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Sunday Night Thoughts...

- Today was insane! I don't know what the count was, but even the first service felt full!
- We turned 7 today! We're officially a 2nd grader!
- I am truly amazed that I get to do what I do. I was watching a guy today at a supermarket that looked depressed at work. I'm so glad that God called me to Pastor this church!
- This was a crazy week! Next week should be back to normal!
- Made to Stick was a great book! I'll review it in the next couple of days.
- We had hundreds of people at our annual picnic. The outdoor Laser Tag was the hit of the party! It was a 90 minute wait to get a turn.
- My Wiffle ball tournament didn't go so well for me. Let's just say that my team's fielding assisted to me giving up several UNearned runs :) My curve ball was giving me nothing!
- I feel like I'm learning more now than I have at any other point in my life. God is teaching me a lot through other people and through the Word.
- Hanging with Gary this week was a lot of fun. His insistence on taking things over the top just adds to the excitement! (BTW, I did marry out of my league)
- Got to hang with a couple groups of Pastors this week. It showed me how much I didn't know and how much I need to learn.
- Our Elevate series had a great kickoff! I'm so excited about what God is going to do!
- I pushed our staff pretty hard this week, but they came through big time! There's no one on our staff that thinks in terms of 9-5. Ministry is a way of life for them! That's the kind of people you want around you!
- We announced our next baptism for the 1st time today. What I was shocked to learn was that 30 people were already signed up and we hadn't even announced it publicly yet!
- We've had the biggest response ever for groups! We're at close to 70% of our Sunday attendance signed up! But a lot of people signed up today! So that number should be higher by week's end.
- My Small Group starts this week. I'm really excited about it! I'm hanging with about 20 college-aged students. We're going to study Chazown by Craig Groeschel. It should be fun.
- The Dolphins defense is killing me! Thanks for nothing! I need the Patriots to come up big tonight!
- The Red Sox pounded the Yankees on Saturday. After their pathetic display on Friday, they needed a big win! Let's put them away tonight! The magic number is 9.
- My daughter is officially the most popular person in our church!
- Mark and the band were off the charts today! They make every song they play better than the original!
- I'm exhausted. I'm not as young as I used to be. 33 going to 93 :)

Book Review: A Different God?

I am a huge fan of Dwight A. Pryor and his ministry. So when I saw that he had written a book, I ordered it immediately. "A Different God?" was on the subject of replacement theology and supersessionism (which probably isn't the first topic I'd think to read something on). But the book was good. It was only 25 pages (pamphlet sized). But if you're interested in the subject, I'd recommend the book to you.

If you've never been to Dwight's website, here's the link. He's a brilliant thinker and theologian. I have ordered tons of his stuff and I highly recommend it!

New Series Teaser

Stuff I've Learned in Year 7 - Part 2

Sermons Motivate, but Systems Dictate

I didn't want that statement to be true, but it is. It's why a person watches a testimony about someone who lost weight on a diet and decides to lose weight too, but 3 weeks later is slamming down a box of Twinkies.

It's why teenagers become who they used to be a month after youth camp.

It's why couples say they are going to change but go back to old behavior patterns.

It's not the intention they have. It's the system they are living in.

I didn't learn until this year the power of systems. People have systems. Couples have systems. Churches have systems. They may not be good. They may not even be intentional. But they are there.

In 2007, we decided that we were going to examine our church systems and work on them. It's still a work in progress, but we are getting a hold of them and we believe we're making headway.

Because the last thing we want is for people to remain the same. God works in us and transforms us as we take steps in His direction. It works best when we know what the next step is. That's called a system. A progression of next steps. And it's what we have realized is so powerful in our lives and in our church.

Book Review: You, Inc.

You, Inc. by Harry and Christine Beckwith was recommended to me and I was a little put off by the title. But by page 2 I was hooked. It's about 320 pages of practical wisdom in work ethic, managing time, communication, making a good impression, going the extra mile for people, goal setting, appearance, being thankful, and a ton of other stuff. The chapter on how to remember people's names was worth the price of the book for me. (That's an area of challenge for me).

Here's a few of my favorite quotes:

"The future belongs to the communicators."

"People are overwhelmed. So whatever you want to communicate, you must learn to do it simply."

"Stories are how we come to understand the world at every age."

"Find your message, keep it simple, and repeat it often."

"We do not remember words well. We remembers images."

"Your great strides forward your long steps back."

A fundamental sign of mental health is the realization that life is hard."

"Half efforts do not produce half results. They produce no results."

New Series Starting Sunday

Book Review: Money, Possessions, and Eternity

I loved The Treasure Principle, so I took the challenge of reading Randy Alcorn's exhaustive work of stewardship: Money, Possessions, and Eternity. This is the most thorough treatment on the subject of stewardship that I have ever read. To me, it is THE definitive work on the subject.

I consider myself to be someone who knows something about stewardship and I believe that I am a good stewardship and what God has entrusted to me, but this book really challenged me. This book looks at stewardship from every possible angle and gives some amazing counsel on topics that we need wisdom on.

Anyway, if you're going to teach on stewardship, or if you want to really get into this subject, this is the book to buy!

Stuff I've learned in year 7 - Part 1

This weekend is our 7-year anniversary, and I've been thinking about the things that God has shown me this year. Here's the first one:

Talent cannot compensate for a lack of integrity

The story of Samson has been rockin' my world as of late. This was a guy that has extraordinary talents and strengths (literally!). But he lacked integrity. He started with small compromises that eventually led to him losing his strength and trusted position as Israel's judge.

This year we have seen Christian leaders fall in the most heinous of ways. Thinking "That will never happen to me" is foolish to say the least, because every leader that falls thinks that about themselves. I believe if Samson had dealt with his minor compromises right from the get-go, he would have never gotten the most famous haircut in the Bible.

We need to learn the lesson of Samson. That talent isn't enough. People won't follow leaders who just have talent. We need to be people of integrity, because that's people lasts over the long haul.

Why Do Adults Act Like They're 5 Years Old?

I was picking up lunch today and the lady in front of me had apparently been waiting for a while, but by the time I walked in she was coming unglued waiting for her soup. She was saying, "Do you know how long I've been waiting just for a soup!!! What's the problem?!" This was a grown woman that probably had kids in their early 20's.

Then the 18 year old waitress says, "I'm so sorry. I will get it for you right now." As she said that, she gave the woman 2 Chocolate Chip Cookies. Once the woman got her cookies, she transformed into a completely different person. She said, "Listen, it's busy. Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

It made me wonder why adults act like children and then don't understand why they are treated accordingly.

Plus, the whole scene really made me want a cookie :)