I had a conversation with someone last week where we were talking about the process that we go through in coming to and then staying in a church. I was sharing with him that I pray that each week our services are filled with 1st time guests who reek of cigarette smoke, are coming down off a high or may be hung-over. I pray that young girls who just had an abortion or don’t “dress the right way” for church show up. I pray that men who beat their wives or who “don’t look the part” of being a Christian show up. Here’s the reason why…read this slowly until it sinks in an makes sense. In most churches the process is:

1.  Behave…if you want to attend here then you need to behave
     like a Christian.
2.  Believe…now actually become a Christian.
3.  Belong…now that you you look and think like us, you can
     become a active part of our church. 

Here’s how it should be though:

1.  Belong…right away no matter who you are or what you’ve done,
     we accept you.
2.  Believe…as you are here and feel the love of God, hopefully
     you’ll also respond to the message of God’s love when it’s
     presented.
3.  Behave…as we talked about in the Extreme Makeover series,
     true transformed lives don’t come from making a decision to
     behave differently, but rather from changing your thinking,
     which in turn will help you to make better, God honoring,
     decisions.  That type of thinking can only come when someone
     has the Holy Spirit living in them to help guide them towards
     the truth.

The lesson then is this…we can’t expect non-Christians to act like Christians until they are.  We need to radically love each and every person that walks through our doors and help them discover the love and grace of Jesus Christ.

• Wow just now getting to this…it’s been that kind of weekend.
• It started Saturday night with a belated Thanksgiving meal with my dad’s side of the family…I ate way to much sauerkraut and in addition the gravy for the mashed potatoes was yellow…something about that doens’t hit me right if you know what I mean.
• I was up at least 5 times Saturday night and didn’t sleep well at all.
• Have I ever mentioned that I’m not a morning person to begin with and that Sunday’s is the day I have to get up earliest…uhhh…not a good start.
• I hate when I’m sick it seems like the message will never end…but God is good, He still used it to bring yet another person into a saving relationship with Him.  I found out later that there was another hand raised all the way in the back which I didn’t see.
• These 2 plus the 2 from the office this week make for a total of 27 first time professions of faith during our first series!  Wow…yea God and yea you for inviting so many new people to join the Experience.
• The “bad” weather kept many people home this weekend…
• …too bad because you missed Guest Worship leader Aaron Schwindt lead us in an awesome time of worship.
• Nice to have Earl be able to participate as well…even if he did make fun of my toolmanship…or lack thereof.
• A big thanks to Kevin for coming in and being our guest light controller.
• Very few technical mistakes which always makes me happy, but setting up in the morning had all kinds of glitches that made me think we’d never be ready in time…Ah me of little faith.
• Had a great lunch with a group of people who are new to the church and then went and had lunch part 2 at the Krull house with Aaron and his wife Ashleigh.
• The 3 guys then rolled back up to C’burg to help get set-up for the hanging of the greens. 
• Still not feeling well when I arrived home, I watched the Redskins game on the TIVO….uhhh now I really didn’t feel good.  They’ve done that almost every week…dominate a team only to let them hang around and then lose at the end.  Especially bad this week in that a victory would have helped start some of the healing process after the death of Sean Taylor.
• Feeling much better today and I’m looking forward to our new sereis CRIBS which starts this week.  Don’t forget to invite someone.

• Last night’s practice for this week’s Experience was awesome!  I said it earlier in the week, but I’ll say it again…if you miss this week, you’re going to regret it big time.
• Don’t to forget to invite someone to come with you. 
• Don’t forget to bring in food for the food pantry.
• Don’t forget that God loves you and so do I.
• Yesterday was a great day at the office…at noon time I met with a new attendee of United who wanted some spiriutal direction in his life.  After talking with him and sharing the Gospel, he prayed and asked Jesus to forgive him of his sins and to come in and take control of his life!  This week at the Experience he’ll be easy to spot…he’s 6’8″ and will have a huge smile on his face…make sure you congratulate Scott on his decision.
• Amazingly he is not the tallest person in our church…that honor goes to Scott Browning who is 6’9″.
• Can’t wait until we start a church basketball team…we’re going to dominate!
• Just realized that they are both named Scott…easy for you to remember that way.
• Later in the day, Earl lead a lady into a relationship with Jesus!  I’m amazed and honored that God allows us to play a part in His-story.
• Did I mention that I’m pumped about this weekend and that you’d be an idiot not to show up with a car full of guests with you.
• Yes I know I just said idiot….Webster’s says that it’s someone who acts foolishly…so there you have it…you’d be a fool not to invite someone with you this week…there feel better? :)
• The holidays are on a weird schedule this year…tomorrow night we celebrate Thanksgiving with my family and I just found out that Christmas with my niece will need to be on December 21st.
• Lisa’s mom just called from a Florida amusment park called The Holy Land Experience.  Lisa and I visited it a few years back and it was really neat.  Anyway, her mom was in one of the stores and wanted to know if Lisa wanted a lamp like the 10 virgins in the New Testament carried.  Why exactly she picked that out we don’t know….oh no, you don’t think that after 12 years of marriage that she still thinks Lisa is a…
• Haha, I make myself laugh sometimes.
• Yes I know I have an overly inflated opinion of myself.
• Earl said yesterday that it’s the only thing bigger than the 2 Scott’s.
• I love that our staff can joke around with each other…even when there’s some truth mixed in there.
• Alright this post is getting long…I’ll wrap-up with something you’ve never heard from me.   THIS  WEEKEND IS GOING TO BE AMAZING…MAKE SURE YOU INVITE SOMEONE TO COME WITH YOU!