past couple of weeks, so here is the latest:
- Melissa turned 34 this past Friday. We bought her a cookie cake. She hates cookie cake, but, Isaac and I thoroughly enjoyed her cookie cake.
- Yesterday we launched Stone Bridge Church. It was really cool to think about what all is going to take place.
- Today I had my first staff meeting as a pastor. We met at Nick Henry's. It is a restaurant in Powdersville. Be sure and get a piece of cake if you go there.
- Melissa,Isaac and her mom are heading to Cincinnati tomorrow for Isaac's check up. His liver numbers are still up so pray that they would start to come back down.
- Tonight Isaac and I worked on his model cars. It's fun getting to do projects with him.
- I did some brainstorming for our next two series coming up. They both are going to be really cool.
- And lastly, I recently sold the yard go karts that I had. But, don't worry I am not going without. With the money I made off of those, I have bought something even faster for the back yard speedway. I have purchased a couple of Sprint Car Go Karts and they are bad fast. We now have to wear real helmets. A professor of mine told me that no matter what vocation I had in life that I needed to have a hobby. I tried fishing and that lasted for about 30 minutes until I get antsy. I tried golf but what is the purpose of chasing a little white ball all around someones field. I never tried hunting because I have a hard time killing anything other than the fire ants that we blow up with fireworks and gasoline. So I think that finally I have settled on go karts. They're fast, they're a blast to drive, and where else can you run your friends into your fence in the back yard. Here is a couple of pics of the new ride.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Stone Bridge Church
We kicked off our first service today at Wren High School. The day started early with more than 50 volunteers showing up at 7:45 a.m. to set up. It was awesome to see because our goal was to be set up by around 9:15 a.m. The children's and lobby areas were set up by 8:45 a.m. Set up went really well for our first time ever being in the building. The sound and video were finished up right on time. Everyone had a great attitude and eager to do whatever it took to get everything lined up. I'm excited to see what is going to take place in the coming days.
The service went well with only a few minor technical glitches. Nothing major that can't be worked out. Chasen led worship and the guys did a great job. It took me a couple of minutes to get on track with the message. I woke up at 4 am so I think I was feeling the effects of that plus I was nervous as mess.
We had over a hundred something first timers which was cool. Of course today everyone was a first timer. The children's area was probably my biggest concern going in but it ended up running the smoothest of everything which was awesome. I wasn't worried about the people we had in charge because I had faith in them but rather my fears mainly were that we didn't know what to expect as far as kids. The kids area had a good number of kids and according to one of the parents I talked to, they had a blast. This was cool because kids can have fun and still learn as well.
We had 10 or so youth with several of them serving in the children's area helping with our other adult volunteers. I was quite impressed with how the youth stepped up and played an important part as well.
I just want to say a big thanks to everyone who has put in tons of hours over the last few months as we have prepared for the church to start.
Here are some pics from today. Probably one of the funniest is Scott Watson wearing a green apron. Scott was our Rocket Man today and did a great job. He wore a backpack filled with 2 1/2 liters of coffee and greeted people with coffee as they got
our of their car. 
The service went well with only a few minor technical glitches. Nothing major that can't be worked out. Chasen led worship and the guys did a great job. It took me a couple of minutes to get on track with the message. I woke up at 4 am so I think I was feeling the effects of that plus I was nervous as mess.
We had over a hundred something first timers which was cool. Of course today everyone was a first timer. The children's area was probably my biggest concern going in but it ended up running the smoothest of everything which was awesome. I wasn't worried about the people we had in charge because I had faith in them but rather my fears mainly were that we didn't know what to expect as far as kids. The kids area had a good number of kids and according to one of the parents I talked to, they had a blast. This was cool because kids can have fun and still learn as well.
We had 10 or so youth with several of them serving in the children's area helping with our other adult volunteers. I was quite impressed with how the youth stepped up and played an important part as well.
I just want to say a big thanks to everyone who has put in tons of hours over the last few months as we have prepared for the church to start.
Here are some pics from today. Probably one of the funniest is Scott Watson wearing a green apron. Scott was our Rocket Man today and did a great job. He wore a backpack filled with 2 1/2 liters of coffee and greeted people with coffee as they got
our of their car. 
Saturday, October 6, 2007
10.07.07
It's finally here. It's about 12 hours away. Today has been busy but mainly just run throughs and such. We did a complete sound and video run through over at Warehouse Church in Easley. A special thanks to those guys for allowing us to come in and set up. Tommorrow is set for an early start. We will be at the school at 7:45 a.m. for set up and then kick off Stone Bridge Church at 10:07 a.m. . I will update with pictures tomorrow. It promises to be fun.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
10.07.07 @ 10:07 A.M.
Only 4 Days to go until our launch at Wren High School. If every person reading this blog brings just one other person, then we will max out the school auditorium on the first Sunday. The cool thing is that the person you bring may be the person whose life is changed forever. See you there Sunday.
Monday, October 1, 2007
The Weekend That Was and The Big Week To Come
The past weekend was great. Saturday morning Isaac and I got up early and headed on down to the Jockey Lot. Here is a list of things I discovered at the Jockey Lot: 1. Where are all of those sets of 1989 Upper Deck Baseball cards that people promised would pay for your kids education one day? They would be located all over the Jockey Lot. Seriously, it was like every other vendor had gobs of baseball cards to sell.
2. Who goes to the Jockey Lot to buy underwear? Obviously someone because the one vendor on the corner had thousands of pairs of men's and women's underwear of various colors, shapes, and materials.
3. How many "one of a kinds" are there in the world? It's funny how every vendor bills his merchandise as "one of a kind" even though the guy two spots away has the exact same thing.
4. And last, it appears that the ancient art of Ninjamanship (or whatever the Ninja stuff is called) is making a strong comeback. I don't believe I have ever seen so many pearl handled faux swords in my entire life. With the sheer amount of swords at the Jockey Lot then it leads me to believe that there must be hidden Ninjas living amongst us.
Saturday afternoon I watched Clemson lose, which is neither here nor there. Saturday night, Melissa, Isaac and I headed off to Anderson to see an outdoor concert featuring Mark and Randy's band Loss for Words. These guys are going to be helping out with Stone Bridge. It was a cool set up out in a field. We enjoyed ourselves and the guys did a great job.
That is about it for the weekend. This week is going to be amazing. Today has already started off pretty cool. This morning I spent studying for an upcoming message and then this afternoon we were gone for a video shoot that we are going to be using in a couple of weeks. The rest of the week is slam booked solid. Things are coming together nicely.
People have been asking what they can do for the church. There are two things: 1. Pray for the service and that people would come to Christ. 2. Invite, invite, invite. Remember 10.07.07 @10:07. It's only 6 days away.
2. Who goes to the Jockey Lot to buy underwear? Obviously someone because the one vendor on the corner had thousands of pairs of men's and women's underwear of various colors, shapes, and materials.
3. How many "one of a kinds" are there in the world? It's funny how every vendor bills his merchandise as "one of a kind" even though the guy two spots away has the exact same thing.
4. And last, it appears that the ancient art of Ninjamanship (or whatever the Ninja stuff is called) is making a strong comeback. I don't believe I have ever seen so many pearl handled faux swords in my entire life. With the sheer amount of swords at the Jockey Lot then it leads me to believe that there must be hidden Ninjas living amongst us.
Saturday afternoon I watched Clemson lose, which is neither here nor there. Saturday night, Melissa, Isaac and I headed off to Anderson to see an outdoor concert featuring Mark and Randy's band Loss for Words. These guys are going to be helping out with Stone Bridge. It was a cool set up out in a field. We enjoyed ourselves and the guys did a great job.
That is about it for the weekend. This week is going to be amazing. Today has already started off pretty cool. This morning I spent studying for an upcoming message and then this afternoon we were gone for a video shoot that we are going to be using in a couple of weeks. The rest of the week is slam booked solid. Things are coming together nicely.
People have been asking what they can do for the church. There are two things: 1. Pray for the service and that people would come to Christ. 2. Invite, invite, invite. Remember 10.07.07 @10:07. It's only 6 days away.
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