The End of an Era

Today was graduation day. This morning Janna graduated from preschool, complete with short ceremony and picnic at Marilla Park. Next year she hits the big time...Kindergarten. This evening, we attended Ryan's Kindergarten graduation. His class recited Scripture starting with each letter of the alphabet, spoke Spanish, sang Scripture songs, and generally wowed the crowd. We're thankful that God enables us to be able to send our kids to a wonderful, Christ-centered school.

It is awe-inspiring for Belinda and I to watch our kids grow and mature. It's hard to believe an entire school year has passed since that first day in September when teary-eyed Moms took their children to class for the first day of school. Along with the excitement of watching our kids grow, I feel a real sense tonight that the Knight family has come to the end of an era. The preschool years are over. In September, Ryan enters first grade and will experience the homework that comes with the territory. Times are changing.

Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it. - Proverbs 22:6

Back from Blackwater Rim

I love mountains. Our family enjoyed a refreshingly long weekend on the Blackwater River and later on the rim of Blackwater Canyon. We also got to spend some quality time with new friends who are attending StoneBridge. Thanks, Ephraim, Charlotte, and Tyler for a great weekend. Their friends, Paul and Su-Jen from Northern Virginia also joined us for the festivities. David, Loren, and Krista (fellow StoneBridgers) joined us on Sunday night.

Our family loves camping. It brings us closer together and usually helps us to re-energize and refocus on the tasks waiting back in civilized life. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights from the trip:

Highlights:

• enjoying trying my hand at trout fishing for the first time in my life
• eating freshly cooked trout on Saturday night (caught by other people)
• building deeper friendships and making new ones
• watching the sun go down on the rim of Blackwater Canyon
• taking the fam on a mid-stream hike down the side of Canaan Mtn (don't ask)
• successful covert mission into Blackwater Falls campground for hot showers
• driving back and forth on Canaan Loop Road, getting "mud on the tires" (4x4 road)

Lowlights:

• weathering torrential rains Friday and Saturday morning
• having to change muddy clothes on the kids 27 times
• Tyler tumbling into the rapids of Blackwater River, but subsequently rescued by mom and dad
• firewood $5.50 per bundle
• leaving solitude for civilized life

I leave you with some pics from the trip...

blogging hiatus upcoming

I'll be away from the blogging world and from the church planting world until Tuesday. Our family is headed to the Blackwater Canyon Rim for a weekend of camping and hiking. This is one of our favorite spots in WV.

Eat More Chik'in

The past two days I have been busy wearing my publicity director hat and hitting the streets promoting our upcoming sports camp. Several elementary schools agreed to send our promo postcards home with the students, so 1700 kids took home postcards about the camp yesterday.

Today, on a whim, I walked into Chick-Fila and asked the manager if we could place our cards on the order counters. She told me they couldn't, but they could stuff their drive-through bags with the postcards. Yea, you heard right...everyone going through the Chick-Fila drive-thru for the next 2 weeks will receive a Sports Camp postcard with a link to StoneBridge on it. I left her about 1500 cards and will return to reload on Tuesday.

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth, My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt His name together. - Psalm 34:1-3

Radio Advertising Anyone?

The roaring freight train we know as CityReach is coming June 9th. 150 high school students and adults around the country will converge on Morgantown for a week of hands-on ministry and worship. One of our big events during CityReach is a sports camp for elementary age kids. We offer instruction and coaching in 5 sports: basketball, baseball, soccer, flag football, and cheerleading. This camp is one of the best events that we offer all year long.

Today, I began our two-week intense effort of promoting the camp, visiting the schools and distributing postcards, setting up our newspaper ads, and discussing the possibility of doing two weeks of morning drive time commercials and/or live call ins on our local rock/pop station, WVAQ. It looks like we can get 2 weeks of publicity with WVAQ for $900. I'm curious if anyone out there has tried radio advertising to promote your church or special events? If this is a success, we might look into using radio on a regular basis.

mavs win! mavs win!

Yes, the "little" mavericks beat the spurs last night in game 7 last night, pulling out an improbable 119-111 victory. I vented 5 years of frustration as the mavs ran out the clock and almost scared Belinda to death. Tony Parker can only eat his words now about "ripping the heart out of Dallas". Tony, you can enjoy watching the Mavs win the NBA Championship at home this year.

google earth

Belinda introduced me to the world of Google Earth last night. Using this program I figured out that we live 1920 feet above sea level. Yes, I am a nerd (a.k.a. "geographic man").

Cool stuff.

Busy week away from the blogosphere

My hiatus from the blogging world stemmed from an extremely busy week, highlighted by my Mom's visit from Dallas. It's a rare treat to have my Mom visit, and I dropped all inessential activities accordingly.

Sunday's worship gathering was stellar. God's spirit seemed to be moving through our people as we experienced a powerful time of worship, and Jason gave a powerful talk relating Paul's experience at Mars Hill in Acts 17 to our new opportunities stemming from the release of the Da Vinci code movie. David wrote a hilarious impromptu song during setup time(Adam Sandler would be proud)refuting the Da Vinci code. David, you need to record that song and post it to your website. Also on Sunday, Loren (one of our WVU students) shared about her upcoming short-term mission trip to Russia and we challenged our people to pray and give toward this effort. Loren has a real heart for God and it is exciting to partner with her for this trip. We ended the service with a special prayer/commissioning time for her. Awesome day!

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." - Isaiah 43:18-19. After praying about the possibility of relocating our Sunday worship gatherings to the posh, new Hollywood Theaters in University Town Center, we received closure on the issue yesterday. The answer was a resounding "NO!". Hollywood Theaters has a corporate policy in place that prevents outside groups from renting theaters. After spending a few hours feeling like I had been "Millvilled", I realized that God had made a possibly difficult decision easy -- He wants us to remain downtown, in the heart of the city.

God's confirmation is reassuring to me as we continue to pursue people with the love of Christ in Morgantown. I leave you with the lyrics of Petula Clark's 1964 hit, "Downtown"...

When you're alone and life is
making you lonely You can always go - downtown

When you've got worries, all the
noise and the hurry Seems to help, I know - downtown Just listen to the music of
the traffic in the city Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose? The lights are much brighter there You can forget all your
troubles, forget all your cares So go downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown - no finer place, for sure Downtown - everything's waiting for you
Don't hang around and let your problems surround you There are movie shows -
downtown Maybe you know some little places to go to Where they never close -
downtown Just listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova You'll be dancing with
him too before the night is over Happy again The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares So go downtown, where
all the lights are bright Downtown - waiting for you tonight Downtown - you're
gonna be all right now And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you
Someone who is just like you and needs a gentle hand to Guide them along So
maybe I'll see you there We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares So
go downtown, things'll be great when you're Downtown - don't wait a minute more
Downtown - everything's waiting for you.

Monday, May 15, 2006

HD coming to the Knight house!

After holding out for several months, I placed an online order this morning for HD service with DirectTV. Just in time for game 5 of the Mavs and the Loser Spurs. Go Mavs!

The Blue Moose

One of the reasons I love being a church planter is the freedom to have a mobile office. My office of choice is the Blue Moose Cafe, an eclectic coffeehouse in the heart of downtown Morgantown. One of the reasons I like the Blue Moose is the unique mix of culture and ideas that can be experienced on a daily basis...you never know what you are going to hear.

The great thing about having a mobile office is being in the center of the marketplace and having the chance to connect with people. I'll post a picture of the Moose as soon as I find my camera cable...if I find my camera cable.

Moms rule the day

Worship was great today as we honored all of the Moms in the audience (original idea). Each Mom received a home spa kit, a rose, and a coupon for a free Chick-Fila sandwich. I know this seems random, and it was. Actually the plans were to simply give away spa kits. On Friday, the marketing rep from the new Chick-Fila contacted me about their Mother's Day promo, and I ended up with a stack of free sandwich coupons. Then this morning, Ed Craft, our senior member at age 52, showed up with a huge bouquet of roses for the ladies. Ed brings vitality and energy to our church, whether its showing up on Sunday with roses, taking his pastor on a ramp dig, or bringing creative meals to our HomeTeam (Ed, you need to open a restaurant!).

The day was bittersweet for Belinda and I because Belinda lost her Mom to cancer in January 05. Shirley was the best Mom-in-law a guy could have. I miss our relaxing visits on her patio in Arizona -- there's not a more relaxing place on earth. The picture to the left is of two of my favorites: Belinda's Mom and Grandma Jan taken several years ago at a Cracker Barrel in TX.

My Mom and Dad are traveling back from East Texas today. Dad spoke at Lone Cedar Baptist Church today, a church he pastored in the early '70s when I was born. Mom is flying to Pittsburgh on Thursday to spend the weekend with us. Mom, we can't wait to see you!

Tornado hits close to home

Tuesday evening, an F3 tornado ripped through Collin County, Texas. My wife Belinda grew up in Collin County, and we feel a real connection with the people who have been victimized by this storm. This morning I viewed a video online about a family who lost their 14 year old son when he was struck in the chest by a piece of lumber. His Dad shared his comfort in knowing that his son was in heaven with Jesus, because he was a Christian.

The Dallas Morning News gave this account of the story:

Mike Owens gripped his grandson and braced his back and feet against the laundry room wall for the coming tornado. The washer and dryer fell on top of them, the house was destroyed, and enough dirt to fill a Dixie cup packed his mouth. Once the tornado passed, he shouted for his wife, nephew and son who had huddled
under the stairs. Only two answered. His 14-year-old son, Colson Owens, was one of three people killed after two tornadoes swept through the rolling hills and farmland in northern Collin and southern Grayson counties late Tuesday.

My heart and prayers go out to the Owens family in the loss of Colson. I'll be giving my kids extra hugs today.

Paradigm Shift

In recent weeks, God has been moving my heart away from the perceived need for a permanent home for StoneBridge Church. The traditional church planting model has always led to using rented facilities until the congregation/associational support is able to secure a permanent location. Mark Batterson talked about his traditional mindset of securing a permanent church campus when he started National Community Church in Washington DC. After meeting in the movie theaters at Union Station, he realized, "I can't build a church like this!". After all, with Union Station, the church has its own Metro system, Amtrak station, mall, food court, and is in the heart of Washington DC.

Morgantown real estate continues to escalate. Desirable commercial property is selling in excess of $1 million per acre. I keep asking myself this question, "Would I rather invest all my energies and resources in planting one church and developing a permanent campus, or would the greater kingdom impact be made by planting a multiplicity of churches in the I-79 corridor, without the perceived need for permanent facilities and the financial obligations that come with the territory?"

I feel an incredible freedom in knowing that God has called me to plant churches, not necessarily to develop commercial real estate.

Gobbler Hunt

Yesterday morning, I added something to my list of "firsts": turkey hunting. A friend of mine invited me and 3 other guys to his lodge in Barbour County for spring gobbler season. There's nothing like being in the woods on a cool spring morning in West Virginia. I thank God for allowing me to serve Him in a state that should be designated a National Park -- the entire state.

BTW, I saw three deer, a bobcat, and a ton of squirrels, but no turkeys. On the first day of deer season on the same property, I saw a ton of squirrels, a bunch of turkeys, but no deer. Oh well...

The highlight of the morning was when two of the guys were opposite each other across the woods, and began to call each other in..(turkey call). Just before we had a Dick Cheney moment, they realized their faux paus and enjoyed a good laugh.

Ripple Effect from the Buzz Conference...

Sunday was a great day at StoneBridge. Several guests made a return visit and our people were really zoned in for worship. Jason used the message to cast vision for real authentic community in our body of believers. David created an awesome video to the "Cheers" theme song showing examples of real community taking place throughout the life of our church. More services like this and I think we will build some lasting momentum throughout the summer.

Buzz fallout...changes are on the way in our Sunday setup. We will be purchasing new light trees soon and ordering some mega signage for the Theater. We were inspired to go the extra mile in making the theater our HOME for the short time we meet there every Sunday. I will post pics as we implement the upgrades.

The Buzz Conference Recap

Jason, David, and I just returned from the Buzz Conference in Washington, D.C. Kudos to Mark Batterson and his staff at National Community Church for putting on a great conference. I was blown away watching the people of NCC serve so enthusiastically. The highlight of the conference was the theater church forum on Thursday morning, where 75 church planters and pastors gathered to share new ideas and insights on doing church in a movie theater. This forum was held at Ebenezer's Coffeehouse, which is owned and operated by NCC just a block from Union Station in the Capitol Hill District. This property was a crack house just 3 years ago, and now is being used to share the love of Christ with Washingtonians. The basement of Ebenezer's houses NCC's Saturday worship gatherings, and the 3rd floor serves as the Administrative Wing of the church which also worships in Union Station and Ballston Commons Mall in Northern VA. This theater church gathering was the first of its kind. Surveys reveal that there are over 300 churches meeting in theaters across America. Exciting stuff...

Lessons learned from the Buzz:

• 1 "God" idea is better than 1000 good ideas
• we need to be the church on the corner, not the church on the cover
• theater aesthetics are important and we are falling short: 15 chapters in Exodus deal with aesthetics
• we MUST raise the bar of creativity: The church should be the most creative institution on the planet - Mark Batterson

Hello blogging world