Words from the Warehouse

The Last Post

2008-09-17T15:51:00.000-05:00

Follow the rest of our story at raybrim.com.

The second to the last post on this blog

2008-09-11T20:33:00.001-05:00

Looks like it will be at least Monday before the next blog is ready. Check in then for a link.

No more "Words From The Warehouse"

2008-09-06T08:17:00.002-05:00

This will be the last entry on this blog under the name "Words From The Warehouse." Tomorrow will be the first official Sunday where there is no Axios. We will be attending The Point Church where my friend, Brian Jones, is the pastor. This doesn't mean that I am ending this blog or leaving the "blogoshere" but it does means that the next time I post, this blog will take on another look. It marks the ending of one stage of my life and the beginning of a new one. With this blog, my life has literally become an open book and the next chapter is about to be written. If I were to write an autobiography, the chapters may look like this:

Chapter 1 - Indiana Born: Once a Hoosier Always a Hoosier (1960-1978)

I loved being raised in Indianapolis, IN. I am not a Bulldog or a Volunteer nor will I become whatever a Colorado person is but I am and always will be (even though I have not lived there in 30 years) a Hoosier. In the Bible, people were always identified by birthplace, parent and vocation. I can proudly say that my father's name is Nolan, a Kroger Dairy man from Indianapolis. I am his son and a product of that environment. It is a big part of who I am and the reason I always shop at Kroger.

Chapter 2 - Chattanooga, TN: Class Rooms and Dorm Rooms (1978-1984)

Some of the best times of my life were spent at Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga. I graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible and went on to Seminary there. I finished my graduate work in 1984 but did not officially graduate with my Masters of Religious Education until 1986. Some of the best friends I have ever had came from this chapter of my life especially my three brothers: Tim Shelton, Mark Trammell and David Snow. I loved being on my own, meeting a whole new group of people, and opening up my eyes to the world around me. It was a great time.

Chapter 3 - Dark Years and Wilderness Wanderings (1984-1986)

Without going into any detail, all my hopes and dreams and my calling came to a sudden stop shortly after I left Tennessee. All that I had ever wanted to be, the thing that I felt called to do, what I had studied and prepared for, was to become a Youth Pastor and it seemed like that was not going to happen. I remember talking to God about Romans 8:28 and telling Him that I had Him beat on this situation. Fortunately, this wasn't the last chapter of my story and God's promise proved to be true. Here's the subpoints to this chapter:
Geigertown, PA: Where the Wheels Came Off
Chicago, IL: A Lot of Fun But Still Falling Apart
Atlanta, GA: The Rebuilding Begins
Ft. Lauderdale: The Move I Didn't Make
Woodstock, GA: Johnny Hunt and the Darkness Is Lifted

Chapter 4 - Woodstock\Canton, GA: New Life, True Love, and Fulfilled Dreams (1986-2002)

The first time I went to First Baptist Woodstock, God spoke to me and the dark years ended as suddenly as they began. Johnny got me active in the Youth Department. I met my true love in 1988 and married Pattie in 1989 and instantly became the father of three. My dream of becoming a Youth Pastor became a reality in 1990. I served as Youth Pastor and eventually, Associate Pastor, at the Hopewell Baptist Church in Canton for 12 years. They were good years, great memories, wonderful people, and I will always be grateful to Pastor Norman Hunt for giving me that opportunity.

Chapter 5 - Holly Springs: Axios and a New Call (2002-2008)
In 2000 I began to sense God leading me out of youth ministry. Pattie and I publicly surrendered to a new calling but we were not sure what that calling was. We ended up staying at Hopewell for 2 more years as Associate Pastor until it was evident that it was time to move on. It was never my intention to start a church and I was hesitant to say that I wanted to be a Pastor but much like Paul, when he was at a crossroads and watched God block every effort until he received a vision for a new direction, the vision for Axios was birthed by process of elimination. I knew that I didn't want to assume a role as a "staff" person again and I felt no inclination to move from this area and I saw no churches that were compatible with the vision God was giving me concerning church but I had a group of people ready to follow my leadership. So we decided to start Axios and God miraculously provided the means and the place and planted us in Holly Springs. He gave me a heart for the town and gave us six wonderful years with the ups and downs of church planting for which I will always be grateful.

Chapter 6 - Denver, CO: The Adventure of a Lifetime? (2008-?)
When we started Axios, I always had a sense that the 5 year mark would be significant. I didn't know what would happen at that mark but I felt that we would know if we had succeeded or if it would be time to say "It's been great but its time to move on." When that day came, it was not clear what God was doing. There was plenty of good things happening and significant victories being won but by Easter of this year it was clear that the latter of the two was coming true. The swiftness of the way things transpired following Easter literally felt like God was pulling the plug on this ministry and on the first Sunday in June, 6 years almost to the day of our first service, we held our last service in the warehouse. But as swiftly as Axios was coming to a close, God was opening a new door in Colorado. I believe that God used these years to prepare me for what is to come. I do not know if Colorado is my final destination or just a stepping stone to the significant ministry God has ordained for me to do. But I am grateful that there is still another chapter to write and that God has counted me worthy (axios) of this new call.

Thanks to all of my family and friends that have followed this blog and stayed in contact with me through this medium. You can follow this Colorado chapter of my life with my next blog. Check back at this blog for a link to my next blog. Hopefully it will be up and running by Wed, Sept 10.

Sadie's Road Trip

2008-09-01T18:20:00.003-05:00

We had a great Labor Day weekend even though all of us went our separate ways. Rayanne went camping with Jenny and her family and friends. Joe went camping with Rachele and her family and friends. That left Pattie and I going to Tennessee to see our parents all by ourselves and no one home to care for Sadie. And even though Ben was coming home, his schedule was full so we took her with us. She did great and absolutely loved my family's pond as you can see in the video. I hope your weekend was as great as ours.

Don Miller's Prayer

2008-08-27T21:02:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite authors and speakers is Don Miller, best known for his book Blue Like Jazz. He gave the benediction at the opening night of the DNC. You can debate whether he should or shouldn't have accepted this invitation and you can disagree with his political leanings but I believe the prayer was well composed and delivered. Listen to the video and tell me what you think.

Look at our house

2008-08-26T21:01:00.003-05:00

We had someone come and look at our house today - our first potential buyer. It was weird having a stranger walk through our house with such a critical eye. But she seemed pleased and stayed for a while. She said that she would like to bring her husband by later. Her response to our house doesn't surprise me. Pattie fell in love with it the first time she saw it. It seemed to be perfect for us. I also love this house. It was an answer to prayer and a fulfillment of dreams. God was good to us in giving us this house for the last so many years and I expect His goodness to continue as we seek to follow Him.

We've come full circle.

2008-08-24T15:47:00.004-05:00

Today was the last time that we would be meeting on Sunday morning as Axios Church. The irony of it all is that a little over 6 years ago, we began Axios by meeting in this same living room with a handful of people about the size of the group that met today (Jim, Donna, me and Pattie are the only one's left from that original group). At the first of April 2002, our group began to visit different churches on Sunday morning and then met at our house on Sunday nights to pray and look at Scripture and seek guidance concerning starting a church. At the first of May, we felt led to begin Axios Community Church. We began giving and praying because we knew we would need God's power and financial resources to take on this endeavor. God began to immediately move and amazingly and , to me, miraculously provided a warehouse space for us to begin in. We had our first official service on June 2, 2002 with 50 people. There are too many stories to tell of the good things we accomplished, the lives that we touched, and also of how God worked in me to mold and shape my faith, my thinking, my life into the follower I am today. Of course, there are also stories of failures, disappointments, missed opportunities that have also led us to where we are today. But I am not sad, nor full of regret, or ashamed but honored by this opportunity called Axios, grateful for this journey, and excited about the next endeavor, dream, challenge that lies ahead. In 2002, while we met in our home, we looked at the different prayers that Paul prayed for the young churches that he had helped start but then had to leave behind. Through this study, we discovered our name "Axios" in a prayer in 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12. It is the Greek word translated "worthy." Today, we looked at one final prayer which is also my prayer for all who have been a part of Axios, for all those who read this blog and all who seek to be fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. It's found in Ephesians 3:14-21 and says:

"For this reason I kneel before the Father,
from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
I pray that out of his glorious riches
he may strengthen you with power
through his Spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the saints,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more
than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us,
to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations,
for ever and ever!
Amen."

Home For Sale!

2008-08-22T17:21:00.002-05:00

This evening at approximately 6:00, a "For Sale" sign was placed in our front yard. It is a glorious sight. It is the day we have been working toward. It took me about 20 minutes to get the sign into the parched, dry, hard ground but it is in. Hopefully that will be the hardest part of selling this home.

Why would God need me in Denver?

2008-08-20T12:57:00.000-05:00

Church planting can be a mystery. I have seen church plants come into this area only to disappear in a short time and some that have taken root and seem to be fruitful. There are other churches in Cherokee County that started about the same time or shortly after we started Axios in 2002. Several of these churches have pastors that are not from around here. They moved from Iowa, Arizona, Ohio, or from other parts of GA just to plant churches in this area. During the year or so that we struggled at Axios, I would often wonder why God had to bring these guys in from other places when I was right here, ready, willing and able to be God's man in this area. Now that I tell people that I am moving to Denver to start a church, I often get the this reaction, "Why would God need to send you to Denver to plant a church? Doesn't he have someone in Denver that He can use in Denver?" I have some thoughts about this:

I am not a Georgia native. Most of my life has been outside the state of Georgia. I was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, went to college and seminary in Chattanooga, TN, worked in Geigertown, Pennsylvania and Chicago, Illinois and then moved to GA in 1986. I may have moved here before these other church planters but I still had to move here to get here. The point is that I don't necessarily belong here. I do believe that God divinely led me here and that He has used me here in ways I never could have imagined but He is now divinely moving me again and as His follower, I must simply go. The only difference in this move is that I am not alone. I am moving with my wife and daughter and the ones that I am leaving behind (especially my 2 daughters, 2 sons, 2 sons-in-law, 4 grand kids) are more dear to me than any I have ever bid farewell to. It makes it harder yet I feel more excitement than sadness and more love and encouragement from those closest to me than ever before.
Just because I have lived in Cherokee County for 22 years doesn't necessarily mean I am the best man to reach Cherokee County. If being a native of an area makes you the best candidate to reach that area, then no one should ever venture out and missionaries should all stay home. Jesus seems to teach the opposite. He said in Matt 13:57, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor." Longevity and familiarity do not always translate into converts and disciples.
"Going" and "sending" have been a part of the Christian mandate since Jesus' ascension. How else could the Gospel be spread around the world? Why wouldn't God send me? Why isn't He sending you?
In Acts 21, the Apostle Paul was staying with Philip who had 4 daughters that prophesied. But it was a prophet from Judea that God used to bring His message to Paul. 4 prophets right in the house where he was staying but God brought the message from somewhere else. Sometimes the outside voice is more readily received than the insider's voice that has been there all the time.
Isaiah 28:11 says "Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people." This may be a loose translation of Isa. 28 but it seems that God is saying that the people of Ephraim were not listening to local voices so He was bringing in outsiders as a last resort to bring repentance. Sometimes the foreign voice brings about the results God is looking for better than the local voice that has become common and drowned out. Maybe this is why there is a church planting movement going on right now. Maybe God is doing everything He can to get the attention of people. And if that means moving a guy from NC to Woodstock or a guy in Holly Springs to Denver then so be it. And praise God that He is active and moving and expanding His Kingdom.

Something Weird!

2008-08-20T11:08:00.000-05:00

I had this song stuck on my mind last week. It came out of nowhere and I sang it on my bus everyday last week.

"Don't pull your love out on me, baby
If you do then I think that maybe
I'll just lay me down and cry for a hundred years
Don't pull your love out on me, honey
Take my heart, my soul, my money
But don't leave me drownin' in my tears"

Then I was driving in the car Friday night and scanning through stations and this song came on the radio. What are the chances of that happening? It was weird.

And then today, I went to the dentist, a new dentist that I had not seen before. He thought I looked familiar and in talking found out that he went to school with my daughter, Jenny. Not only was that weird, it made me feel old. I have been here too long. I'm ready for Denver.

The Inevitable and the Possible: Part 3

2008-08-18T11:20:00.005-05:00

Finished this series by looking at the end of Matthew 25 and what is known as the "Judgment of the Nations" or "The Sheep and the Goats." God gets very specific about what He is looking for as evidence of our relationship with Him: feeding, clothing, sheltering, healing, befriending those who cannot feed, clothe, shelter, or heal themselves. I don't believe that this is a complete list but it does give us a picture of what a follower of Jesus Christ should look like. Of course, we could sum it up by asking "Are we living a life of love?" After looking at several passages concerning this judgment, I am convinced that the Bible teaches that it is possible to do these things (acts of compassion) as well as other Christian activities (Matt 7:21-23) and not have a personal relationship with God. But it is impossible to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and not do these things. It's what we do because we belong to Christ. We care, we love, we are moved with compassion to meet the needs of others. I don't feel like I have been honestly taught about this in my younger Christian life. I feel like we have been more concerned about "being good" rather than "doing good." That we have concentrated on not doing something wrong rather than attempting something great for God. "Separation from the world" trumped "compassion for the world." Its time to get our hands dirty, to dig a well, to rescue a child caught in slavery or sex trafficking, to take a meal to a neighbor, to visit a widow, to give more money than you have ever given before. Its time because the inevitable IS going to happen and maybe sooner than you think. It is possible to make a difference today. Its up to you to do it.

Working hard!

2008-08-18T11:04:00.003-05:00

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel about the house being ready. I'm so tired of working on it and talking about it and blogging about it. But, I must say, the house looks great.
Rachele came over Saturday and helped all day with the house. That also meant Camille was here and that's always a good thing. We got a lot done between Rachele, Pattie, Joe, Joe Stag and myself.
Ben came home for the weekend. He said it was weird knowing that their was no bed and really no place for him to come home to. It was a little sad. The good thing is that he loves his new college and believes that the Lord did an amazing thing to get him there. I'm very excited for him.
Jim and Donna came over last night. Jim helped me with an electrical issue that I am just not comfortable to try myself. He did it easily and then we all went out to eat.
Friday was a good bus driving day. I received an unsolicited hug from an ES kid and 3 "I love you"'s, 1 "you're awesome" and 1 "you are the sweetest man" from my high schoolers. Its nice to be loved. Giving out blow-pops didn't hurt any.

Sunday Recap

2008-08-12T21:13:00.003-05:00

Continued my series on "The Inevitable and the Possible" from Matthew 25. Looked at the parable of the talents. According to this parable, to prepare for the inevitable (standing before God and giving an account for your life), you must see yourself as a servant and a steward. When we see that we are servants, we realize that we serve Someone greater than ourselves. It keeps us from becoming self-serving, self-centered, and just plain selfish. The selfish life is not a rewarding life and leads us far away from the possibilities to change the world and live a meaningful life. A steward is someone who has been entrusted with someone else's stuff. God has entrusted us with much (wealth, time, talents, etc.) but make no mistake, it all belongs to Him. It may feel like yours but He could take it all back tomorrow. So make a point to use it all wisely and with His goals in mind. To know that God trusts me with His stuff and that He wants me to use it for His kingdom opens up a world of possibilities. He doesn't micromanage. He leaves it up to us on how to invest and what to invest in but make no mistake, He expects a return. What are you doing that proves that you are ready for the inevitable? There is a whole world out there that needs you. Find a cause to champion and be a hero to someone in need.

Busy Life!

2008-08-12T20:50:00.002-05:00

Did a wedding on Friday night at Lake Arrowhead. It was outside, right on the water and was absolutely beautiful.
Spent Saturday cleaning out the rest of the garage and started on the basement. The basement is filled with sound and a/v equipment from the church. It was a big task. Took most of the day. Joe and Joe knocked a couple of other tasks off our list and Pattie was also hard at work. We got a lot done and our to-do list got much shorter.
They started our roof late Friday afternoon and worked till they ran out of shingles on Sat. Finally finished on Monday. It looks great.
Sunday, we installed a dishwasher. I say "we" but I mainly watched my friend, Jim Warrington, do most of the work.
Monday, Pattie and I took Ben to Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, GA. It's about 2 hours away. Ben has a basketball scholarship there. Nice but small school. He was able to get an apartment which is as close to the school as most of the dorms. It's good to see him back at school and pursuing his dreams.
Jim and I were going to take Ben's bed and desk to him tonight since his apartment is unfurnished. But the rain made us put that off until tomorrow.
Pressure washer guy is coming Thursday and hopefully we will have a sign in the yard by the weekend.
My friend, Dwayne, told me that I should stop working on the house and just put a sign up. He says God wants to sell my house but all my fix-it stuff is holding up progress. I'm starting to believe that.
And in the midst of all this, the other things of life are happening. I'm still pastoring a small group and driving a bus twice a day and getting my ice coffee. Plus trying to plan for Denver.
You all can put your violins away now, I know that you are busy, too.

School Started.

2008-08-06T10:20:00.002-05:00

Monday put me back behind the school bus wheel. It wasn't bad. I got chewed out by a mom who said I got to her son's stop 4 minutes too early and preceded to tell me that I was not running the route properly and didn't like the fact that he had to cross the road to get on the bus. I would have had a little sympathy if her son was in kindergarten but he is in high school. She needs to let go of his teenage hand and let him experience life on the other side of the street. Then I have a high school route and mistakenly picked up a middle school girl. Which, after we both figured out she was on the wrong bus, I had to take her back to her house only to discover more of my actual high schoolers at the stops that I had already been to. So I ended up driving the route twice. But other than that, it was a great day.

The Inevitable and the Possible

2008-08-06T09:46:00.002-05:00

There are things in this life that are inevitable because God has willed it. There are things that are going to happen that we can't stop no matter what we do. And then there are things in this life that are possible because we will it. We decide to get involved, to engage the culture, to create a new future. We make things happen. For example, it is inevitable that Jesus is returning. God has willed it. But it is possible to be prepared for His return. It's not inevitable but possible. It is inevitable that we will give an account for our lives. God has willed it. But it is possible to be found faithful at that judgment. Its our choice. It is inevitable that God is going to change this old world. God has willed it. But its possible to change the world or at least somebody's world now if we decide to. It is inevitable that life as we know it will end either through death or His return. God has willed it. But it is possible that our life can make a difference and can be well lived. Its our choice.
I do not fear the inevitable. God has given me time to prepare for those events. But I am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead of me and my family. When you are prepared for the inevitable, the possibilities are limitless. I can make a difference. I can join with God in creating a new world. I can change the future. Its possible to do the impossible. And the great thing is that you can, too, if you so choose.
We are following a new path full of uncertainty. Success (or what we think success is) is not inevitable. Ease, comfort, wealth are not guaranteed. But the possibilities of God using us in Denver is enough to make the journey worth it. I'm thankful for the opportunity.

Are you enjoying life?

2008-07-31T10:46:00.003-05:00

Do you enjoy life or just endure it? If the joy meter was hooked up to your heart, what would the reading be? Don't confuse joy with pleasure, happiness, fun, excitement or any other feeling that is temporary and dependent on the circumstances, activities and situations of life. Joy includes those things but is best measured when things aren't going so well, when things aren't fun, exciting, pleasurable or even happy. Joy is not event-driven but God-given. The Bible says that there is joy in God's presence and since God is always with us (the #1 promise in the Bible), joy is always available. Its evidence that we are rising above rather than staying under the circumstances. It comes from knowing that whatever is happening is temporary and that life and love is not out of reach nor eluding me but has been there all along. Psalm 139 is a beautiful picture of the presence of God and concludes with a very important inventory to see if we really understand His presence in our lives.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart" If we have secrets and things that need to remain hidden and are unable to lay ourselves bare before God and afraid that someone may find out what you did or who you really are then joy will always be elusive to you. Is there anything that you are hiding from God or others?
"Test me and know my anxious thoughts" Fear and worry are things that rob us of joy. It is not a path of trust and peace. Jesus taught in the parable of the sower that it is the cares of this world that choke out the life that God desires for you to have. God says to worry about nothing and pray about everything. Worry has never solved a problem (it usually magnifies a problem) but God has been known to do amazing things for those who trust Him. What is keeping you up at night that should be given to the Lord?
"See if there is any offensive way in me" Often we sacrifice joy on the altars of pleasure, expediency and acceptance. Sin may bring temporary pleasure and satisfaction but eventually leads us to a dead end. Is there anything that you should confess?
"And lead me in the way everlasting" Sometimes joy stays just out of reach when we are not pursuing the life and work that God has called us to do. We set our sights on the next purchase or promotion or award only to find that it doesn't satisfy. Maybe we hate our job or just feel that there ought to be something more or greater to live for. And you are right, God has a plan and a purpose for you, good works that He has ordained only for you to accomplish. Is there something or someone that you feel you should be helping? Is there a charity that you should be active in? Find out what would bring you joy and just do it.

Sunday Recap

2008-07-31T10:26:00.005-05:00

I know it is Thursday but I still want to tell you about Sunday. We are still met at the Dorr's house and will be there again this Sunday. It has worked out fairly well.
Joe led worship and did a great job. I was impressed.
Pattie and Donna returned from Florida on Sat. morning. I was glad to have her home. She had a great time and her back held up well. Keep praying for her as it is still tender.
Took Jim and Donna to Longhorn's for Jim's birthday. That was fun as well as good.
Finished our series on "Behold Your God!" with a look at God's omnipresence. It was a good finish to the series.
Starting the final series as Pastor of Axios next week. We will be looking at Matt 25 and examining each of the three teachings from this chapter. I do not feel really sad nor do I feel like this is the end. We are on a journey and that journey continues. For the last few years, our journey through life brought us together and now our roads are parting. God has a plan for each of us, a next step, a new place to grow, a chance to follow our dreams. May we all faithfully continue down the straight path of trust in our God and take comfort in the promise that this path will bring the greatest amount of glory to God and the greatest amount of blessing to our own lives.

Finally getting to blog.

2008-07-31T08:44:00.003-05:00

Sorry for not posting lately but I am slammed trying to get this house on the market. So far I have had the front porch jacked up and secured and painted, the inside trim and doors painted, the deck waterproofed and sealed, the garage cleaned out which was no small task, the roofer delivered materials and a dumpster yesterday and the garage doors are suppose to be installed today. This leaves pressure washing the house and driveway, painting the outside windows, and a little yard work. It's a shame to move after getting the house looking so good. I saw Gary Lamb (pastor of Revolution Church and is moving into our old warehouse space) the other day and tried to sell him my house. I reasoned that since he is wanting to reach Holly Springs, he ought to live in Holly Springs. He didn't bite. He did give me a tour of the warehouse and showed me the changes they were making. I was impressed. Its going to look real good. I have no doubt that they will draw a crowd.

Can I Live to Be 140?

2008-07-23T09:26:00.003-05:00

I was sitting at McDonald's yesterday, sipping my medium hazelnut ice coffee, when a thought occurred to me: "I want to live!" Now, not that I had a death wish before this but I suddenly had a new desire to see the next century. So for me to see the year 2100, I would have to live to be 140 years old. Not impossible. Others have lived longer. Methusaleh, Abraham, Moses to name a few. But where did this thought come from? I have a great life, an awesome wife, a wonderful family but when you live in a world where there are hardships, sorrow, difficulties, toils, trials or whatever other word you can think of to describe how we get worn out, the thought of living past 80 can feel wearisome. Then I thought, "I will certainly have to change some things if I am to attain this goal." For one, I would have to stop coming to McDonald's and drinking ice coffee everyday. I must admit that this lessened my desire to live that long but I was still wondering what made me think about this. Then it occurred to me that "change" is the answer. When you are stuck in the bill paying, house keeping, car driving, fast food eating routine that we call life and feel that we have arrived and this is how it is going to be, it is easy to say "Come, Lord, quickly." The last 2 years have been difficult at Axios. Meeting budget was a challenge. Seeing good friends being led away to other churches was discouraging. This is not to say that good things weren't happening also. The last 2 years have also been good. I have read more, learned more, grown more personally than I ever have and there were people getting saved and new families attending. But when it became evident that we had to move out of our warehouse space, I did not know if I had the energy to keep this going. I did not know if changing locations was going to make a difference. I knew that I didn't want to try another 5 years and still be in the same place. I was not unsure of my call just unsure of whether we were in the right place. So I began to pray. And God immediately began to move. And now we are moving to Denver. God is moving us to Denver! He has something more in store for us! It energizes me, excites me, scares me, challenges me but most of all it makes me want to live! It is true that when you stop learning, you stop growing. And when you stop growing, you stop changing, and when you stop changing, you die. What are you reading? Who is challenging you? What new dreams are you dreaming? What new challenge is waiting for you? Moving is not necessary but growing is. God wants to change you and make you cry out "I want to live!" Maybe I won't make it to 140 but I'll die trying.

New Route

2008-07-23T09:21:00.002-05:00

I was disappointed to find out at the bus meeting that they had changed my route. My high School route is the same but my elementary is different and that's the one I was really looking forward to doing again. I loved those kids and now I only have 2 months to get to know a whole new set of kids. It will still be fun.

Sunday Recap

2008-07-20T21:28:00.002-05:00

Great to be at church today. I was pumped about the message.
Spoke on God's omniscience from Romans 11:33 - 12:2. Just reiterating one point. The opening line is "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God." God's wisdom enriches our lives and is better than an endless supply of money. Most people think that most of their problems would be solved if they had more money. I sometimes fall into that trap. We see money as an answer while God consistently exposes it as the problem. Jesus taught things such as how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, that it is the "deceitfulness of riches" that chokes the seed of the Gospel and keeps it from bearing fruit, that it competes for the lordship of your heart, that we should beware of all kinds of greed. The Bible further teaches that the love and desire for money is the "root of all evil." It's not only the problem but also the test. It tests who and what we are putting our faith in. Our lack of money causes us to turn to God while the overflow of reaches opens new challenges of obedience. God says that He is the answer and following Him enriches our lives.
Pattie went with our friend, Donna, to Daytona for the week. Its their opportunity to spend time together before we move. I don't like being away from my wife but I hope she has fun.
Went to see the Batman movie with Joe, Bob, and Monica this afternoon. It was very good. It was weird watching Heath Ledger knowing that he is dead now but his performance was incredible.
Hated that Greg Norman couldn't pull out a victory at the British Open.
Have a bus meeting tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to it.
I'm ready to get on with our move to Colorado. I'm anxious to get started. I hate waiting for everything to get done before we can move. I pray everyday for a fast, generous buyer.
Its hotter that whooey!

Offense or Defense?

2008-07-19T21:01:00.003-05:00

I'm still intrigued with the story of Jonathan and Saul in 1 Samuel 13 and 14 and how it relates to Daniel 11:32 (NASB) "the people who know their God will display strength and take action." It is often hard for people to muster the courage to act on their faith. We are obsessed with comfort and safety and do everything possible to prevent the uncomfortable and the risky. Jonathan and Saul are in contrast in this story. The faith of Jonathan is what we should strive for but Saul is the usual picture of how we live. Jonathan had an "offensive mindset" that caused him to initiate action while Saul was more "defensive" and ended up just reacting to the circumstances around him. Jonathan was always taking the battle to the enemy while Saul was always waiting under a tree for God to do something. Jonathan was tackling problems and overcoming obstacles while Saul was talking about problems and using obstacles as an excuse not to move. Most of us don't act because of a lack of resources while Jonathan faithfully used the one sword that he had. Most of us don't act because we think we are alone while Jonathan went with just his armor bearer and God. Most of us like to retreat to the comfort of our homes while Jonathan scaled the cliffs in search of victory. This is one leadership lesson that I believe God has taught me and is teaching me. As a leader, I often waited to long for the sure sign or the clear voice from God only to eventually react to the difficulties I was facing. Instead of initiating action, I allowed my actions to be dictated by circumstances. Fortunately, failure is never final and God is honing me for a new task. May I learn to initiate before I am forced to react. What about you? What does God want you to initiate? What command should you start obeying today? What obstacle is telling you that you can't or shouldn't? God is for you not against you! Go! Do! Act! Live! Conquer! Even dieing is glorious when you die trying the very thing God has called you to do.

Colorado News

2008-07-19T20:55:00.003-05:00

Monica sent me these stats about the most obese states. Here are the 10 states with the highest percentage of adult obesity, according to a 2007 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
1. Mississippi, 32.0 percent
2. Alabama, 30.3
3. Tennessee, 30.1
4. Louisiana, 29.8
5. West Virginia, 29.5
6. Arkansas, 28.7
7. South Carolina, 28.4
8. Georgia, 28.2
9. Oklahoma, 28.1
10. Texas, 28.1
That good old Southern cooking is killing us but what a way to go! The least obese state in the Union is, you guessed it, Colorado with only 19% obesity rate. I hope I don't tip the scales when we move there and they lose this ranking. I feel slimmer just thinking about moving there.

House Keeping

2008-07-19T20:07:00.002-05:00

We have been working hard on getting my house ready to sale. I have been painting the trim in Rayanne's room and the master bedroom. Insurance man came and looked at our roof and agreed there was sufficient hail damage to merit a new roof and front gutters. This is a huge answer to prayer. We are past due for a new roof. They said they could have it scheduled and done in under 2 weeks. Brian came today and jacked up our front porch and put new supports in. I am always impressed with his work. If you need remodeling, decks, fences, etc. you should contact him at Classic Design 678-386-6061. Went through the house with Pattie and decided what to take and what to give away. We are definitely downsizing from a 5 bedroom home to a two bedroom apartment. Much of the stuff that we own was given to us and we would like to return the favor. If you need some things or know someone who has needs, let me know. We would rather give it to specific families rather than to Goodwill. Still have to stain the back deck, paint the front porch, pressure wash the house and driveway, do a little yard work, and figure out what to do with the rest of the church stuff. I've got to get this house on the market before August. I'm tired already. God bless all the people who work in this hot sun.

Bus Driving

2008-07-14T09:16:00.003-05:00

Transportation called and offered me a sweet route which would have been a middle school only route. I turned it down since I will only be here a couple of months and I would like to see my kids from last year again. Most of my bus driving friends are getting new routes and Sherrie called me to see what I was doing and to tell me of her new route. She also told me to get on the ball with updating this blog. So I hope this will satisfy you till next time.

I had a great birthday!

2008-07-14T09:04:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was my birthday and I have a new motto: "48 is not too late to do something great for the glory of God!" This new call (not Red Bull) gives me wings. I am thankful that God has chosen me to do something different.
Jenny and Brian and the kids came over for my birthday lunch. Grilled hamburgers and had freshest, sweetest, tenderest corn on the cob from my dad's garden in TN. It was good and fun.
Ben and Joe took me to the movies to see Indiana Jones. It was fun and I really enjoyed the movie. I loved the Star Wars line Harrison Ford used in the movie, "I have a bad feeling about this."
Went over to Rachele and Kris' house after the movie. It was good to see them and Camille. Kris put a new radiator in my Jeep. It's great to have the skilled son-in-laws that I have.
When I got home Rayanne had made me a chocolate Birthday cake. It was good and they did put all 48 candles on it.
Joseph had the idea for the birthday dance so you can blame him. Fortunately he edited the 4 minute dance routine down to 1:20. Maybe he will put the unedited version on youtube.

Sunday Recap

2008-07-14T08:40:00.002-05:00

Had church at one of our member's home. George Barna predicts that "house churches" will be the new trend in the future. I hope not. Not that it was bad, it just seems smaller than the Gospel allows. The Gospel is too big and too powerful to be contained in one home. It may be a good place to start but it has to break out of those walls.
They surprised me with a birthday cake.
The owner's two dogs also attended church.
Continued our series on "knowing God." Started with the premise that "people who know God do exploits." The more intimate we are with God, the bolder we should be in our faith. Your faith is not dead but alive and active.
There are many qualities of God that we can emulate, such as love, mercy, faithfulness, etc., but at least three that are unique to Him that make Him God and ensure that we are not God. They are His omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing) and omnipresence (all-present).
Power without wisdom would be frightening. Wisdom with out power would be useless. Wisdom and power without omnipresence would be limited. But since God has all three, we can trust Him for every situation at any time in any place.
I spoke from Isaiah 40 on God's omnipotence. His power is proven in creation, controlled by His purposes and wisdom, dwarfs any national power, exposes false gods as the powerless frauds they are, extends over the whole universe and is active in our individual lives.
Because He is all-powerful I can expect the miraculous. I can expect His strength when I am weak. I can expect to soar like an eagle over every circumstance. I can expect to do great things, risky things, powerful things because it is not my strength but His.

My 48th Birthday

2008-07-13T22:45:00.002-05:00

Today we celebrated my birthday and I had a great day. It inspired this birthday dance.

Book Update

2008-07-01T20:54:00.003-05:00

Finished Jesus For President by Shane Claiborne recently. Shane is definitely a radical but he does live what he believes. Many things I liked, some I didn't, but it all made me think.
Crazy Love by Francis Chan is absolutely kicking my tail and I'm not done with it yet. A couple of chapters, I had to put the book down and examine my heart and repent before I could continue. Many times I get some ideas on my mind such as how Americanized church and faith has become and then a book is placed in my hand that is right along those lines. This book is one of those.
Right People, Right Place, Right Plan by Jentzen Franklin. This was given to me by a church member who found out I was thinking about moving. Had some good things in it but very sermony. I didn't feel like it completely lived up to its title. Some very good stories in it though.
Just started Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll. Mark is pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and a church planter. He is reaching people far from God. This book is on basic doctrines of Christianity but doesn't read like one. I just started it but I know I'm going to love it. I've known about Mark but haven't read or listened to him much but several people in Denver were into him so I thought I should check into him more. I like what I'm finding.
Reading the Gospel of Luke in my Bible reading. I'm stunned at the teachings of Jesus. They are radical. I'm impressed with His resolve and His deliberateness. He is an awesome God.
Also reading Exodus. I'm drawn to the dialogue between Moses and God. God spoke to Moses more than anyone else in the Bible. He is heralded as a great leader. I believe that 90% of leadership (if not more) is listening to God.

Sunday recap and more

2008-07-01T19:43:00.003-05:00

We had a good Sunday. The crowd was decent and the atmosphere was great.
Forgot to assign someone to get the key for the Depot. Donna and I had been responsible for the key but we were both out of town for the week. Rayanne and I showed up just a little before 8:00 am to see if we could break in but right when we drove up a maintenance man stopped in to restock the toilet paper on the way to his church. He let us in and agreed to come back and lock it up. This guy had never shown up on any of the weeks previous. It was a God thing and God's way of keeping me out of prison and the headlines.
There were some people there who were not there last week and heard about the Denver thing through the grapevine. Not everyone is happy about us moving and some are disappointed that we are closing Axios. Of course, no one is real happy about it but they are very encouraging and understand that I must follow the Lord.
Started a series on knowing God. Started with Daniel 11:32 (NASB) "the people who know their God will display strength and take action." The KJV says it like this "the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits." Knowing God increases courage and gives you the freedom to do things others shy away from. They walk on water, they fight giants, they sleep with lions, they walk away from lucrative businesses such as fishing and tax collecting, they eat manna and drink water from rocks. To them, faith is how they live not just what they believe. We then went to the story of Jonathan in 1 Samuel 13 & 14. I will share more about this later on.
Ate lunch at Chili's with Jim, Donna, Bob, Monica, and Rayanne.
Pattie had to stay in Chattanooga to care for her mom. This is not an easy situation. Please pray for us.
Pattie and I are hopefully going to Lakeland, FL for our nephew, Ronnie's, wedding.
Monday and Tuesday mornings, I was able to get back to my morning ice coffee and reading at McDonald's. The people (including workers and other regular customers) were happy to see me again. That may sound sad but I was happy about it.
I have had 5 local pastors contact me this week, 4 of which want to get together and hear about what I am doing and if they can be of help. 2 of the pastor's I have never met before nor have I heard of them but looking forward to sitting down with them.
Had a chance to talk with my daughter, Jenny, for a while on Monday. She's a good listener and a great encourager. She has been through a lot and I love to see the health in her eyes and hear it in her voice.
Spent the evening with Rachele and Camille Monday night. It was great. My daughter, Rachele, like Jenny and Rayanne, is awesome. I love talking to her and hearing her opinion on things. She has wisdom like her mother. Sometimes there are no adequate words for Camille. She is a blessed child and a blessing to be around.
Had lunch today with my son-in-law, Brian. Talked about getting the house ready to sell. He offered his help and his wisdom and expertise is sorely needed.
Traveling should be over after this weekend and I'm glad.

In Tennessee

2008-06-26T10:27:00.002-05:00

I am writing from a pretty cool little bookstore in Chattanooga. We decided to come and spend the rest of the week at my parents house in Dunlap, TN so that we could be closer to Pattie's mom who is still in the hospital. She may get to come home Saturday so keep praying for her. This also allows Rayanne to continue sone new friendships that she made at camp. My neice, Rebekkah, is also here and I am grateful to get to spend time with her this week. After spending all day at the hospital yesterday, I dropped Pattie off there this morning and Rebekkah, Pam and I are heading to Fall Creek Falls together. It should be fun. I will be glad for our traveling to be done. We have lots to do around the house to get it ready to sell.

The Love of My Life

2008-06-26T10:02:00.002-05:00

This past Tuesday, June 24, marked 19 years of marriage to my wonderful wife, Pattie. Sometimes I feel like Mel Gibson at the end of the movie What Women Want as he thanks his co-star, Helen Hunt, for being his hero and rescuing him. We both fill mutually rescued by each other. When you find true love, you realize how short other loves fell. Finding her was a salvation in and of itself and it felt like being "born again' again and entered me into a new life. I've never gotten over it and I know I never will.

Sunday Recap and a BIG announcement

2008-06-23T11:08:00.003-05:00

Our third Sunday in the Depot. A good turn out and a good offering.
Unusual thing happened. I felt that God was telling me not to prepare a sermon for the service. This has never happened and I hope it will not happen very often. He wanted me to be less preachy and just talk to our people about what God was leading me to do. I consciously tried not to think about what I would sy before getting up there. That's a little unnerving.
I officially made the announcement that me and my family (atleast me, Pattie, Rayanne, and Sadie) would be moving to Colorado to plant a church in that great city. There is much to share about this decision and how I came to the conclusion that this was God's will for our lives but suffice it to say for now that I believe it is the clear leading of God and not a desire of my own. To leave our kids, grandchildren, our aging parents, and brothers and sisters at this time in our lives seems crazy not to mention the many friends, church family, bus driving friendships, etc. that make living here the beautiful life that it has been. But I cannot deny or ignore this call of God on my life.
We will be meeting in the Depot one more Sunday and we are praying about our next step for this body of believers. We will either stay together until we are ready to move or join with another fellowship of like mind, heart, and soul.
Greatest blessing about this move - we are not going alone! Bob and Monica, our worship leaders, have also committed to this move. What a blessing it is to partner with this wonderful couple to attempt something new for God.
Biggest obstacle - the selling of our homes. This will determine when we move. In this economy, this could be a difficult thing. I know God will work it out but please pray about this need.
We will be having a Church dinner after the service next Sunday at the Depot. Please make plans to attend. This is not our last fling but getting close to it. I would love to see everyone again.
I have much more to write but this is all I can do right now. Stay tuned.

Gulf Shores Camp

2008-06-23T10:45:00.002-05:00

Rayanne and I had a great time at the beach in Gulf Shores, AL with the Ewtonville Baptist Church from Dunlap, TN. First time back to camp in a couple of years and it was a lot of fun. What a great group of young people. It was the first time Rayanne had been to camp as an official camper although she has been with me on several occasions when I was the leader.
I did not put even one toe into the ocean. I love the ocean but I'm not a huge fan of the beach. The beach was beautiful but very calm. We made bigger waves in the pool. Everyone that went into the ocean except Rayanne was stung by a jelly fish. They were also fishing from the beach and pulling out sharks on a regular basis. Most were just one or two feet long and probably could only nibble on you but I have grown fond of my fingers and toes. One shark was about 4 ft. Needless to say most of stayed out of the water.
It was hard to preach 8 times to the same crowd in 5 days but I feel like everything went real well. The theme of the camp was The Amazing Race. The Bible often compares the Christian life to a race but it is more about finishing than competing. As a matter of fact, if you finish, you win! At night we talked about the finish line as our destination. We have to keep sight of the goal if we are to run well. Our main verses were Proverbs 3:5,6 where God promises to make our paths straight if we trust in Him. The fastest way to the finish line is the straightest route. I taught that the Straight Path is that path of life that when followed brings the greatest amount of glory to God and the greatest amount of blessing to your own life. In the mornings we spoke on training for the race and disciplines we need to run well.
I missed Pattie. She went to Chattanooga for the week to be with her Mom who is now in rehab hospital preparing her to go home. Keep praying for her. Rehab is painful and exhausting. The moonlit waters of Gulf Shores lost much of their beauty without my wife at my side.
Best fun was synchronized cannonballs into the pool by about 6 of us guys on the last evening. This should be an olympic event. We made some great waves.
It was good to be home Friday night and it was even better when Pattie got home on Saturday night. It was good to see Ben, Joe, Sadie and Oreo.

Sunday recap

2008-06-15T19:09:00.002-05:00

Church at the Depot today. It was good. Bigger crowd than last week. It was good to see everyone.
Had A&W Root Beers for the dads today.
Spoke on "Lord, Make Us Holy." "Holy" simply means "set apart." God has called us to act and think differently than those who have no relationship with Jesus Christ. We are told not to "conform" to this world but to be "transformed." Two things are required for this transformation: a new heart which you receive the moment Jesus Christ becomes your Savior and the Lord of your life, and a renewed mind which is a process and takes time. A new heart changes your desires while a renewed mind changes your attitudes. Both together changes your actions. Holiness is evidenced with a right attitude about sin. You see the harm and damage caused by sin. You want to avoid it and be free of it. It also effects your attitudes about others. It causes you to love purely. The difference between holiness and legalism is that legalism condemns others and holiness loves others. And lastly it shows in your attitude toward God's Word. It is His Word that changes the way we think which changes our attitudes which changes our actions that cause us to be "set apart" for God's glory.
Had a great Father's Day. Rachele and Camille came over Sat. to give me a gift. It was too sweet. Had lunch with Jenny and Brian and the rest of the kids.
The US Open was awesome. Go Celtics! What happened to the Braves. I go away and they go in the tank. There is still time though.
Probably won't blog until I return home from camp on Friday.
See ya!

Traveling Advisory

2008-06-15T18:47:00.003-05:00

Went to Indianapolis on Friday the 6th for a surprise 82nd birthday party for one of my favorite aunts, Pauline. It was great to see many of my cousins that I haven't seen in awhile. Got to spend some time with my little sister, Nancy, and her girls, Rebbekah and Katie. My cousin, Anne, who is always an encouragement to me and often responds to my blog, was there with her new child, Aaron, from China. He was awesome!
Flew to Denver, Colorado on Monday morning with Rayanne. It was her first flight and it was fun to be with her. This was my first trip West to the Rockies. Denver was surprisingly flat with snow-capped mountains to the west.
Pattie was unable to fly with us and returned to Chattanooga with my sister, Pam, on Sunday for her Mother's surgery on Monday. The surgery went well and Pattie flew out from Atlanta on Tuesday night and joined Rayanne and me.
Met a lot of great people and thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful city. The climate was unbelievable. Clean air, blue skies, steady breeze, mountain backdrop, and no humidity. What's not to like. I might be singing another tune if it was January. No humidity is something I have never experienced. It hit 90 for a couple of days and I barely broke a sweat.
There were plenty of churches but not nearly as saturated as Atlanta and the South. Two different men told me that they felt Denver was largely unchurched. It's a wide open field for a church planter.
Flew back to Atlanta on Friday night. Atlanta has its own beauty and Cherokee County looked greener than I ever remembered. It was good to be home.
Leaving tomorrow for Gulf Shores, AL. I will be speaking at a youth camp. Pray for me. My voice is weak from either allergies or a cold and I have to speak 8 times in 5 days. I'm very excited about this opportunity. Rayanne is going with me. Pattie is going to Chattanooga this week to be with her mother. Keep praying for her.

Last Sunday Recap 6-8

2008-06-15T18:35:00.002-05:00

I was in Indianapolis for our first service in the depot. Everyone loved the building and we had a decent crowd for most of our regulars being gone. My son, Ben, led the worship but then we had technical problems with the sermon video. After several failed attempts to play the sermon, my friend, Jim Warrington, got up and shared a testimony and some things that God had laid on his heart. It was well received.
Meanwhile in Indianapolis, I attended the Westview Baptist Church with my Aunt Pauline. This is the first church that I remember attending as a child. It looked the same. My biggest memory of that church is my mom taking me out of the service for unruly behavior and giving me a whooping in the Ladies bathroom. On this day I behaved and enjoyed the message about casting our cares on the Lord. Mostly older members with a few children and I wonder what it would take to bring life back into this poor community inside the city limits. May the Lord guide me to the place where my light can shine the brightest.

Church in the Depot

2008-06-05T20:33:00.002-05:00

We are having our first service in the Depot in downtown Holly Springs and I am down right excited about it and I'm not even going to be there. I hate that I am going to be gone but the circumstances of life and timing that can't be avoided is putting me in Indianapolis on our first official Sunday out of the warehouse. We will be showing a video of one of my favorite preachers and pastors, Perry Noble, from Newspring Church in Anderson, SC. I love his evangelistic spirit and his passionate love for Jesus. I know that you will be encouraged by his message.

Leaving tomorrow!

2008-06-05T20:23:00.002-05:00

We are going to visit Pattie's mother tomorrow. She is having colon cancer surgery on Monday and we want to spend the day with her before we head up to Indianapolis for the weekend. Please keep her in your prayers.
I was raised in Indianapolis and I am looking forward to seeing some old friends and family that I haven't seen in a while. I only have good memories of Indiana and very thankful for how are where I was raised. My youngest sister, Nancy, still lives there and it will be good to see her and her family.

My e-mail is down

2008-06-05T20:15:00.001-05:00

Moving out of the warehouse and ending our Windstream DSL service there has knocked out my e-mail. Until this gets settled you can use rbrim@alltel.net.

This could help

2008-06-03T09:23:00.001-05:00

If you want to read this the way it was intended, drop down about 6 posts to "Let me start at last Thursday." But it is okay to read it backwards.

It finally ended Monday

2008-06-03T09:10:00.002-05:00

It was an emotionally and physically draining week. Not only were we dealing with the ending of this stage of Axios, Church in the Warehouse and the beginning of whatever is next, and the ending of Joe's childhood and entrance into the adult world, but we are also dealing with the health issues of Pattie's mother. Keep praying for her.
Jim, Donna, Ben and I finished the last of the warehouse move. Took a load to the dump, took 2 loads to our storage unit, and the rest went to my home or Jim's. Jim and Donna Warrington are 2 of the most generous and self-giving people I know. I would be lost without them.
Had a wonderful steak lunch at Sixes Elementary School. The administrative staff at Sixes grilled steaks, chicken, onions, and baked potatoes for all the staff and bus drivers. It was good to see the Sixes drivers one more time. It was fun and delicious.
Chilled the rest of the day. Tried to find a cool space and just relax. Pattie was at work and Rayanne was at 6 Flags so it was just me. I needed that.

Sunday was Raw

2008-06-03T08:24:00.002-05:00

We decided to have one more service in the warehouse. We threw down the stage and set up a few chairs. There was no sound system, no power point, no video, no bulletin, no children's ministry, not even a nursery. It was just us and God.
Joe led s in three songs and did a great job. We had donuts and cold drinks for everyone to enjoy.
Did I mention that we had a major downpour and everyone was soaked getting in to the service?
My message was called "The Rantings of a Mad Pastor." Mad, not as in angry, but I was wondering if I am insane to think that church can be different. I am tired of the Americanized church. I think that we have confused the "American Dream" with the "Kingdom of God." I don't believe that the goal of a relationship with God is to make our life comfortable and extravagant. Could we get back to when the church had everything common? Could church be a place where your sorrow is my sorrow, your joy is my joy, your debt is my debt, and your prosperity is my prosperity? But churches have become little kingdoms in themselves. The entrepeneural spirit of America has made church planters more individualized and domain centered. I have been around some "big vision" people that have become small in my eyes. God's mission is greater than anyone's vision. Many can't see beyond the borders of their individual kingdoms. Sometimes we forget that we are brothers. My family drove 2 hours to help but I have brothers and family 10 minutes away who never thought to lend a hand. We say that we are doing church to reach the unchurched but how can we say that we love God and let our brother go in need. I know that I am speaking from the needy side of his equation. I was and am the one in need. I am not trying to fault my Christian brothers. Would I be writing this if everything was going well and my needs were met and I was comfortable? Would I come to help bear the burdens of my brothers if the roles were reversed? I do not know but I think this is what God is teaching me. I spoke from 1 Peter 2. In this passage, Peter describes the church as "living stones," "a chosen tribe," "a royal priesthood," "a holy nation," "a peculiar people." Am I insane to think that church could be this? If it is to be, it will start with what Peter started with. His first call was for us to become like "newborn babes." We must rid ourselves of malice, hypocrisy, greed, and any other vice that would keep us from being "peculiar" or insane. We must nurse on the Word of God rather than on the latest book or strategy. We must return to the Word where we first tasted and knew that God was good. God is teaching me these things and maybe when the roles are reversed, I will use my resources to not just expand my own personal kingdom but will help my brother fulfill his vision also. Maybe I am insane.

Saturday was exhausting but good

2008-06-03T08:08:00.002-05:00

In the midst of all the celebration and ending of the school year, we were busy at the church moving out of the warehouse. We started early, but were a little short on help because Joe and his friends who had been helping, were now busy with parties, family and friends. It left me, Donna Warrington and Steve and Paula McMullen to do the work. But thats where my family comes in. My sister called me early to verify the time of Joe's graduation party which was to be at 4:00. She asked if there was anything they could do and I said how about bringing my three strong nephews down early and help me. They arrived at lunchtime and gave us 2-3 hours of productive work. My sisters also pitched in and were a great encouragement to me. In the mean time, my dad had Ben and Rayanne cleaning up our yard and house getting it ready for the party. What a blessing to have family that loves and cares and willing to work and sacrifice for each other. It's the same way a church ought to operate. We quit around 3:30 to get ready for the 4:00 party and we made it. The rest of family and friends showed up and it was a great party. Pattie did a great job with food and hospitality. That evening, we were wiped out but very satisfied with the day.

Then came Friday night

2008-06-02T21:35:00.002-05:00

After turning in my bus, I rushed home to get ready for Joe's graduation. It was a wonderful night. It was much more emotional than I expected. I openly let the tears flow as he walked across the stage. I have great children. I love them all so very much. Joe is an out-going, multi-talented, well-liked young man. I am very proud of him. I am thankful that he has completed this stage of his life. I am thankful for the way God has shaped his life thus far. And I will pray that God will make his paths straight and that he will allow God to guide him and lead him down the path that brings the most glory to God and the greatest amount of blessing to him.

Then comes Friday

2008-06-02T21:07:00.003-05:00

Friday was the last day of school and, of course, the last day to drive the bus. I felt like a school kid again as we counted down the last few days of the year and now I have the Summer off. I haven't been able to say that I have the Summer off in 30 years. I have thoroughly enjoyed bus driving or at least I love the people with whom I get the privilege to drive and I love the students that ride with me. I received a thank you note from a High School Senior where he called me "the bus driver extarordinaire." I also received a homemade card from an elementary student named Madison that said "Thank you for driving us to school and back home safely everyday. Riding the bus was actually exciting this year. I will miss you and hope you have a great Summer." She hugged me and told me that she loved me. I will miss these children or at least most of them. But I will miss the other bus drivers most of all. We all met for lunch and it got rowdy and loud as usual. We laughed and shared one more afternoon together. I looked and saw people that were no longer co-workers but friends. Some have gone through difficult times this year. Many have pulled me aside and asked for prayer for a variety of concerns. Some, I have asked to pray for me. They have impacted my life and I will remember this year for a long time.

Let me start at last Thursday

2008-06-02T20:48:00.002-05:00

The craziness of the last two weeks has taken its toll on my blogging. There are some times when there are not enough minutes in the day to get everything done. It has been that kind of a week. But let me start with Thursday to catch you up to speed. Thursday was the 2 hour season finale of Lost and it didn't disappoint. We had our last Lost party of the season and possibly the last time this group will get together to watch how the story ends. Our party consists of me and Pattie, Joe Brim, Joe Stag, Kayla and Blake. We always have our IBC Black Cherry sodas and another choice of beverage such as Yoohoos or Jones Soda and a variety of snacks. During commercials, we try to guess what happens next or remind each other of past episodes that help make sense of the current episode or simply get caught up on the activities of the day. It has been something that I look forward to every week. But the 4 high school Seniors have all graduated now and who knows where we all will be when the new season starts. It will be sad to find out how Locke died or where the island was moved to or how and why the Oceanic 6 get back to the island and if Jin is really dead without the company of these fine young people. It has been a treasured time and I will miss it more than the show itself.

Weekend Update

2008-05-25T23:10:00.002-05:00

Pattie has been at her Mom's since Thursday. She should be home tomorrow. I miss her terribly.
Spent Sat and Sun at the church packing it up. We got a lot done but their is still much to do. We have 6 years of stuff that we didn't mind having while we were in the warehouse but alot of it we don't want to store. Come by the church on Tuesday night from 6-8 and see if you would like anything.
Went to the Pointe Church that meets at Hasty Elementary School. Very good service. I was impressed. The pastor, Brian Jones, did a great job and their music and visuals were excellent.
After working at the church, Rayanne and I spent the rest of the day together swim suit shopping. Went to lots of stores including the mall and found one at our last stop.
Jeep is not running. A friend is coming to look at it in the morning. Pray that we can fix it.
Did I tell you that I miss Pattie?

Thursday at Caribou Coffee

2008-05-22T18:45:00.003-05:00

Thursday nights have been fun for me the past few weeks. I take Rayanne to youth group on Thurs nights and I go to Caribou Coffee and blog, read, etc until it is over at 9:00. Joe lets me use his laptop which makes me feel young and hip and it is a Mac so I feel even younger and more hip. Although just using the word "hip" probably takes me down a notch on the cool scale. I'm not a big coffee house guy. I honestly prefer McDonald's ice coffee. It's not as strong and its cheaper. But Caribou Coffee offers an orange tea which I am growing very fond of.
Pattie went to Chattanooga with her sister while her mother goes in the hospital over night for some tests. Please pray for her mother. Her blood count keeps going down and they don't know why. Pray for Pattie also. It will be a long night in the hospital. It's never a good place to get rest.
It's weird not to have to get a sermon together for Sunday. But I have a busy summer to prepare for.
Several pastors in the area have been reaching out to me hearing that we were having to move out of the warehouse. Ross Wiseman from Metro Church, Brian Jones from The Point Church, Philip Young from Holly Springs baptist. These are great guys and all say they want to help in any way they can and I appreciate the gestures and their prayers.
I had a lengthy talk with Gary Lamb of Revolution Church on Tuesday. It was good to speak to him. I am always challenged by him. And even though he is taking over our warehouse, it was good to tell him what I felt God was leading me to do and get his input. Gary can come across a little hard with his straight forward, honest approach but he always has some wisdom that is worth hearing and causes you to examine the way you are thinking and the way you are doing things. Its a good thing.
June is going to be a busy month. Not only are we moving and trying new things but I will also be traveling to Indianapolis, Denver, and Gulf Shores, AL. I will be speaking at a camp in Gulf Shores for Ewtonville Baptist in Dunlap, TN. 8 messages in 5 days. Pray for me and the teens that will be there. In July we are planning a trip to Lakeland, FL for our nephew's wedding. We have never traveled this much.
No Lost Party tonight. The two-hour season finale is next thursday. Can't wait.
Watched the whole season of American Idol but missed the finale this week. I called David Cook as the winner from the beginning.

Demo Man

2008-05-21T20:37:00.002-05:00

Spent the evening disassembling our church. Taking our Axios Kids Bible Adventure Land sign down was the hardest. It was a little sad but I will shed no tears. It is what it is - a building. We will continue to reach out to this area in a new way and as long as the Lord allows.

Survived the storm

2008-05-21T12:02:00.003-05:00

We survived the storm that came in at supper time last night with very little damage. The front gutter is hanging by a thread and the lawn was strewn with leaves and hail but our house survived the tornado type weather. Two doors down, a tree went through the roof and into the bedroom of our neighbors. Across the street, a large tree was completely uprooted but fell harmlessly beside the house. Around the corner, another tree fell on a parked car. The power was out all night and didn't come on until 7:45 this morning. It was cool to see the neighbors respond to other neighbors who needed help clearing trees and debris. Many buses could not reach their kids this morning because of downed trees and power lines. I keep praying for others in the county who have suffered from this storm.

Weekend Update

2008-05-20T09:13:00.003-05:00

It was our last service in the warehouse. No tears. The only regret was not recognizing earlier that it was time to move. Good crowd. Good vibe. Sense of anticipation at what comes next. I'm proud of our people. They are very encouraging to me and I can see how God has been working in their lives.
Took up the stage and chairs immediately after the service. It was weird.
Followed up last week's sermon "What would it take for God to get you to move?" with "What would it take for God to get you to something different?" Often it comes back to our worship and how we see God and how we respond to Him. If you can't see God doing something different then you probably won't change either. If you see God as static then you will probably stay static. God is unchanging in His character which makes Him trustworthy and viable to follow but He is also unpredictable and uncontained and far above our thoughts and ways. The unchanging God is continually calling us to change.
We looked at three people responding to God on the move in 2 Samuel 6. The Ark of the Covenant (you know, "The Raiders of the Lost Ark" ark) was being moved to Jerusalem. Uzzah (a priest), David (the king) and Michal (David's wife) all responded differently.
Uzzahs are those who try to keep God in a box. The ox stumbled, the ark began to fall and Uzzah tried to stop it. They wouldn't want God to spill out. No telling what would happen (watch Raiders of the Lost Ark). It's much safer for God to stay in the box. We want a God that we can control not One that is unleashed in this world. Uzzah had been in charge of the ark for so long (20 years) that it had become common to him. He was a priest and had become religious instead of a true worshiper. He suffered from the disease of familiarity that plagues much of Christianity today. We think we have God figured out. Uzzah died on this day but thinking it was his job to take care of God had slowly sucked the life out of him for years. The problem with being an Uzzah is that it seems the right thing to do but God is not so easily tamed and can take care of Himself very well.
Davids are those who are moving with God. David, the king, knew who the real King was. He knew that God was not common but that he was. So he took his place as a worshiper among the servant girls and the common people. He was not self-aware but God-focused. He danced and disrobed, oblivious to his surroundings because "it was before the Lord." He sacrificed and gave generously which is always the sign of true worshipers. He was criticized but he didn't care. His response to his critics was "You haven't seen anything yet!"
Michals are those who observe instead of participate, judge instead of love. They are uninvolved yet very opinionated. They never truly worship and become barren in their spirit. The critical, bitter, jealous heart is not fertile ground for the work of God.
Ended by saying that I felt God was leading us to do something different this summer. We are going to do Saturday night church instead of Sunday morning. Many churches are doing this across the nation but no one is doing it in our area. If you are an Uzzah, you will object by thinking that Sunday morning is the box that God dwells in. Michals will tell us every reason why it won't work and stand on the sideline to watch us fail. But if you're a David, the thrill of God moving makes you want to dance, oblivious to everything except God. We're going to let God spill out on Saturday nights.

Rayanne's big night

2008-05-15T12:07:00.002-05:00

Rayanne has a formal literary presentation tonight. Each student is giving a speech or reciting a poem or, like Rayanne, singing a song. She is singing and Joe is playing. I am looking forward to it.

Death has no sting!

2008-05-15T11:58:00.002-05:00

Had breakfast at IHOP with my sister Penny and her husband David. They spoke last night at Shiloh Hills Baptist Church in Kennesaw and then spent the night at our house. David's mother just went to be with the Lord and the funeral is Sat. in Ringold, GA. David and Penny are missionaries in Ukraine and are home until mid June for their son's college graduation. I am thankful that they were here for this difficult time too. Even though we sorrow, death has no sting and the grave has no victory for those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. Sorrow turns to joy when you realize that this is a temporary separation and life is just beginning for her - a healthy, new, energized life! It is the great hope of all who believe.

Playing the Lottery

2008-05-15T07:34:00.002-05:00

One of my friends from the Bus Shop bought me a Lottery ticket for this past Tuesday. It was a $5 5 number ticket. She wrote me a very nice note and said that she hoped this ticket was a winner and that God would give me the money to build the kind of church that God and I had dreamed of. Having never played the Lottery, I had her explain how it works. I know that most of you don't need lessons in playing the lottery but for those who do, this is the deal. I had 5 series of 6 numbers per series. You don't have to match all of them to win something. Even if you only match 2 numbers you can win a few bucks but the more you match the more you win. I was dead tired Tuesday night and ready to hit the sack at 10:00 but no way I was going to sleep until I saw the numbers drop at 11:00. The sincerity of my friend and and the spirit of her gift almost had me believing that God was going to let me cash in. The six lottery balls dropped and out of the 30 numbers on my ticket, I matched 1. I have to say it was disappointing but for only $5 I can try again tomorrow.

Weekend Update

2008-05-13T11:13:00.002-05:00

We had a crazy, insane weekend. Mother's day, Joe's prom, Joe's birthday, Jacob's birthday (my grandson), and everything was awesome.

Started Friday morning when Camille came over for the day as usual only this time she was going to stay the night too. We had a great time with her at Target where she refuses to ride and only wants to push the buggy. Then she likes to reorganize all the merchandise. She's awesome. Had to let her sleep with Pattie which meant I went to the couch.
Rayanne went to Six Flags on Friday and conquered her fear of roller coasters.
Went to my grandson Matthew's baseball game on Saturday. He is an all-star and it is fun to watch him play.
To Jacob's birthday party at Jenny's. What a blessing he was to me as he showed genuine appreciation as a 9 yr. old for the generous gifts he received.
Then to meet Joe and his prom dates and the rest of the entourage of friends for pictures. Everyone was handsome and beautiful.
Huge, noisy storm Saturday night and Sunday morning which kept me up and I went back to the couch for the second night in a row.
Sunday was a great service. Good crowd and God really used the message. We gave all mothers sunflowers with Lindt Chocolates tied to the stem. Everyone seemed to like it.
The message was not about mothers but addressing our move in the next few weeks. I called it "Transitions" and talked about how and why God moves us. I asked an important question that we should all answer: What does it take or what would it take for God to move you? We all want sure signs and burning bushes but even with these things it is easy to doubt what God wants you to do. I used the story of Abraham in Gen. 12 where God called him to move to a land that He would show him. Sometimes God wants us to move so we can leave some things behind. Sometimes it is necessary to move our physical location. So God told Abraham to leave his country. He also told him to leave his people. Sometimes people keep us from reaching our potential in Christ. We have to break free from their influence. And God told him to leave his father's house and the security that he had built up. Sometimes we have to leave our comfort and security and learn to trust God all over again and that doesn't happen unless He moves us. But He also told him there are things to embrace. One thing is to embrace risk and uncertainty. God only told him to move, He didn't tell him where right away. We don't get the comfort of seeing the whole picture or reading the last chapter to find out what happens. We only get the next step and have to trust God for the next one. But He gives us promises to embrace also. God is promising to do great things in us and through us if we will trust Him and obediently follow Him. I don't know the outcome of our move but I do know that God has orchestrated it and that gives me courage and excitement to see what happens next.
Took Pattie shopping for Mother's Day.
Joe's 18th birthday party was late Sunday afternoon. It was fun and all the family and lots of friends were there.

Backwards or forwards

2008-05-08T19:43:00.003-05:00

We only have 2 Sundays left in the Warehouse. It is sad to me but also exciting. God is moving us. I tried to stay but God has other plans. I don't know what the full plan is yet but it's got to be good. Stacey said something last night that has stuck with me. She was sharing about some difficulties that seemed bad but God turned for good. She talked about a move they had to make and she said, "It felt like a move backwards but with God, it was a move forward." At first, I also felt moving to the American Legion building was a step backwards but now I am beginning to see that it is a move forward. God is moving us and I don't know exactly where we will end up but we're never going to be the same and that's a good thing.

Lost Party

2008-05-08T19:40:00.001-05:00

Lost party tonight! Its one of my favorite times of the week. Not only do I get to watch a great show but I get a Black Cherry IBC Soda and hang out with some young people that have become real friends.

First Wednesday

2008-05-08T19:35:00.002-05:00

We started something this month called "First Wednesday." The first Wednesday of every month is being set aside for prayer, communion and testimony. Our first meeting was last night and it was very special, intimate, and encouraging. We laid hands on one young boy for healing, shared Communion, spent time with the Lord, and heard of things that God was doing in people's lives. I hope more people will take advantage of this time.

Elephant #5: Judgmentalism

2008-05-08T19:04:00.003-05:00

Judgmentalism is the feeling of being condemned based on opinion. This is the second biggest complaint about current Christianity just behind anti-homosexual and just ahead of hypocrisy. We are consistently warned against becoming judgmental by Jesus Himself and by the other NT writers because it is easy for us to do. We believe that we are right, that God is on our side and we have the verses to prove it. But rarely has one turned to God because we won an argument or pointed out their sin. It usually has the opposite effect - they run from you, God and the Church. Jesus called people who judge hypocrites and it is the only sin that He consistently pointed out. Many Christians feel the need to say something about behavior they disapprove of but Jesus did not take this approach. When tempted to judge you should ask the three questions that Jesus brought up when discussing this issue in Matthew 7. 1) Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye? Why do you really care about the issue that you are upset about? What are you really feeling toward this person? 2) Why are you blind to the plank that is in your own eye? Jesus says that this attitude should cause you to look at your own life and heart. He is saying that the plank in your eye is causing more damage than the speck in theirs. I believe the planks are the
elephants that we have been uncovering in this series. These things are not bringing people to Christ but repelling them. 3) How can you help your brother? The answer is that you can't if you ignore the planks. He is not saying that we shouldn't help but that we should do it with a clean heart, the right attitude and pure motives.

Vassia's last performance

2008-05-06T10:36:00.002-05:00

Joe's band performed for the last time together at an event at Woodstock Park. They did a great job and it was a little emotional for the guys. They have spent the last 2 years playing together and to see it come to an end with graduation coming soon was a little sad. The venue was great. Woodstock has a nice downtown area and a great little park for community events. The event promoted Tom's Shoes which Joe has supported for quite a while now. I remember when Joe came home the first time telling us about this ministry that helps people who can't afford shoes. He came home shoeless having given his shoes to help others. He has since always purchased Tom's. All of our family was there which is always nice. It's hilarious to see my granddaughter, Camille, dance to the music. I also got to talk to Ross Wiseman from Embassy Metro Church who helped sponsor the event. It's always encouraging to talk to others who know the highs and lows of church planting.

Weekend update

2008-05-06T10:06:00.002-05:00

Our Spring Giveaway was a great success. Thanks to all the people who donated items and helped serve the people who came to receive this blessing. One lady's story was particularly encouraging and was awesome to see God use us and our stuff in her life. A single mom who was living in a recently leased apartment with no furniture except a bed for her daughter. And even though she had nothing, discouragement was making her reluctant to come, feeling that she probably wouldn't find what she needed, and fueling reasons not to come such as bothering her sister to bring her and no way of getting the stuff home if she did find something. Through the encouragement of her sister she decided to come. By faith, she made a list of things that she needed to make sure she wouldn't take more than she needed and was there before 9:00 (we said from 9-11 but they were lining up at 8:30 at the church.) God gave her everything on the list and Jim and Jeff loaded it on a trailer and delivered it to her house. She testified of God's faithfulness to meet her needs and to always bringing a blessing when she needed it most. It was a privilege to meet her. There were many others that we were able to help.
Our people were amazing. The time, energy and love that they put into this outreach was very encouraging to me.
Had a great Sunday. First and second time visitors were in the service. That's always good.
Preached the last sermon in the Elephant series. Dealt with judgmentalism. It was good but I am glad to be done with this series. It has been a great series and have had a great response from the listeners and it has also been a necessary series if we are really serious about reaching the world around us and the generation to come but it was a difficult series to put together and required a lot of transparency on my part. I don't know if everyone could handle too much more transparency.
Had an interesting lunch with Bob and Monica. Could God be up to something? Of course He is, I just hope it includes me.
I was excited about the Hawks taking Boston to Game 7 but they looked like the 8 seed that they were billed as on Sunday. It does give us promise for next year.
I wish the Braves could play the Reds every day. They spanked them all weekend.

Lost Party

2008-05-02T09:34:00.002-05:00

Watched Lost again last night with all the usual company. Enjoyed pizza and Black Cherry Soda and even some Yoo-Hoos. We love this show and each week something is revealed or done that makes us say "no way!" Knowing that this show is going to come to a conclusion and that they plan on answering all the mysteries in the next 1 or 2 seasons keeps me going. Otherwise they could just keep stringing us along with endless riddles and tiresome story lines. I just hope that the end is not too weird and out there.

Elephant 3: Antihomosexual

2008-05-01T19:15:00.005-05:00

The #1 negative opinion associated with the church and Christians is antihomosexual. I spoke on this 2 weeks ago. The perception is that we not only hate the sin but we hate the sinner too. I know that we say the opposite but as always, actions speak louder than words. It seems that being gay is the one thing that we want people to denounce and give up before they come to Christ. We have had 2 gay couples attend our church. One of them came for 2 or 3 weeks and then decided that this was not for them. The other couple received Christ and God changed their lives. One of the ladies is now married and is raising a family. The other young lady followed the Lord in baptism and then shortly after that, moved away. I don't know how she is living her life now but I do know that she is living it with Christ. I also feel that all four of these people felt love and acceptance from our church instead of fear and judgment. This allowed time for God to do His perfect work. I think we need to change four things if we are to change the way we are perceived in this area. 1) Compassion must replace fear. If "perfect love casts out fear" as it says in 1 John, then I must assume that fear casts out love. We fear their "agenda", we fear their "disease", we fear their influence, we fear their presence and because we fear, we cannot reach out in love. Love is the most powerful force in the universe and as the bumper sticker on Joe's car says, "Love Wins." 2) Embrace should replace stance. We seem to have a need to make sure that they know that we think it is wrong. Our job is not to convince them that their wrong or to change their minds but to represent a loving Christ and an irresistible Gospel. 3) This leads me to think that we need to trade winning arguments for winning hearts. Enough said. 4) We must not associate political victories with spiritual victories. This is a hard one and some of you won't agree with this but the more we want to legislate homosexuality the further we push the gay community from the Gospel. God did not call us to fight political battles but to fight for the hearts of men and women. Jesus asked what have we profited if we gain the whole world yet lose our own souls. Would He also say what have we profited if we win our political battles yet lose the souls of men? I will talk more about this on the next elephant.

The Spring Giveaway

2008-05-01T19:05:00.002-05:00

This Saturday we are having a Spring Giveaway. Instead of doing our individual Spring cleanings and then having yard sales to get rid of our excess stuff, we decided to combine our stuff and give it away to those who have little or nothing. We are working with the Cherokee Women's Violence Center. Many of these ladies leave their destructive environments behind and seek shelter in these apartments but have nothing to call their own. We have invited them to come and find things to help them in their transitions. DFACS also is putting fliers into the hands of those who are the neediest in our county. We have been collecting a good assortment of furniture and household items and hope we can be a blessing to those who have little or nothing. If you have items that you would like to give, drop them off at the Warehouse on Friday night after 5:30 or Saturday morning. If you know of families that are in need, bring them by the Warehouse on Saturday from 9:00 to 1:00.

Looking for a place

2008-04-29T10:02:00.003-05:00

I met with a man yesterday about renting his facility and it looks like it may work out. The building will hold 270, is right on the main drag in Holly Springs, and will save us a ton of cash. It is an older building and not the most attractive one but they continue to work on it and are trying to improve it all the time. Keep praying about all this.

Weekend Update

2008-04-29T09:45:00.002-05:00

Saturday night, Pattie and her sister planned to take their Mother to see Gaither and Friends at the Gwinnett Center. Pattie's Mom loves the Gaither Vocal Band and all their friends but at the last minute she could not attend because of health concerns. So it ended up just Pattie and I going since the tickets were already purchased. Now I've always liked the Vocal Band but this is not the style of music that really excites me at this point in my life. They definitely play to the older crowd. The Gwinnett Center was packed and I think we were the youngest ones there (not really but you can get the picture). We had great floor seats and there were many songs that I thoroughly enjoyed and a blind piano player that was worth the price of the tickets. He was awesome. It started at 6:00 and we left at 9:00 during the intermission which they called half-time. I was stunned at the length of this concert. As far as I know they are still singing and partying right now.

We had a good Sunday and I dealt with an elephant called politics. This sounds dry but it was actually very missional and challenged us to stay focused on God's purposes rather than political issues.

Bus Rodeo

2008-04-29T09:31:00.002-05:00

Every year, the Transportation Department puts on a special day for the drivers that includes a road course and a look at the new buses that will be in the fleet next year. The new buses looked great and what ever we don't like about them will be overlooked because they are air-conditioned. It was fun hanging out for the morning and it ended at lunch with some very tasty grilled pork chops with BBQ sauce, delicious cole slaw, and baked beans. There was also a dessert competition among the drivers which meant a plateful of "I shouldn't eat all this but I am going to anyways" goodness. And to top it all off, they had karaoke. I sang Toby Keith's "How Do You Like Me Now" and "I Can Only Imagine" with another driver, Deena. It was a fun time.

2008-04-24T19:39:00.002-05:00

It's a great Thursday night. I am sitting in Caribou Coffee sipping a delicious orange iced tea and blogging away on my son's macbook. It's been a good day. Had a great supper with Ben, Joe and Rayanne all joining Pattie and I for a change. It was a breakfast night and I am all into that. Lost comes back on tonight and the gang is getting back together for IBC Black Cherries and Strawberry Kiwi Jones Sodas and popcorn as we watch the show. I can't wait.

We're Moving!

2008-04-24T19:19:00.003-05:00

I announced to the church three weeks ago that we would be moving out of the warehouse. I am just now ready to tell the rest of the world. We have been almost 4 years in this warehouse but now it is time to move on. We have often wondered if our location has prevented us from growing and I guess we will soon find out. I believe that we have found a space to move to for the Summer and it is right on the main drag in Holly Springs. It's not the greatest looking building but it does fit our budget, gives us room to grow and is in a prominent location. We will continue to look for a more permanent solution but at least we won't be homeless. I have no doubt that God is moving us. He pulled the plug on this. My responsibility is to follow. Moving can be both exciting and scary. It's because it is about change. We don't know what will happen. We have been comfortable in our spot and now God is moving us off our spot. Things will be different, opportunities will change, new doors will open and I for one am ready for the change.

Elephant #2: Get Saved!

2008-04-23T10:16:00.001-05:00

On April 13, we dealt with the second elephant. This elephant has been really bothering me the last year or so. It is the way we do evangelism. The problem outsiders have with this is that it seems we are not genuine in our efforts to get to know them. That we are agenda-driven. That our only concern is conversion. We don't really care what they think, believe or feel, we just want them to hear what we have to say. Most of the evangelism methods that I have learned have been confrontational and devoid of relationship. Some have been scripted so that it sounded more like selling vacuums than presenting a life-changing message. It seemed it was about the presentation rather than the person. The formula seemed to be a logical progression of facts backed with irrefutable Scripture and closing with a carefully crafted question that would ensure acceptance. But I don't see Jesus operating like this. Jesus never presented His truth the same way twice. He responded to people's questions, He listened to their stories, He responded to their needs. He was more about conversations than presentation. The difference between Jesus and much of present day evangelism is that Jesus was not conversion-driven. We are all about the conversion, get them to "pray the prayer" yet He often turned away those who were asking the right questions. Jesus was disciple-driven. He was into making disciples not converts. He balanced the ease of conversion with the cost of discipleship. Its easy to profess faith in Jesus but it is a whole other thing to follow Him. That was His invitation - "Follow Me!"

I love Bus Drivers.

2008-04-22T09:53:00.003-05:00

I love the people that God has brought into my life through bus driving. I was too long being surrounded by the same people and the same walls and never really getting to know anyone else. But I have met wonderful people and made wonderful friendships over the last 6 months that have been refreshing and encouraging and real. We share our laughter, our complaints, and sometimes more of our lives than we should but I love it all and will enjoy it as long as God allows.
One of my dear friends at the Bus Shop, who will remain nameless but we all know who she is, asked me today if I ever sin. She either has such a high opinion of me that she thinks that if anybody could go without sinning it would be me or she thinks so low of me that she cannot imagine my life as a pastor being fun, exciting, or adventuresome. If its the first, I am afraid the she will one day be greatly disappointed in me because I am definitely a flawed man. If it is the latter, I hope that I have been showing a sense of humor, an earthly life, a real faith that wouldn't let her label me as boring. Maybe it is neither of these things. Maybe she just really wants to know what types of sin a guy like me falls into. If she had been coming to church recently, she could have heard some real life confessions of a pastor but I don't know that I'm ready to defame myself in front of everyone at the Bus Shop. I already said that I value their friendship and I want to keep it that way.
I have like a 40 minute lay over at Woodstock High School following my Sixes Elementary route and before the High School lets out. It has been a lot of fun to get to know another group of Bus Drivers during this time. Life can be hard but good healthy friendships can help lighten the load as we travel this world together.

Elephant #1: Hypocrisy

2008-04-21T11:15:00.006-05:00

Started this series "The Elephant in the Room" about flaws outsiders see in Christianity that we are often blind to or just simply ignore. It was inspired by a book called UnChristian that has researched what people 18-41 perceive about Christians. There were 6 negative images about Christians held by this group. This series is about these perceptions. April 6, we dealt with the first one - hypocrisy. Hypocrisy has always been a disease of the religious. Jesus defines it as "not practicing what we preach." Jesus' harshest words were directed to religious leaders on this very subject. I know Jesus was a nice, loving person but the words spoken in Matt 23 were anything but nice and loving. I believe Jesus loved these pious religious leaders with all His heart but had to use harsh even shocking words to jolt them out of their self-righteous world and into the reality of God's love. Jesus taught that hypocrisy was more than just an obstacle on the path to salvation but it actually could slam the door to the kingdom of God in a searching soul's face. Jesus saw hypocrisy as someone who embraces a religious system but somehow misses a true relationship with God. Religion can often mask the true condition of our hearts. It is easy to call oneself a Christian because Christianity has been reduced to just another religion. It is the same as saying you are a baptist or a catholic or a methodist or what ever brand you want to put in. But true Christianity is about a relationship with Jesus Christ. The real question is not about your religious affiliation but whether you are a follower of Jesus Christ. It is harder to say "I am a follower of Jesus Christ" and it exposes our hypocrisy much easier. How I answer the question "Are you a follower of Jesus Christ?" tells me more about my relationship with God than what church I attend or what denomination I grew up in. And lastly, hypocrisy is not so much about sin as it is about falseness. Every Christian sins. Perfection is a future reality but was never the immediate goal. Just because I fail doesn't make me a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is when you say you are one thing but you are really not. Can we say that we are followers of Jesus Christ or are we just playing religious games?

Lessons from the Weekend

2008-04-21T11:15:00.005-05:00

Friday, I was taught another lesson in procrastination. I could have taken care of a matter early in the week but for various reasons (some very good and logical) and because of no sense of urgency, I waited till the deadline on Friday and it cost me. The word "procrastination" actually means "pro tomorrow." It means I am for, I am in favor of, I champion the cause of "tomorrow." Starting tomorrow, I am going to become the champion of "today."
Saturday, I was reminded of how awesome it is to get alone with God. I forget this sometimes. Many times in my predetermined times to get alone with God, I'm either distracted or just going through my ritual of reading or praying and God just doesn't want to be a part of it. But Sat. at 6:00am in McDonald's (yes, even God likes MickeyD's) I just listened and God came near and I heard His voice and I felt His love. It was good. I try too much on my own strength and wisdom. His words were for me and not for this post.
Sunday, I preached a message on homosexuality. Some people said it was the best message they had heard from me. You will never know because we didn't get it recorded. I am learning more about unconditional love and the depth of God's grace and our total dependence on God for our salvation. I'll blog more about this later.
Sunday was also a chance to be with friends. Bob and Monica spent the afternoon at the house and then we all joined our Sunday night Connections group at 5pm. It is good to share life with others. I value the people God has put in my life and the encouragement that they give me. I hope that I am as good a friend to them as they are to me.

Since my last blog

2008-04-17T19:01:00.001-05:00

I am alive! I have not fallen off the face of the earth nor have I abandoned this blog. My life is good, my God is great and my journey is still continuing. Here are somethings that I have been doing since my last blog.

Spring Break. It actually felt like a Spring Break since I got a break from bus driving. Joe went to FL with some friends and had a great time. The closest I got to a beach was the pond that lies between my parent's house and my sister's house in Dunlap, TN (actually there is no beach but at least it is a body of water). Rayanne brought a friend and rade minibikes and golf carts to their heart's content. Pattie and I had our regular restive time at the more than tranquil home of my parents. It was good to see them and my sisters.
Penny and David were there from Ukraine. Its always fun to be with them and this was no different.
Last Sunday, Jenny, Brian and the kids came over for lunch. We had a great time and look forward to our next family day. My shaky hands were no match for Jenny, Brian, and Pattie as I solidly defeated them in Dutch Blitz.
Started back on the bus Monday morning in 30 degree weather. How ridiculous is that for April. Back in shorts though today.
Tax day came and I had done nothing about mine. Two things I dread - haircuts and taxes - and I put both of them off as long as possible. Took my taxes to a new company fully expecting to file an extention but they took my stuff and entered it right there in front of me and I walked out of there a richer man. Only in America!
My dad's birthday is also on Tax Day. My dad's a good man and I'm proud to be his son. I'm glad that he had a good day. We all pitched in and got him a GPS.
Tonight I am sitting in Caribou Coffee waiting for Rayanne to be done with youth group, enjoying some kind of fattening mocha whip cream coffee ice blended drink and trying to catch up this blog. I'm running out of time but I hope I can do more tonight.

I've gone bald!

2008-04-04T11:20:00.002-05:00

I woke up Saturday morning and decided to shave my mustache and goatee. When I went to the bus shop on Monday, a kindergarten boy who rides the bus with his bus-driving mom came up to me and rubbed my chin and said, "You've gone bald on your face." It's amazing that something that seems so obvious and drastic to you goes unnoticed by others. It took many people a little time before they realized what I had done. Sunday morning, I felt like the "elephant in the room." It seemed so obvious but no one was talking about it.

Connections

2008-04-04T11:14:00.002-05:00

Sunday night we started a thing called Connections. We invited all adults to return to the Warehouse at 5:00 to connect with others and to start conversations around the topics we introduced Sunday morning. We had a good turnout and a great time. We will be doing this every Sunday night during this series. We ate subs from Jersey Mikes and fellowshipped around the table. It was a great time of getting to know each other. We had a great mixture of old and new families in our church. We then divided into groups and discussed some pre-planned questions. I loved the dialogue and the ideas that were being talked about in this setting. I believe that this will be a great format to get people connected and start deeper relationships with each other and with God.

Elephant in the Room

2008-04-04T10:43:00.002-05:00

Started this new series on Sunday. The first message was "Are We Who We Think We Are?"

When you play the word association game and say the name “Jesus” most people will give a favorable response - good, healer, sacrificial, love, etc. But use the name “Christian” and you will get a totally different picture - political, judgmental, hypocrite, anti-homosexual, etc. Christians are suppose to represent Christ in this world but it seems that something has gone terribly wrong. It seems that there is a big difference between what people think of Jesus and what they think of His followers. Which makes me wonder if many Christians today are like the Pharisees of Jesus' day. The Pharisees were the leaders of God's designed religion and they had the Scriptures and God on their side or so they thought. But somehow they had strayed from God's original intent and were distorting faith and practice. Jesus' most scathing words were for those leaders. Matt 23 gives the account of Jesus' evaluation of the Pharisees and I see uncomfortable parallels to Christianity today. They sermonized rather than served. They stood behind their pulpits (or sat in their seat) rather than get in the trenches. They took stands against evil with authority rather than bending with compassion. They were opportunistic rather than authentic. They were so busy being right that they missed the movement of God. This series is not an attack on modern day Christianity although I believe that there is a difference between being a Christian and being a follower of Jesus. This will be a call to self examination to see if our faith and our stances accurately reflect the heart of Jesus. Its an attempt to understand our culture and the mindset of those outside of our faith. It is a challenge to broaden our circle of love to include everyone and to pursue acts of compassion no matter where it leads and what it costs. I believe it could be one of the most powerful series we have ever done.

Easter Recap

2008-03-25T08:42:00.003-05:00

We had a great Easter. The time spent with our church friends and family and the time spent with our immediate family made for a great day.
Some technical problems with sound and video and the slow gathering of the crowd (at 10:00 I was wondering if anyone was coming) caused early concerns about what God was doing (not that I'm blaming everything on Him but I was hoping for some help). But He came through as He always has and we had the largest gathering of the year and a great service together.
I love visitors and we had many. I am thankful for all of our people who volunteer in our ministries and make our visitors feel welcomed. We did no advertising for this Easter so all of our visitors came through the invitation of our people. Thank you for inviting your friends and keep up the good work.
We had a great offering which is unusual on Easter. Usually its the biggest crowd and the smallest offering but this year was different. Thank you for your generosity. We have one more week to give toward our Criminal Minds campaign. I will share those results later.
The band did a great job and Rayanne sang a song about the cross and knocked a homerun.
We probably gave out the most unusual Easter gift any Church has ever given - elephants. Everyone got an elephant for Easter. I never believed in the Easter bunny so I'm campaigning for the Easter Elephant. It was a promotion for our next series beginning this Sunday called "The Elephant in the Room." It is going to be about some painfully obvious flaws that people see in the church and in Christians but most churches never talk about them or are in denial of them or simply don't care about them. We handed out the elephants and never said a word about them until the service was over. Even the people who were handing them out didn't know why we were giving elephants to everyone. It is going to be a great series to invite those who are skeptical about Christianity or have been turned off by church or by a Christian they know.
Grilled out for the first time this year and it was awesome. Jenny and Brian also joined us for lunch.
We have a great new series in the Children's Ministry also starting on Sunday. It's going to be awesome.
All of our babies have been born now. We had 4 couples expecting babies (3 of them were first time pregnancies). The first came in Nov. and the last one delivered on Easter Sunday morning. Congratulations to Al and Mary Interiano for their Easter baby.
My sister is coming home from the Ukraine this week for a couple of months to attend their son, Nathanael' graduation from college. It will be great to see her and David.
It snowed yesterday.
There is much more to share but it will have to come later.

Easter Sunday!

2008-03-17T10:30:00.003-05:00

I always look forward to Easter. We are going to look at the question above. Have you ever wondered that if you can forgive someone without dying, why couldn't God? I think that there are a lot of Christians who don't really know why God couldn't just say the word and our sins would be gone. We have a great service planned. I met with some of our leaders over lunch at Stevi B's and had a productive time. Discussed Easter, our next series, small groups, and "The Big Give-away" our community-wide outreach in April. I am very excited about how our student ministry which is largely Seniors is stepping up to help grow our church. Their input and ideas have been invaluable.

New signs

2008-03-17T10:26:00.002-05:00

We had our new signs out and around the Holly Springs area. Joe Stag designed them and we added directional arrows to the one's that needed them.

Sunday Recap

2008-03-17T09:42:00.003-05:00

What a weekend! Tornadoes, hail storms, Easter egg hunts and a beautiful Sunday. Fortunately, we escaped the storm damage and Pattie and I missed most of the excitement because we were in Trenton, GA visiting Pattie's mother. We had a great visit with her and only encountered some heavy rain on the way. Joe called us from Rachele's basement and Rayanne called us from Jenny's basement as the storms moved through our area but everyone was fine.
We helped out with a community Egg Hunt put on by the city of Holly Springs on Sat. I am thankful for those from our church who showed up in their "churchinthewarehouse" t-shirts. Hundreds of kids showed up and they were able to get everything done before the storms rolled in.
Another great Sunday! I think the band has stepped it up a notch. They have been rockin' the past couple of weeks.
Finished the Criminal Minds series with a look at Pilate in a message called "God on Trial." This series has centered on the issues of justice with a particular look at injustices. We said that the purity of justice is determined by the clarity of the evidence and the character of the one's judging. The injustice of crucifying the sinless Son of God, despite clear evidence of Jesus' innocence, was perpetrated because of the selfishness of Judas, the pride and envy of Caiaphas, and the desire to maintain power and control by Pilate. All of us have the opportunity today to judge whether Jesus is the King and if He has any claim to the throne of you hearts and the direction of our lives. Your decision doesn't determine if He is king. Jesus is King. It is not up for a vote. It only determines if you accept Him as king or not. If you reject Him, the tables will turn, and you will stand before Jesus as judge. And even though you will probably never commit a crime worthy of jail time, your criminal mind (resisting or ignoring God's claim on your life and following your own agenda and desires) will be exposed and you will find yourself guilty before God. If you embrace Him now, you will be pardoned and your guilt will be gone.
We're looking for a generous offering on Easter to aid the cause of justice. $1700 will cover the cost of a single day's operations in an IJM field office somewhere in the world. $1000 is for Innocence Atlanta to help stop sex trafficking in our own city. And the rest will go to the Covenant House in Atlanta that helps those who are victims recover from the injustices done to their lives.
Sunday was a crazy sports day! GA Bulldogs pull off an incredible 4 wins in three days romp through the SEC tournament to be champions and win an improbable birth into the NCAA March Madness tournament. Houston Rockets beat the Lakers decisively for 22 victories in a row. Jeff Burton wins the NASCAR race. And Tiger Woods hits an aewsome 20 foot putt on the last hole to win 5 in a row and ties Ben Hogan for 3rd in career wins. And I saw it all from my living room chair.
It was a great day!

We had an awesome Sunday!

2008-03-11T08:32:00.003-05:00

First, the band was absolutely rockin' on Sunday. They were incredible. It was loud, great songs and they looked good. I appreciate the way Bob approaches the music and how seriously he takes this responsibility. He is not a paid minister but a volunteer. He is more concerned about worship than performance but the performance is good too.
Second, I love the simple stage design that Joe Stag created for this series! The interogation table with the single light bulb has been effective. We have been opening the teaching time by sitting at this table and reading a few stories from the IJM website of rescued women and children who had fallen prey to evil men with criminal minds. I hope it is stirring everyone's hearts to give generously toward these ministries.
Third, I have been loving this Criminal Minds series! Sunday we looked at the crime of resisting arrest that led Caiaphas, the High Priest, to plot the murder of Jesus. Caiaphas resisted believing in Jesus as Messiah even though he was faced with many undeniable signs that Jesus was the one. We shared 3 reasons people resist God's authority over their lives: 1) Fear - we fear that God will mess up our lives and our own plans, dreams, desires will go unfulfilled. 2) Anger - like Judas, we get mad at God for not playing our game so we refuse to play His. He didn't do A so I'm not doing B. 3) Caiaphas' problem was the arrogance to claim ownership and control over that which he didn't own or was able to control. We are stewards not owners. When we think like owners, Christ becomes a threat to everything we think we own. But when we act like stewards, we can easily surrender all things to the rightful owner, Jesus Christ.
Fourth, at least two young men, 21 and 24, received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior! What a great thing to see! God at work in the lives of our people.
Fifth, offering was great! Thank you all for your generous giving.
Sixth, it's always a great Sunday because Christ is alive and because of that, we live also!

Lost Party

2008-03-06T22:53:00.002-05:00

The last 2 Thursdays, we have had extras at the house to watch Lost. It has been fun. We drink IBC Black Cherry Sodas from the bottles, snack on cookies, popcorn and fruit, and watch a great hour of TV. I love this show.
Speaking of parties, I am looking forward to going to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel with all my Bus buddies in the morning after our routes. I love these people and enjoy my time with them.

Where did I go?

2008-03-06T20:23:00.005-05:00

I'm finally able to get back to you and I apologize to all of you who read my blog. I am not a mobile blogger. I am bound to my desk top pc so when my schedule is slammed it is hard to get enough time behind the pc to adequately blog. That's why it sometimes is a few days between entries. So here I am at home alone with all the tv's turned up so I can hear the American Idols Result Show and then be ready Lost. There are 3 or 4 guys that are pretty awesome on AI but only 2 or 3 girls with legitimate shots at the title.
But the other part to this entry is where did I go on Tuesday night. Jim, Donna, Pattie and I all went to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre (a beautiful new theater that was a treat in itself) to see Jesus Christ Superstar. From my background, this wasn't easy because in the 70's this rock opera was nothing short of blasphemy according to every preacher I had heard. So we decided to go see for ourselves what it was all about. Here are my impressions:

It was a great show as far as talent, staging, theatrics, etc.
It really was a rock opera and not a musical. Everything was done in song.
Things that I thought they did well: Jesus raising the dead, triumphal entry was beautiful, the purging of the Temple, the turmoil that Judas Iscariot was going through, Caiaphas as a conspirator, a hilarious portrayal of Herod demanding a sign from Jesus but Jesus remained silent, Pilate's desire to set Jesus free, the whipping of Jesus 39 times with the cat-o-nine tails, parts of the crucifixion.
Things I didn't like: they definitely portrayed Mary Magdalene as being in love with Jesus and Jesus neither reciprocated her affection nor did he discourage it, the anointing of Jesus at Bethany was portrayed a little too affectionately (for my liking) than as ceremonial or custom, they seemed to show Judas as a reluctant participant in God's plan to have Jesus crucified and in the end (after his hanging) he returns in white as if he was forgiven and in heaven for his part ( he is the one that actually sings "Jesus Christ Superstar"), I didn't like the liberties they took with Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, and finally, I didn't like most of the crucifixion including the end when Jesus comes off the cross and ascends directly into heaven like Peter Pan ( I'm assuming that they put the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension in one scene for time constraints and for theatrical impact not because they believe it really happened that way).
I'm glad that I got to see it first hand and draw my own conclusions. I didn't see it as a deliberate attempt to discredit Jesus as merely a man but at the same time I don't think that they embraced Jesus fully as the Son of God. They definitely were more interested in portraying His humanity rather than His deity.
Final conclusion: great performance but don't get your theology from it.

Sunday report

2008-03-03T12:59:00.002-05:00

We had a good start to our new series - Criminal Minds. The crowd was good, the band was excellent, and the new staging was great.
This first sermon was on Judas Iscariot called Fraudulent Behavior. Because God knows the intents of our hearts, He cannot be betrayed and His will cannot be thwarted. To be betrayed you must get caught off guard by the one betraying. That is impossible with God. To God, Judas was not a traitor. He was just a fraud. We gave 3 tests to determine if you are guilty of fraudulent behavior: 1) If you are in it for the benefits (what God can do for you) rather than the relationship, you could be a fraud. 2) If you barter with God (if You do A, I will do B) more than surrender to Him, you may be a fraud. 3) How you respond to God at the point when you feel He has let you down ( He didn't do this or allowed this or didn't answer this) could indicate that you are a fraud. Since God doesn't deal, He will let us walk away from the table to pursue a path that will eventually hang us or bring us back to Him in full surrender.
Spent the rest of the day just chillin' at the house.
Started my new route today. It was better than I thought it would be. It was easy and short. Even the ride to Woodstock High didn't take as long as I thought it would.
Pattie went to work today but her back is still bothering her some. Keep her in your prayers.
I can't believe where I am going tomorrow night! Maybe I'll tell you later.

Hard start to a beautiful day

2008-03-03T12:52:00.002-05:00

We had a bus accident this morning. I am thankful that no one was seriously injured. As a driver, this hits close to home. It pains the heart and reminds me of the preciousness of the cargo we carry. Pray for this driver and these students.

New Route

2008-02-28T11:55:00.004-05:00

I was offered a new route closer to home and I'm taking it. I'm going to miss the beautiful sunrises and wildlife that my current route affords me (yesterday I passed a pasture with the regular crowd of 10 horses and a donkey with the added company of 3 wild turkeys and 5 deer grazing in another corner) but being at Sixes Elem. which is 4 min. from my house will be nice. The Sixes route takes less than 15 min. but the catch is that my high school route is at Woodstock which is a long drive especially at rush hour. But I am still finishing up around the same time I am now. I also have to give up my nice Cadillac ride of a bus but I'm sure that my next bus will be good too. I was ready for a change anyways. It should be good.

Criminal Minds

2008-02-27T11:17:00.002-05:00

I'm pumped about this new series starting Sunday. We are looking at the criminal minds behind the crucifixion of an innocent Jesus as well as attacking criminal minds today that also are destroying the innocent and the vulnerable. We laid out some goals to raise money for three organizations that are on the front lines of fighting for those around the world who have been kidnapped or duped into the world of sex slaves and other forms of slavery. IJM is an organization that is working world-wide to free those who are enslaved as well as put behind bars those evil men who are perpetrating these injustices. Innocence Atlanta is doing the same thing only focusing on Atlanta itself which ranks as the #13 city in the world as a hub for sex trafficking. The Covenant House is a place in Atlanta that cares for and provides the support necessary for those rescued from these situations. We are also looking at getting a more hands on opportunity rather than just throwing money at them. As Christians, we are often sheltered from the dark world that we live in and as church planters, we can be consumed with reaching our immediate community and forgetting about others for whom God is deeply concerned. Let's step up and engage this battle for justice.

Tuesday thoughts just before Wednesday

2008-02-26T22:37:00.002-05:00

A big storm hit just as most of us bus drivers were starting our routes this morning. Torrential rain and strong winds made it crazy. I delivered my elementary school kids to a powerless, dark school (alot of the schools had no power for a large portion of the day). I couldn't even reach my Middle/High School kids. There were power lines down as well as trees blocking the road leading to the sub-divisions I serve. It was wild!
I pulled the bus out in front of a guy who was traveling way too fast and it made him mad. There would have been no problem if he had been doing the speed limit. He flew up behind me and rode my bumper. Being tail gated in a bus is not very intimidating. Unknowingly to me, he followed me into the bus shop and complained about me to the office. When I returned in the afternoon, my supervisor pulled me aside to verify it was me. She seemed certain that he must of had the wrong bus number but I confessed that it was me. How can a guy that is in that big a hurry have time to stop and complain about me? People are crazy.
It looked like a tornado went through the woods this afternoon when I finally ran my HS route. Trees were snapped in half and many were completely uprooted. The power was still out in that area at 4:00.
I've been cooking with Pattie being down with her back. I made this last night and this tonight. Both were excellent.
American Idol was a little disappointing tonight. Only a few did very well. That young David Archeleta was pretty amazing though.
I have a lot of things going on at church this week. It is making it very busy for me.
For some reason our kids are not listed on our insurance and I don't know why. I can't find anyone else who knows why either. I was given the royal run around today. It was very frustrating.

Sunday Thoughts on Tuesday Night

2008-02-26T21:51:00.002-05:00

We had a great day Sunday. Joe and Joe did the worship. I thought they did great. Shared some new songs that really emphasized the cross and the love of God. It was very good.
Great attendance and great offering even with it being the last weekend of our winter break.
My wife was unable to attend. Her back is giving her problems again. Please pray for her.
Presented our plans for the next couple of months. I challenged the church to step it up in leadership and followership (I think I made this word up). I personally need to step it up as the leader and I wanted the church to be ready to follow (not blindly but confidently). I also challenged us to step it up in giving and prayer. We need to be outrageously generous and our prayers need to be big. Small prayers yield small results. When you pray small, you often can't tell if God answered or things just worked out. But BIG prayers have unbelievable answers that can only be attributed to God.
I also challenged us to step it up in the fight. We are tackling injustice in this world evidenced in the sex trafficking of young children and the enslavement of millions around the world. We set a goal of over $3000 so that we can help those who are engaging this battle. I will tell more about this later but I am pumped up about joining this fight.
I watched the Oscars but I am not sure why. I haven't seen any of the movies that were up for best picture. The Oscar's are never about movies that people actually watch. I would give Oscars to Bourne Ultimatum for best picture, Johnny Depp and Keira Knightly in Pirates of the Caribbean for best actors, Optimus Prime of Transformers for best robot in a movie, Spiderman for best action hero, Shrek the Third for best movie featuring a donkey and Evan Almighty for best Christian theme.
Had to get my mind around getting up for work. It's time to get back on the bus.

I'm back

2008-02-23T13:44:00.002-05:00

I left Wed morning for Hernando, MS, just south of Memphis, TN, for my aunt's funeral and returned on Fri. It was good, even under these circumstances, to reconnect with my cousins and aunts and uncles some of which I hadn't seen since high school. I was not close to my aunt, Linda Kay, but was glad that I got to see her last Aug. at my uncle's funeral. It was good to hear about her faith and that she lived her life as a child of God. The funeral and the family and friends that attended were a great tribute to her life and I am glad that I was able to be there.
I rode with my sister, Pam, who has become a good friend and encourager over the years. I enjoy our times together and our conversations are meaningful.
You cannot buy hazelnut ice coffee at McDonald's in MS. They do not carry this product and I tried several locations. I didn't get my ice coffee until we hit AL in the late afternoon. I have decided that I will no longer tell Alabama jokes. They will all be Mississippi jokes from now on.
I couldn't get that close to the Mississippi River without crossing it. It was only the third time to cross it in my life.
I met with Jason from Ewtonville Baptist Church in Dunlap, TN, for whom I am speaking at his youth camp in Gulf Shores this Summer. We had a small planning meeting and decided on a theme and the number of times I would be speaking. It's going to be great.
It's always nice to come home to Pattie and my family. It's the best part of going out of town.
Can't wait for church tomorrow. I love our church. I am speaking on our vision and our and our strategy for the next three months. We are also having a membership class Sunday afternoon.

Sunday recap

2008-02-19T17:21:00.002-05:00

Finished the series ABC Family with a look at parenting. Since God designed marriage/family with the purpose of birthing the next generation (Gen 1:28) and passing on our faith to that generation through the modeling of love and the teaching of the Word of God (Duet. 6), then the three relationships that we talked about the last 3 weeks have the greatest impact on fulfilling that purpose. A) The relationship of the father/husband/head of household with God. B) The husband/wife relationship. C) The parent/child relationship. God has placed the mantle of leadership in the home squarely on the man's shoulder, therefore placing the onus for all three relationships in our laps. It is time for us men to step up and take our place in the home seriously.
Attendance was off after weeks of climbing. Winter Break started this week and it effected our crowd.
Joe played and sang at the Wild West Bar and Grill Sunday night. He did a great job and drew a good crowd. He was part of a fund raiser to build a hospital in Kenya.
My aunt passed away this week. I may be riding with my sister, Pam, to the funeral. I will probably be gone Wed and Thurs.
Joe and Joe are leading worship this Sunday as we are in between series. It will be fun to see what they have lined up for Sunday.
Can't wait to start our new series Criminal Minds on March 2. It's going to be good.
Looked at a bunch of other places to move Axios this week. It makes me thankful for where we are at. We have a great place and right now it seems to be where we need to stay.

Just some thoughts

2008-02-15T12:10:00.002-05:00

My bus route takes me across GA Hwy 20 toward Macedonia right around sunrise. Today's sunrise was absolutely stunning. Makes me glad that I am up and about to see such splendor. It reminds me of God's glory, grace and beauty. It causes me to sense His presence in my life.
This route takes me through a lot of horse country and open pastures. Yesterday I saw a rafter of wild turkeys. It was awesome because it is not a usual sight. I did look it up and a group of turkeys is a "rafter."
The book about Ravi Zacharias called Walking from East to West has been an incredible story and journey. It continues to inspire and encourage me. I recommend it highly. I have been reading a chapter a day in McDonald's while partaking in my addiction of hazelnut ice coffee. The other day I put my face in my hands and wept in the middle of McDonald's as I read about sacrifice, martyrdom and God's great love. It is a very moving story.
I am very proud of Rayanne for the way she is approaching this new school. It has been very challenging and requires more study than she has previously been used to. She has accepted this challenge and has been doing very well. Keep praying for her.
Lost has stepped up to the plate this season. I can't believe Hurley did that and I can't believe who got off the island as revealed in the last "forward look." Every episode reveals something new and the story is moving at a fast pace. I am glad the writer's strike is over so that they can get back to business.

Can you help us?

2008-02-11T12:35:00.001-05:00

Before we sign a new lease or make any kind of commitment to this warehouse, we are going to take one more good look around this area of other possible places that we could meet. I prefer to stay in Holly Springs but am open to anywhere God may open the door. If you know of a place, please contact me at raybrim@axioschurch.org. Keep your eyes open and pray about this important decision.

Sunday Recap

2008-02-11T12:14:00.000-05:00

Had a great time with the message. Started with God's original design for marriage and ended with pointers for the singles crowd on finding the right mate.
In keeping with Valentine's day week and going along with our ABC Family theme, we showed another clip from the Cosby Show. The Huxtable family lip syncs a love song for Cliff's parents' 49th anniversary. That's always funny.
Another good crowd and great atmosphere.
I was sad that I was the lone bus driver in the crowd yesterday.
The ladies' gave a baby shower for Mary Interiano yesterday afternoon. Mary and her husband, Al, lead our high school ministry.
We are sending off the money that we raised over the holidays to drill another well. I am grateful for the generosity of our people. The delay was for a few others who still wanted to give toward this cause.
I went to the Serene Bean Coffee House, where another church's youth group meets every Sunday afternoon (it is the church where Joe is helping as an intern), to hear a man from Innocence Atlanta talk about child sex trafficing in Atlanta. What a horrific business created by evil men and perpetrated on children. We will be looking at how we can help this cause in our next series Criminal Minds.
All of our kids and grand kids (except Michayla) and even some friends that have become like our own had supper at our house last night. It felt like Christmas. Even though everyone is local, it is hard to get everyone together at once. We are going to try to do this once a month.

ABC Family Part 2

2008-02-11T11:46:00.000-05:00

Second message in ABC Family series. The second most influential relationship in the home is the one between husband and wife. I believe that the Bible teaches that the purpose of the family is to birth the next generation and to pass on faith to that generation through modeling love and teaching the Word of God. The failure of a man to embrace his role as the head of the home in all areas including faith is most damaging to the fulfillment of that purpose. The breakdown of the marriage relationship is the second most damaging. God has chosen both of these relationships as a way to describe His relationship to us. He loves us as a father loves his children and as a husband loves his wife. When we don't maintain these two relationships and give them the priority they deserve, the ability to pass on our faith to our children suffers. God describes how a family works in Ephesians. The further we move away from that model, the more dysfunctional a family becomes and the harder it is to send healthy children out into their adult lives. No family is perfect and every family has it's own quirks, obstacles, and hardships to overcome. I thank God that He is on our side and and no matter how we have blown it or are blowing it, He is still there for us and offers help, hope, wisdom, and guidance to those who seek Him.

What I am reading

2008-02-08T09:40:00.000-05:00

I don't read many biographies but I have picked up an autobiography called Walking From East To West by Ravi Zacharias. Ravi is a brilliant man, an author, and a great apologist for the Christian faith. He debates and lectures on the credibility of Christianity and the Christian worldview in places where few are invited - prestigious schools and universities in the US and around the world, UN Headquarters, other government agencies. I have always held him in high regard and my respect has grown from reading his life story about growing up in India amidst great poverty, religious diversity and a totally different worldview. Christ stood in great contrast to the other options around Ravi as he grew up. At the lowest point of his life, the truth of Christ swept in and changed him forever. It makes me look at our own culture. Here, in America where biblical principles shaped our country and our worldview and in the Bible Belt where everyone belongs to a church (although over 70% do not attend regularly) and has "prayed the prayer," we live in the prosperity and freedom afforded by the Gospel yet many seem to live outside of its influence and relevance in everyday life. It seems that many believe but few truly live. It does not take faith to believe in Jesus Christ. The evidence is overwhelmingly in Christ's favor that He is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do. The Bible says that even demons believe yet they are not saved. It takes faith to build your life on Him, to trust Him only, to live by His guidelines, to follow His commandments. Those with this kind of faith have found Jesus Christ a loving Savior, a faithful Friend, the Treasured Possession of their lives.

My TV Guide

2008-02-07T23:13:00.000-05:00

I am loving Lost. What a great show! The writing is incredible and the acting is excellent. It is my only must see tv. I still love House too. I can't help but laugh at his audacity. American Idol is entertaining and I'm glad try-outs are over. I'm ready to move on to the real talent. I'm looking forward to 24 soon, too.