- Just waking up from a 2+ hour nap!
- Very tiring yet productive day.
- Had 5 more people make professions of faith in Jesus!
- That now puts us over 150 since we launched 15 moths ago…amazing…thank you Jesus for allowing us to be a part of building your kingdom!
- For some odd reason I was wide awake this morning at 5am and couldn’t get back to sleep.
- It was weird having so much extra time this morning to get ready…sort of cool…but thus the 2 hour nap!
- After a couple of nice warm weather days, I almost left the house with only a hoodie on but then thought better and put my winter jacket on.
- Glad I did…it was freezing setting out signs this morning.
- The technology gremlins were out in full force this morning during set-up.
- Nothing too major but just a lot of little things that were annoying.
- Grateful for Andy, Mike and Cris and their willingness to keep troubleshooting until everything worked perfectly.
- Had a lot of people email/text/call in sick so we were short-staffed for serving but was able to get all the serving roles filled.
- Despite a lot of sick people out, we had a pretty decent size crowd today and they came fired up.
- Love when the crowd is engaged fully in worship!
- I wrapped up the “Little Faither” series by looking at the story of Elijah worrying after Jezebel threatens his life.
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- I really enjoyed preaching this series…in fact one of my favorites since we launched.
- Had so many people say how helpful it’s been.
- Even if for no one else, it’s been helpful to me during some stressful times both personally and professionally the past few months as I prepared for it and now finally delivered it.
- Next week we begin a new series and I couldn’t be more excited for what’s going to happen next week…as a reminder…DO NOT INVITE ANYONE NEXT WEEK!!!!
- That’s right you didn’t read that wrong…do not invite anyone…this will make a lot more sense once you’re there and see the special surprise we have in store for everyone.
- Trust me you’ll be talking about this for a long time.
- So if you’ve ever been to ExponentialChurch.tv, do whatever it takes to be there next week.
- If you’ve never been with us, then hold off until February 12th.
- Speaking of February 12th, don’t forget to mark your calendars that we will be sharing communion together in the lobby at 9:10am that morning and then everyone going out to Infinito’s for lunch at 12pm.
- Should be a great day of sharing life together.
- Hope everyone has a great week…see you Sunday for our special surprise.
Dave, God and Guns-N-Roses
Today I ate lunch with Aaron and Dave Draper, the President of Winebrenner Seminary, at TGI Fridays. Dave is an awesome, awesome man of God and any time he is in town I consider it a real honor to be able to spend time with him and soak up any words of wisdom he has to impart.
Let’s just say Aaron and I got fed in more than one way. Dave was hitting both of us square between the eyes on some pretty heavy stuff. While he said he was proud of us, he also let us know we were prime candidates for burn-out unless we learn to get some balance in our lives. He challenged us to make sure we’re getting not only a day off but a Sabbath day as well. He encouraged us that we’re in this for he long haul so take some time to slow down and enjoy the journey…not to be in such a rush.
As we were finishing up he said he wanted to pray for us. At first it was hard to hear is prayer because of the loud song in the background. But less than 15 seconds in, the song switched…to whistling…as Dave continues to pray I realize the song is Patience by Guns-N-Roses. It was all I could do to keep from busting out laughing…”Ok God I get it!” I couldn’t help but wonder if Aaron was feeling the same thing…as soon as Dave says amen we look at each other and bust out laughting…he had thought the same thing.
Funny how God will speak to you through a preacher and one of the most profane rock groups of all times. As I said heading out the door, “Even Elijah was fed by a dirty bird, so why can’t we”…hope Dave didn’t think I meant him :)