February 2012
1 post
I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who prayed & expressed your concern for me last night & today. Looks like I’m going to be fine after a little scare last night. I’ve been pretty worn down all day & have tons to catch up on but hope to be back on track in the next day or so.
January 2012
6 posts
So, I decided last week to register for FreeCycle to see if I could find something Susan was looking for, of course not really knowing how it worked. I’m sure you can turn off the emails you receive, but I’m just going to say WOW! The emails I receive, the requests people make… Really has me thinking. To me it’s one thing to take someone up on an offer to give something...
I started feeling really sick a few minutes ago so I layed down on the couch. MJ came over, felt my head and said, “You’re sick but I’m the caradactor, I can fix you.” After pumping on my stomach & putting my feet together to ‘check them’ she demanded, “Now turn on your back! Turn on your back so I can fix you!” (Somebody has been paying close...
Sometimes we look at others & make all kinds of assumptions about them. Sadly, I’ve learned we REALLY don’t know anything. When we say things like “I wish I had it like they do.” What you’re likely inviting is not at all what you want; their stress, their pain, their hurt. While we should lean in & love the people around us, having an “I want that”...
December 2011
1 post
I’m so over Microsoft. Isn’t it a bit ridiculous that I can’t open an excel spreadsheet properly in excel on my Mac? I think so.
October 2011
1 post
Let this roll around for a moment...
The way of Jesus is so counter cultural to anything we might think or assume. The apostle Paul illustrates this perfectly when he points out some things in the bible; in Romans 13:
// Submit to authority.
// Pay your bills.
// Pay your taxes.
And then he says, don’t owe anyone, but know that you owe love to everyone.
Wha…?
Yep.
Owe nothing to anyone—except for your...
September 2011
2 posts
Making a note...
Tonight, I’m reminded of saying I heard my wife say for the very first time shortly after she became my girlfriend about 13 years ago…
“It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”
The quote has been credited to everyone from Ben Franklin to Abraham Lincoln. I’m not sure who the quote really belongs to and...
Let this sink in....
Read this tweet tonight from Hugh Halter:
“Conversion, according to Jesus, was not about joining or switching to another religion. It was a change of heart and a subsequent process of learning and living kingdom life.”
I’m letting this sink in tonight and marinate.
What do you think are the implications for someone serious about following Jesus?
How does it affect how you...
August 2011
1 post
School by Mary Jane
“In my class there is Landon, she’s a girl. And there’s Piper oh yeah and Mary Claire.
Oh and there’s this boy in a red shirt, no one knows his name; he’s not a girl. No one wants to play with him. He doesn’t want to play with me but I don’t want to play with him. I don’t want him to be on my team. His name is Tina. OK, his name is not Tina, cause...
July 2011
5 posts
Faulty
Jesus speaking, is quoted as saying this in the Bible, Matthew’s account…
1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you...
On earth as it is in heaven...
This passage has been working through my heart for the last four months.
It has been marinating.
When something marinates the marinade completely changes that thing.
It challenges me in new ways daily. It’s changing things for me, in me.
It reminds me that my life purpose has everything to do with merging heaven and earth….
Matthew 6:9-13
“This, then, is how you...
Where's the line?
I don’t know if you’ve seen this article or not. If you haven’t you should…
So, I reference the article above because in some very odd and also sad way I found myself relieved in the fact that I wasn’t all alone.
What happened to those kids….happens…
I guess.
It isn’t always the popular thing to say something when injustice occurs. But if you know...
Treasure
In Luke 2, the gospel writer gives an account of Jesus & his family taking part in Jewish tradition. It’s really a beautiful account of a boy beginning to find his way in his culture and as a man, but also an account of God himself, in the flesh, taking his place as the savior of the world.
The thing that captures me in this text is what the writer describes at the very end. It is what every...
May 2011
3 posts
Seasons
There are seasons in all of our lives.
You know, much like the ones that occur during the year: winter, spring fall and summer.
Some have warm moments and some cold.
Some fun and some not so much.
Some reaping and some sewing.
Some hard, some easy.
The last few weeks I’ve had a great realization about something that had never crossed my mind in regard to seasons:
People act in...
CMTD
Consider this remarkable assessment: “Other more accomplished scholars in these areas will have to examine and evaluate these possibilities in greater depth. But we can say here that we have come with some confidence to believe that a significant part of Christianity in the United States is actually [only] tenuously Christian in any sense that is seriously connected to the actual historical...
Keepin' up!
Last week I was flipping channels and ran into this movie. It was about half-way over but what I saw was intriguing and interesting. Because I enjoy a good story I was caught up in this one.
What caught me though, wasn’t that this was a ‘real life’ drama or anything, cause it’s not.
What got my attention is that this story happens and it’s happening. Now.
Remove...
April 2011
1 post
It's ON
So, I’ve had several conversations with several friends lately asking me what’s going or why haven’t you been blogging or several of your twitter posts seem to indicate this or that.
I’d like to give you an update by telling you whats going on.
IT is. All of it.
There is no such thing as uneventfulness, if you will.
I don’t know what the word uneventful even...
March 2011
3 posts
My Love.
I love my wife. Actually, if I’m honest. It goes deeper than just ‘love,’ well at least in the sense of the way that the word love gets flippantly tossed around in our culture.
Truth is, I’m crazy about my wife. I love her for so much of who she is and just that she is “her.” Because I care so much for her I am always thinking long and hard about our...
Words and Grace
Last week at The Grove we finished up our series, “Life As We Know it” and one of the things we dug into was that words create worlds. That every word we use has influence in either a positive or negative direction and as a follower of Jesus we have to own that.
Of course in the last week I’ve seen words flying. People making statements beyond their knowledge and assumptions...
February 2011
7 posts
(In)tense
This has been an intense week.
I’ve talked so much with our church about living in the tension over the last few months. I think living in the tension between God’s direction and my desires is extremely important and healthy. I think it leads us to that place of wholeness, in a sense an already/not yet place of experiencing the best of who God is and who He is revealing Himself to be...
Hungry
Just read this in my twitter feed posted by Alan Hirsch:
“We need to reorient people to not come to church as a restaurant, but church as a culinary school. Time for us to teach people to feed themselves.” ~Lance Ford
This speaks volumes to some of our churches biggest issues.
We have to begin to help people see that as a church we don’t do mission, we are a mission.
We...
A new life rises from this one. →
So many people I know are struggling.
Job loss.
House loss.
Income loss.
Family loss.
Friend loss.
And the list goes on. This article is extremely timely for all of us. Read it and be encouraged.
The Resurrection →
This was a great moment at Poets, Prophets and Preachers in July ‘09.
(ht @Khad for passing on the video)
Golden Grove
One time each month at The Grove we host what we call Leadership Community. We’ve been doing these since August and the point of it is for leaders in our church to gather and talk about leadership, grow together and talk about what God is doing through The Grove.
One of the REALLY important things we do each month is we award what is called ‘The Golden Grove’ award. We give this...
Quote of the day!
I’ve really been working through the idea of creating culture and so this statement from Sam Chand in his book “Cracking your Churches Culture Code” has really stood out.
With all of the things God is doing through The Grove right now, this is HUGE:
“The team leader may lead the culture, but it is sustained and deepened by the team members.” Sam Chand
You can...
January 2011
7 posts
Church Hurt...
Thinking about so many in our community who have been hurt by churches…
Though we’re all imperfect & mistakes are made, I’ve heard a whole lot of people make the statement, “I used to go to that church, but they hurt me so I left.”
Without getting into semantics, I think it’s huge to realize when someone says, I was hurt by that church, what they are...
Committees
Attention friends and family:
Today I’m announcing that I’m forming a committee who will explore whether we should form another committee to see if we have enough committees to say that I can eat a Popsicle everyday for the rest of my life. Thank you for your consideration in this life altering matter.
Big picture...
It’s taken me a long time to figure this out and no matter how much I read the bible and study I don’t think this is something I could’ve learned without simply experiencing life and interaction in the relationships God has placed me in. So here is what I have recently learned:
Sometimes in our pursuit of the next big thing we want God to do, we miss what God is doing or wants...
The point...
So, I’ve been reading this book called “The Next Christians” which I highly recommend. I’ll post a review later. In the book Gabe Lyons talks about Christian culture, which is very interesting as he says that Christians fit into two categories, with different labels for more individualized groups. The two categories are Separatist Christians and Cultural Christians. Again,...
Chasing...
I’m a thinker. The jury is still out on how good or bad I am at it, but I am a thinker for sure. Sometimes I think of great new ideas and sometimes I think of things that will just improve what I’m already doing. Often enough, I’m thinking of new ways that as a church The Grove can live out the vision that we have.
This last Sunday, I shared with our church that I thought that...
December 2010
5 posts
Resources
I’ve noticed that the word resources gets a lot of play in several ways these days:
1 - The financial ‘resource.’
2 - The educational ‘resource.’
3 - The people ‘resource.’
And on…
In our ministry we spend a lot of time thinking about how to navigate through with the financial resources we have and how to even increase said resources to do more...
Reflecting...
Memory is a good thing. I don’t have very much of it but I think taking the time to reflect on what happened last year or in times passed is a great exercise; hopefully one of learning.
I’ve learned a ton this year some of which were reminders, some things we’re brand new, let me think:
REMINDERS:
Converse All-Stars have and will always be my shoe of choice.
I love my...
Critics
My friend Dave just posted this on his Twitter feed and I think he’s spot on:
“If you want to criticize your pastor, ask to read his Monday inbox. Decide how you would respond to the email. Then say what you gotta say.”
I have been extremely blessed at The Grove, can I say that? Part of the reason for that is because I believe we have encouraged EVERYONE to be straight forward...
Church Planting Facts Volume 1
Occasionally I think I will share some things that I have learned in our journey to start a new church. Some of these may be more than you were looking for from me. But I think that it will help me & the honesty might just help some of you, well, those of you who might read for perspective on church planting. Some of it might be funny, some more serious, either way, I’m hopeful it will...
November 2010
6 posts
A new start, but not a finish...
Susan and the girls and I made our trek last night to North Carolina to spend time with my family. I think the two of us have been looking forward to just getting away for quite some time. We definitely needed a break. That break couldn’t have been any more well timed after the week that we had.
Last week was difficult at best. A transition sort of snuck up on us in a sense but in other...
Incoming
I can sense it. It’s been a long time coming, but were in the midst of the early days of a movement in Henry County…
Are you ready?
That's you AND me...
It’s the day after an election and emotions are still high. I’m noticing an interesting trend in the world; many people assuming this and that. All I can say is, remember what happens when we a s s u m e folks…
A good reason.
Just thinking about so many friends, who are scraping by right now (we all are) and are trying to make things work by taking several part time jobs & still struggle to keep their families in their homes & food on the table. This is why it is so important to vote; to choose character and integrity over name & nonsense. Identify the candidate who is living above reproach and isn’t...
I'll be voting...
So, I don’t usually talk a lot about politics on my FB page or my blog, but for today I’m going to make an exception (or two). I was reading a nice little smear ad by a local young man in Henry County; this young man is running for school board in our community. As I read it I noticed a couple of things that were interesting, mainly, this young man said that he is going to, as a member of the...
October 2010
4 posts
