Camille

We have had Camille all day. It has been great. I think she actually likes me now. Now she cries when Joe comes around. I feel sorry for Joe but better him than me.

New Series: Heroes

I'm excited about this series that begins tomorrow. I'm using the tag lines from the tv series Heroes as sermon titles. So tomorrow is "Are you on the List?" Next Sunday will be "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World." Then "Unleash Your Inner Freak" followed by "How Do You Stop an Exploding Man?" The last one will be called "Legacy." God is giving me some good stuff. I can't wait.

Blessed and Ruined

I began a new book this week and it is both blessing me and ruining me at the same time. I have to be careful when I read a book and really like it. I end up trying to copy it. Like when I watch a movie. If its a western, I'm talking like John Wayne when its over. If it's James Bond, I'm talking like a Brit. If its Forrest Gump, I'm talking Gump. It drives Pattie crazy. There are some books worth emulating but I must realize that they are talking about their story and what God wants to do with me in my story may look totally different. Sometimes we need our way of thinking challenged. We have been taught a certain way and believe we are right but have never really looked at things from a different perspective. The book is The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. He is writing about what it would be like to follow Jesus completely. He writes about the chasm between the rich and poor. He visits Mother Theresa and interns at Willow Creek. He speaks of social activism and relational living instead of church that throws money at a need from a distance. It really is messing with me. I dare you to read it.

Stranger Than Fiction

I saw this movie last night with Will Ferrel and I was pleasantly surprised. My expectations were low but I ended up enjoying it very much. It reminds me of the Heroes series that I am starting tomorrow. We are all in a story and sometimes we forget that we are the main characters. Our narrator is God and He also orchestrates the events in our lives and stars in our story. We are all headed to a predestined end. How we get there really does matter.

God is Good!

Even when things aren't good, God is good. Even when you don't sense that God is doing anything special (or anything at all), He is behind the scenes working. I already have great news to share but I am going to wait until church is over tomorrow to tell you about it. Sorry that I haven't blogged this week.

Sunday recap

• Good attendance for the end of June and the middle of summer. With shorter Summers because of school starting at the first of August, more people squeeze vacations into a smaller window of time. Which increases the chances that more people would be gone on the same Sunday. I said all that to say that I'm pleased with our attendance.
• Loved the song selection by the band. I love that song "Never Let Go." It really speaks to me every time we sing it. "And I can see the light that is comin' for the heart that holds on, And there will be and end to the struggles but until that day comes, I'm gonna praise You, I'm gonna praise you!" I believe every trial has an end. Some may take years to complete and you may feel that they will never end but they will end. That's why God promises a reward for those who endure til the end and never give up. God never let's go.
• It was the 18th anniversary of my wonderful marriage to the love of my life, Pattie. I had a secret practice with the band on Sat. morning and surprised her with a song. I sang Keith Urban's "It's a Love Thing." I promised everyone that I would not sing for a long time after this.
• My sermon was "Five Words for a Great Marriage." It was taken from the Song of Solomon.
• We had visitors.
• The offering was not good. It was the smallest of the Summer and I hope that is the last time I have to write those words.
• We had a church wide bowling event Sunday late afternoon. It was a chance to get to know each other in a different context. We had a great turn out and a lot of fun. The more I bowl, the worse I get.
• All but one of our signs that we place in the community were taken. When I went to get them on Sunday night they were gone. I am trying to find out if the city of Holly Springs did it or some sign nazi who hates signs did it. Those things aren't cheap and its our only advertisement right now.
• Pattie and I had our anniversary date Sat. night. We went to Longhorn's and a movie. Pattie was as pretty as ever and we both enjoyed our time together. We saw Ocean's 13 which I thought was very good and funny and better than 12 although Pattie liked 12 better.

The Power of Prayer

At the end of May, we shut down all our home teams to begin a Wed. night prayer time. It has been the best move that I have made in a while. When we first started Axios, we met for worship on Sunday mornings and met for prayer on Wed. nights. That's all we did. But as we grew, there was a desire (and a need) for more. So we started other things, good things, necessary things, God-honoring things such as Bible studies for men and women, Bible Blasters for kids, VBS, Home Teams, etc. But we got away from praying. Not from praying individually but from coming together to pray. I always said that there are two things necessary to build a church. I called them Enabling Ministries. They were giving and prayer. Giving provides the resources, prayer provides the power. Giving and prayer are forces that unleash the abundance and power of God. In the four weeks that we have met together to pray, I have noticed these things:

1. Our giving has increased. I list it first because it is a number and therefore easy to monitor and watch. God plainly says, "You have not because you ask not."
2. The atmosphere is changing. Attendance has been fair to good but the spirit has been great. God's presence is being felt. Wednesday is carrying over to Sunday.
3. Visitors keep coming. God is sending people our way.
4. Lives are being changed. I received an e-mail from a man who is exactly the type of person we are trying to reach. Someone who has been disconnected from God and church but now wants to take "the next step" in their journey of faith.
5. Excitement is building. There is a sense that God is moving and that is always exciting.

The number of people praying is small (11 different people in all) but the power is that we are coming together to pray. Jesus acknowledges His special presence when 2 or 3 come together. I can't imagine what would happen if 20 or 30 would come together. I hope we find out.

The wierdest thing happened while I was in Kiev

I just have Ukraine on my mind right now and saw this picture. There we were in the middle of one of the biggest and most beautiful cities in the world, Kiev, when we looked across the street and saw Shrek. It was wierd.

Happy Birthday Penny!

I wanted to give a shout out to my sister, Penny. It was her birthday yesterday but she got overshadowed by Father's Day. Penny and her husband, David are missionaries in Ukraine. This picture was taken when I visited them in Ukraine a couple of years ago. We were almost eaten by that big sunflower but I turned around just in time and we got out of there. Penny, you have always been a blessing to me as a sister and a friend. I am proud of you and David for being who you are and doing what you do. For the next 26 days, you are as old as I am. Maybe this year you can pass me by. I've decided not to have a birthday this year. Say Hi to all my Ukraine friends including the Ferrarri's. Tell Vassia that Joe named his band after him. I hope to come and visit again someday but if I don't just remember that we will meet by a certain tree (I think it 's a maple) near the throne of God. Check out the picture on the sidebar.

Sunday Recap

We had a great Father's Day!

• I opened the service with an appropriate Father's Day song by Billy Ray Cyrus called "Busy Man." I wore my hat with a ponytail attached because it was the closest thing to a mullet I could find and you have to have a mullet to sing Billy Ray. It was a lot of fun!
• I led worship with a Third Day song called "Sing a Song." I love that song.
  
• The band took over after that and did a great job. I especially liked "Nothing But The Blood."
• We gave out ice cold Jones Sodas to all the dads. We had assorted flavors like Bubble Gum, Orange Cream, Strawberry Lime, Berry Lemonade, etc. Unique sodas for one of a kind dads.
• My sermon was "5 Reflections on 5 Years" which was an earlier post in this blog that I elaborated on.
• Attendance was good but not great but still a great atmosphere. This was the first Sunday that we had no visitors in a long time.
• Logan Dean was in church today for the first time since Amber passed away. It was very good to see him.
  
• The offering was great. That's three weeks in a row. God is good and our Axios family is really responding to our needs.
• Rayanne got home from her vacation with Jenny and Brian this afternoon. It's great to have her back home. I missed her.
• Rachele, Kris and Camille came over this afternoon, too.
• Went to Stevi B's for a late Father's Day Lunch.
• Joe and I went to see "the Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer." We both enjoyed it.

There are a few things that could have made this day better:

1. Tiger could have won the US Open but fell one stroke short.
2. The Braves could have beaten the Indians instead of taking a beating.
3. We had to take Ben to get his hand x-rayed and it really was broken. He fell Sat. night while playing basketball and used his hand to break his fall. Pray for quick and easy healing.
   

Seeing What God Is Doing

Tonight we are heading to Mountain Lake Church in Cumming, GA. This church is relatively new and is currently running 4 services (2 Sat. night, 2 Sunday am) to reach people. They were also written about in a book I read recently called Breaking the Missional Code. They are a church planting success story and so close to us that I thought we should go and see what we can learn from them. Visiting growing churches is a good way to get fresh ideas and fresh vision. Our visit to Ridgestone Church in the early Spring was very helpful in our recent push to reach our community.

Where can I get a mullet?

I'm at band practice getting ready to debut my vocal talents for Father's Day. It's actually been pretty fun. I'm doing this great Billy Ray Cyrus song (not the Achy Breaky Heart) and it just doesn't seem right to sing it without a mullet. Then I'm singing a Third Day song and those guys look like mullet men too. Maybe my hair will grow out by Sunday.

My World Just Got Bigger!

I just learned that Australia is a continent. I guess I thought it was a big island nation. It's not fair that one country gets a whole continent to itslef. I guess they try to even it out by saying New Guinea and Tasmania are also a part of the continent. What's really wierd is that New Zealand is not part of any of the continents but is on a continent that is 93% submerged in the ocean called Zealandia. This is just to say that we need to extend our influence a s a church to these newly discovered lands.

Group Photo

Just a handful of us who stuck around for a group shot to send to our kids from Compassion International. We have a great church. We have always had as a part of our vision to be an influence on every continent. We support missionaries, David and Penny Winget, in Ukraine as our European influence and of course we have N. America represented by our church in Holly Springs. But instead of waiting until we were financially ready to support more missionaries, we decided that we could at least be an influence in one life on the other continents through Compassion International. We sponsor kids from Colombia (S. Amer), Ghana (Africa), and India (Asia).

Father's Day Treat

On Mother's Day, we were blessed by having all 5 of my children lead in worship. They are a talented group but they didn't come on that talent by themselves. They got it from Mom and Dad (mostly from Pattie but that's beside the point). So as a special Father's Day treat, I will be opening this Sunday's service with 2 songs. Because of limited seating and because I'm going first, you had better arrive early or you will miss it.

Sunday Recap

I must start this post with an apology. I told everyone to check my blog on Sunday nights or at least the first thing Monday morning because I always write a Sunday Recap on Sunday nights but here it is at 9:30 Monday morning and I am just getting to the recap. But here it is:

• We had a great day! I know you are probably wondering if I would ever admit having a bad Sunday but barring natural disaster every Sunday should be a great day to celebrate Jesus, the resurrection and new life.
• Summer is here and you could tell it in our below average attendance but there was an unmistakable Spirit-filled atmosphere. I thoroughly enjoyed the day!
• I finished a two-part series called The Church A.L.I.V.E. I must admit that last week I struggled through the message. I was so excited about the message and got all hyped up that I tightened up and felt like I stumbled over my words most of the morning. But today was totally different. I felt relaxed, free, excited and everyone seemed attentive, responsive, and engaged. I pray that the Lord is moving in individual hearts to make us the church God intends for us to be. By the way, the acrostic is taken from David Foster's book, The Renegade's Guide to God and stands for Authentic, Loving, Integrated, Visionary, Engaged.
• The offering was great! We must continue with this generous spirit. Great means we met or exceeded budget, good means that we were close to budget, no comment means we need to do better.
• Our band is always good! They are awesome!
• Lou and Tracy brought fresh fruit for all of us to enjoy. Thanks for your thoughtful, generous spirit.
• Again we had visitors. All of them seemed to enjoy the service. Thanks for being such a warm, friendly body of believers.
• We took a group photo made up of any who wanted to stick around after church. It is to send to the three children that we are sponsoring through Compassion International. I hope to post it soon.
• I'm already looking forward to next Sunday!

Valuable Time

This week I had my sermon done by Wednesday. It has been several weeks since I have been ready this early for Sunday. And the last few weeks, it's been Saturday when I am finally ready. I didn't realize how not getting my sermon done early was keeping me from other important tasks that needed to be done. Instead of rushing off to the office on Friday morning, I woke up at 5:30 and realized I could go to the prayer meeting run by our church's landlord at 6 am. It was refreshing to be in that setting again and have some people pray over me and speak words of encouragement to me. That afternoon, I was able to take Pattie and Rayanne shopping at the mall as Rayanne is getting ready to go on vacation with Jenny and Brian and kids. Saturday morning was similar. Instead of running to the office, I got up at 8 and went prayer walking through Prominence Point. I am asking God to let us reach the Holly Springs community for Him. God flooded me with ideas on trying to reach out to this mostly affluent, suburban community. Then I came home and spent much of the afternoon completing some neglected tasks around the house. We grilled chicken and chops for supper (I am becoming quite the grill master) and now we are getting ready for a round of Dutch Blitz (that's a game not a drink). So not getting prepared in a timely manner takes away valuable time from my Savior, wife, family, and home. I have thoroughly enjoyed this weekend. I must do everything I can in order to be prepared by Thursday. It's better for me and everyone close to me and hopefully Sunday will be better too.

5 Reflections on 5 Years

1. I have an answer to Paul's question in Romans 8: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Answer: Every other force in the universe. Church planting is not easy. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. There are many obstacles to overcome, roadblocks to break through, difficult people to love. Thank God, He is for us! It would be impossible without Him. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
   
2. The adage "Where God guides, He provides" is true but I would like to add an amendment to it, "Lack of provision does not mean we're off mission." God has been good to us. He has provided in ways I would not have imagined. He has given to us things that we would have had to take out loans to pay for. Yet there are some needs that have gone unmet. There are some debts we owe. God is able to supply "all of our needs according to His riches in glory" but He has designed the Church to be funded by the freewill offerings of His people. He does not always put the check in the mail to bail out His people. There comes a time when the Church has to step up and meet their needs according to God's plan. We are not off mission; we are at a crossroads, a testing place. It is at this point that many church plants pack it in, become a statistic. It's a place we must pass if we are to be the Church God has called us to be.
   
3. Freedom is awesome! To not be bound to a denominational stance, or a traditional mindset, or Pharisaical leanings completely rocks. To start a church with only the Bible as your handbook and Christ at the head is the most exciting endeavor to launch out on. To dismiss dress codes, crank up the band, and disregard protocol is not for everyone and it is not meant to disrespect where we have come from but to do something fresh and new to reach people who have already said no to the traditional church. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free!" Christ has set us free and we love it.
4. People coming to Christ is the most wonderful thing to see! I have not always been excited about soulwinning (this is confessions of a pastor). I've seen to many people pray a prayer and go away unchanged because we have carefully crafted our presentation so that only a fool would say no. But to see someone come to Christ without manipulation but solely on the conviction of the Holy Spirit is beautiful and worth shouting about. I hope that this year we can do more and more shouting.
5. I love to preach the Word of God! It is fun, challenging, exciting, redemptive, therapeutic, crazy, and hard. I want to do this for a long time.
   

Sunday Recap

Today was a good day because:

• It was a milestone. It marked 5 years of existence as a church.
  
• It marks my fifth year as a pastor.
  
• I was presented with a plate full of donuts and a Pepsi. (Just what I needed!)
• We had cake for everyone. (Thanks Monica!)
  
• The Band rocked on "Mighty to Save", "You Never Let Go", and "I'm Alive."
• We did a couple of old Axios favorites with Third Day's "You Are So Good To Me" and my wife did a great job on "Sing To The King".
• Our offering was great!
• We had visitors.
• Jesus Christ was lifted up.
• The Word of God was preached.
  

Captain and Camille

Have you ever seen a cuter baby! This is my granddaughter. I want her to call me captain so that we can be Captain and Camille. We will be a great team. Thanks Rachele and Kris for this beautiful child.

Chattanooga bound

I'll be heading to Chattanooga today. Ben has a scheduled basketball workout with my alma mater, Tennessee Temple University. Ben desires to go to school and play ball closer to home. He has a couple of opportunities. Pray that God will make it clear to him and that the right doors will open.