Tejas Update

Wednesday evening we caught an earlier flight by flying standby and literally had to run thru the terminal to catch our flight as our names were being paged. Catching this flight got us into Dallas at 8 PM instead of 11:30 PM. Thank you Lord. We are enjoying our time here. Getting used to fighting Dallas traffic on the freeways and in the mall parking lots.

My Mom wanted our family and my brother's family to open our gift last night. We didn't argue with that and now the Knights are the proud owners of a Nintendo Wii System! I think I am just as excited as the kids about that.

Got started reading E.M Bounds on prayer on the plane. It's good deep stuff and its exactly what I need right now.

Texas

My family and I are headed to the homeland tonight for Christmas. I am looking forward to some down time with family and friends. I'm also going to dedicate some time with God for some much needed spiritual renewal. My spiritual batteries desperately need a recharge, so I'm going to read thru the gospels and read "The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer". Throw in a trip to Railhead Smokehouse and Joe T. Garcias in Fort Worth and this is going to be a great trip.

Governor Manchin on Coach Rod's Departure

Sunday, Governor Manchin issues this statement:

"The last seven years that Rich Rodriguez has been football coach at West Virginia University brought great excitement to our fans and tremendous and positive notoriety to our state, and I am truly sad that he has made the decision to move on.

I have known Rich for most of his life, from a boy whose only wish was to play football at WVU to a young man whose only wish was to coach at WVU. His dreams came true, and he brought back with him to West Virginia a love and a loyalty for our state that I thought would never change.

But, unfortunately, over the last two years, I have seen Rich become a victim of a college coaching system driven by high-priced agents that has turned those dreams into just another back-room business deal. Something is wrong with the profession of college coaching today when a leader’s word is no longer his bond, and it does not bode well for the student-athletes who entrust these coaches with their futures.

I wish Rich and his family nothing but the best, but I challenge everyone in our state and across this country to start looking more closely at the system that we’ve allowed these agents to create, because in the end, it serves no one well but them.


I can’t say enough about the WVU fans and financial boosters who have made such tremendous commitments to this football team, and I commend President Garrison and Athletic Director Ed Pastilong for having a program that is truly worthy of the national spotlight. I also trust them and the WVU Board of Governors completely with the coaching search that now lies ahead.

In the meantime, I encourage the people and fans of West Virginia to continue to show their support and respect for our tremendous student-athletes as they prepare to compete in front of a national audience in the Fiesta Bowl."

- Gov. Joe Manchin III

I am now a Buckeye Fan.

Apple Trouble

Even though my battery is charged, every time I pull the AC power on my MacBook. the laptop is powering down. Not cool. Any suggestions?

Lessons from Hoosiers

Hoosiers is one of my all time favorite movies. When it came on in HD last night, our family had to watch it again. Early on in the movie, I noticed a great leadership principle that has been shared in church planting circles: Run to Confrontation. When Gene Hackman takes over as the Hickory coach, there's a local yocal that still thinks he's the coach and actually tries to hijack the first practice.

Hackman pulls him aside and basically says, "Your coaching days are over." They have a heated exchange, but in the end, Hackman stands firm and entrenches himself as the leader in charge. This was a good reminder for me not to let friction in the church fester, but to confront the issues with people, lay our cards on the table, and hold firm as a spiritual leader. Too often it seems easier to ignore conflict for a time, (short term gain) at the expense of long term health in the church.

New Small Group Coming...Honk for Service

For the better part of today, I have been spending time with fellow StoneBridgers David, Manny, and Dan as they helped Aaron Johnson put a new alternator on his car. I am so proud of these guys. They understand what the church is called to do and be, and they are living out these principles. For about a year, they have held an occasional "auto care" day, where they do routine maintenance, brake jobs, minor mechanical repairs, etc, for people in need. They have ministered to many people outside our church, and have experienced and built a bond of brotherhood with each other while doing it.

Now Dan is ready to launch this into a regular small group which has a mission of serving others. They will have a short time of Bible reading and prayer, and then get busy doing what they do. I am so excited on many levels: living out the mission of our church by serving others, and these guys starting such a great ministry on their own initiative.

Snow Day

We are enjoying our first snowfall of the season. The kids were out of school today and are off tomorrow due to the weather. After I finished a CityReach Board conference call, I headed to Barbour County to hunt in the snow with Belinda's boss and his son.

We saw a bunch of deer and I'm happy to report that all three of us got a deer. I killed mine around 4 PM when about 5 deer darted through the woods downhill about 120 yards from where I was standing. When I got home I measured our snowfall -- we've got 8 inches!

I'm posting a picture of me with my deer and also my doe from two Saturdays ago. Notice my new goofy hat fad.

A Saturday of Missed Opportunities

It's taken me a while to get over what happened on Saturday. And I'm not only referring to THE GAME. Around 2:30 PM, after Ryan's basketball game (his team won 34-0), I headed out to the woods for one last crack at getting a buck this season). Didn't see anything until 4:30 pm, when I glanced to my left, and saw a MONSTER buck staring at me. As I lifted my rifle to take a shot, he calmly trotted off into some cover and I never got off a shot.

I figured I'd go home and heal my wounds by watching WVU wrap up its National Championship bid, and well, you know what happened. Morgantown on Sunday was like a funeral procession, and it was hard to overcome the mood during our worship service.

I'm excited about the Fiesta Bowl, because I believe we're playing a National Championship caliber team in Oklahoma. In fact, I think this will be a tougher assignment then playing Ohio State in the "National Championship". Playoffs anyone?

First Snowfall

Winter is here! We're getting our first snowfall of the season. We got two inches Monday night, and the forecast predicts 4-6 inches will fall between today and Thursday morning. I put new tires on the Jeep last week just in time for winter. Time to get the skis waxed.

KJV-Only Question Makes the Republican Presidential Debate

I'm watching the debate, and CNN is showing YouTube videos of people fielding questions for the candidates. A guy comes on the video and asks, "Do you believe that every word of the Bible is true?", which is a great question. He then does a close up of his Bible and shows the binding which reads, King James Version. He then makes a statement inferring that the KJV is the only Bible, but the panel doesn't pick up on it.

Rudy Guiliani made a statement that some "stories" such as Jonah are allegorical and not literal. Mike Huckabee knocked the question out of the park and stated firmly that the Bible is God's inspired Word to us, without any error.

Update

Our family enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with our friends last week. Aaron and Renee Johnson, and their kids, Andrew and Allison Johnson, and Scott and Esther Bates and their girls joined us for a day filled with eating, football, and crazy games last Thursday. It's great to have "family" when we are all thousands of miles away from our families.

I spent the first part of last week deer hunting in Barbour County once again this year. I had a great time hanging out with the fellas again, but didn't get a deer. I got to hunt with a fellow StoneBridger Joe Mayle at his place south of Morgantown on Friday morning and Saturday morning. I was by myself Saturday morning when a nice sized doe came down the mountain. I got off a clean shot, and now we've got meat in the freezer!

After a couple of weeks of uncertainty regarding our meeting place at the Warner, it looks like the heating system has been fixed and we are good to to go. That's good news because it doesn't look like God is opening any doors concerning an alternate meeting place for StoneBridge.

The Heat is (Not) On

We have gone without heat at the Warner for our last two Sunday gatherings. Just found out today that it will take six weeks or more to get the parts necessary for the theater to fix the heat. Soooo, it looks like we've got to find a new home...and fast. I am trying to book the hotel ballroom and side rooms for Sunday's worship gathering.

I need everyone who happens to read this post to commit to pray that we will discover exactly where God wants us to go. I continue to find it amazing that just when great things began happening, Satan tries his best to throw us curveballs and slow us down. It must mean that great things are just around the corner for StoneBridge. Keep praying!

Back From Texas

It is so good to be home. The trip back was trouble free except for the usual "2 minute delay" (45 minutes) to fix a switch on our plane. The past week has been productive for the simple reason that I had the opportunity to talk to most of our supporting pastors in Texas at the Hillsboro meeting. We are blessed to have good men leading churches that are behind us 100%. My visit to Vista Pointe in Hobbs NM was encouraging as well.

I have to admit it was discouraging to see such a lack of synergy and shared vision at the State meeting in Hillsboro. I pray that the leadership in the state will be able to build the cohesion necessary to work together to build a healthy CP movement in Texas for the future. Marion Reed has done a fantastic job of sharing the vision for starting new churches in TX and has been instrumental in raising sufficient funds to send out new church planters. Now that the money is there, it would be great to see men catch the vision of starting churches, then have the churches of TX rally behind them, giving their blessing and encouragement to see it happen.

Monday

Had a great day at Vista Pointe yesterday, getting reacquainted with the people there, and sharing what God has done in Morgantown, and our future CP vision. Special thanks to Jimmy Baxley for letting me hang out at his house to watch the Cowboys go 8-1 and whip the Giants.

This morning I flew into Dallas, my Dad picked me up, and we drove over to New Liberty Church in Garland. Dad is doing some computer work here for them. New Liberty is a special place for my family, because we were a part of this church when Ryan was born, and this is where we attended when God placed a desire for ministry on my heart. I got to chat with my former pastor, Ken Ashlock for a few minutes this morning. Ken has pastored here since 1957, which is impressive to say the least. He has had a big influence on my life and encouraged Belinda and me during a time when we needed a second wind spiritually.

Mr. FOP at Vista Pointe

Having fun watching the children's ministry time at Vista Pointe. They are using some creative stuff from NorthPoint.

Live From VistaPointe

Got a good night's rest, and came over to Vista Pointe to set up for this morning. This church has partnered with us from the beginning and I'm looking foward to speaking in this morning's service, sharing our church planting vision with everyone here, and hanging out today.

Long Day

Spent the day travelling from Morgantown, flying to Dallas, then to Midland, then riding in a car to Hobbs, New Mexico. I am staying with a young couple in the church. No internet in the house, but luckily it looks like the neighbors have a router :)

Tomorrow morning I'll be speaking at Vista Pointe BC in Hobbs, giving them a Morgantown update and sharing some Word. It sure is flat out here.

What's Up This Week

We had a great staff meeting at So.Zo coffeehouse on High Street on Tuesday. Good, open conversation and I believe we brought into focus the general direction that StoneBridge and the I-79 CP movement will head in the next two years. I can't wait to sit down with Pastor Devin and the leadership at FBC Inwood and talk about the future.

On Saturday, I will be flying out to West Texas, and driving out to Hobbs, NM to visit with one of our supporting churches, Vista Pointe. This church has been behind us 110% since the inception of what we are doing in Morgantown, and I am looking forward to catching up with them and sharing what God has done to date, and where we are headed in the future.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I will be attending the Texas State Meeting in Hillsboro. Many churches who support us will be represented here, and I am anxious to share what is happening here. In between these events, I'm looking forward to some of my Mom's cooking :)

Wish I had a ticket to WVU - Louisville tonight.

Birthdays, Flying Little Men, and Such

On Friday night, our family joined three other families from her office for a trip to the circus in Pittsburgh. It's been three years since we saw the Ringling Bros. show in Tucson, and it was great as usual. I'm proud of Janna overcoming her fear of fire, which started in a Japanese steak house in Morgantown several years ago. My favorite act was a group of about 10 Asian guys flying all over the building, juggling hats, forming human chains, catapaulting off of swings, and other crazy stuff. They were great. The tigers were tame, compared to those guys.

Didn't know what to expect going into yesterday's worship gathering at the Warner. Our church celebrated 4 years in Morgantown by kicking off a new series (Everybody), eating pizza and cake, and watching "Meet the Robinsons" (Rated G :)) with free popcorn and drinks. We had 104 people show up for worship, which beat our old record attendance by one. I couldn't help but notice how young the crowd was. Jason and I are now the old guys at church. God is stirring in the hearts of people here and it is exciting to watch.

Ed Stetzer

I have added Ed Stetzer's blog (edstetzer.com) to my blog roll on the right. This site is full of great research, CP info, and other good stuff. Ed is the author of "Breaking the Missional Code", which is an excellent resource for a church planter in any context. Enjoy.

Ministry Org Charts, Job Desciptions, and Such

Ben Arment (benarment.com) has posted his ministry flow chart, org chart, and job descriptions for the church he is planting, Reston Community Church in Reston, VA. Last week at Huddle we worked on our flow charts and strategic planning, and I feel like Ben's stuff is an excellent resource for fellow planters. Thanks for sharing, Ben!

Calorie Counting

One of the great things I took away from Huddle this year was Richard Vogt's talk on Health and Stress. Richard is planting a church(es) in Las Vegas, and spoke about the simple math of losing weight. If we can cut 3500 calories per week, that equals a 1 lb per week weight loss.

I have started on a 2000 calorie per day diet as of last Saturday. I am using on online calorie counter to calculate everything I eat. The site will track weight loss, carb, sat. fats, proteins, etc. and graph my progress. I have been doing great so far, even munching on raw carrots when I get hungry. Even last night at our Fall Fellowship at church, I behaved myself and only went 200 calories over for the day.

I am trying to drop 22 pounds to get down to 180 and I'm already feeling better.

Blogging DysFunction

Since I made the transition to a Macbook, I haven't been able to utilize all of the features in Blogger, such as the links button, the bullets button, etc. Basically, much of my toolbar is missing. Can anyone help a brother out?

Back From Huddle

I got home from CP Huddle Saturday afternoon at 2 PM. Scott Bates and I had a 6 AM flight out of Memphis. This year's Huddle recharged my batteries and allowed me to reconnect with many friends. The biggest strategy nugget I left with was the need to "Clarify the Win" (Andy Stanley). The traditional line of thinking in regards to the "win" is attendance, buildings, offerings, salvations, and baptisms. While these are important, the "win" needs to look beyond that macro factors. For example, the "win" in a Kindergarten class might be, "The Kids will sit still and listen to a 15 minute Bible lesson" or "Parents will implement a family devo time 3 nights per week". I am challenged to sit down, examine each ministry in our church, and clarify the win for those ministries.

Highlights of Huddle:
- dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse in Memphis and cruising Beale St with a bunch of preachers
- Jordan Thomas's reminder to "Keep Jesus Supreme" in our churches...how? with tangible evidences
- Richard "Simmons" Vogt's encouragement to count our calories and pursue a healthy lifestyle.
- ABA's version of Mark Driscoll makes an appearance at our dinner table at the Spaghetti Warehouse

Thanks again to the Reach America team and Trinity Church in West Memphis for doing a great job with Huddle.

CP Huddle - Session 2

Dubs Byers
Compass Ministry

"Strategic Planning"

Go as far as you can go, and when you get there, you can always see a little further." - Zig Ziglar

God has to bless our planning in order for us to be successful.

It all boils down to leadership. There is a severe lack of leadership in churches today.

"Comeback churches were always led by strong leaders. Christian or biblical leadership can be defined as:
- a person involved in a process
- influencing and developing a group of people in order to accomplish a purpose BY MEANS OF SUPERNATURAL POWER"
(Ed Stetzer)

If we are going to be an effective leader, we have to have CREDIBILITY. How do we gain it?
TO be credible, you've got to have success over an extended period of time. There are times when leaders destroy their credibility. Are there times when they can't come back? YES

HOW DO WE GAIN IT? IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO CREDIBILITY.
1) we can improve our character
2) we can improve our preparation

There is NO EXCUSE for not being a continuous learner in today's culture and technological environment.

Preparation to Planning:
1) be real about people: people will follow a visionary leader they trust/not all people will follow

Innovators - 3%
Early Adopters - 14%
Early Majority - 34%
Late Majority - 34%
Laggards - 16%

2) be real about resources (Luke 14:28-32)

3) be real about yourself - it's OK to be different/it's OK to say "that's not me"

CP Huddle - Session 1

Jordan Thomas - "Walking in Memphis"
Church Planter in downtown Memphis, TN

Reasons for CP in Memphis:
- 65% have no church connection

What is the biggest problem in CP today? Methodology. Because our theology informs our methodology.

"We don't have a lot, but we have Christ. The bottom line is not how much charmisma do you have, how energetic you are, how extroverted you are, BUT are you and I fascinated with the God man JESUS?"

There needs to be TANGIBLE evidences that JESUS CHRIST is the central figure in your church and ministries. How is your ministry revolving around the person of Jesus Christ?

7 TANGIBLE, VISIBLE EVIDENCES IN MEMPHIS:

1) Prayer. It demonstrates that Christ is supreme.

PRACTICES: prayer meeting before every corporate gathering

2) Preaching. Preaching shows the supremacy of Christ. It's the climax of worship.

3) Teaching. Teaching informs and preaching moves. Teaching demonstrates the supremacy of JESUS through biblical maturity.

4) Fellowship. Not about fried chicken and coffee. Fellowship is the supremacy of JESUS in biblical community. If Jesus is the most fascinating figure in your life, then it is going to bleed out in your conversations.

5) Evangelism. Why are we not sharing the gospel? We're not so convinced ourselves that we are first hand witnesses of the resurrection itself. If we don't love Jesus like we should, we won't have to tell anybody...they'll know already. EVANGELISM demonstrates the supremacy of JESUS in commending HIM locally.

6) Missions. Missions carry an avoidable burden that there are 2 billion people on the planet who haven't heard about Jesus. The supremacy of JESUS in commending HIM globally. Are we personally viewing ourselves as missionaries to the community?

7) Church Planting. There are many reasons that it should be a hotter topic. God has ONE strategy for reaching the world: CHURCH PLANTING. There is no plan B for reaching the lost and edifying believers.

"I can't read the NT, books involving churches being planted, I can't help but want to be involved in Church Planting"

3 FACTORS:
- biblical compulsion
- circumstances
- personal confirmation

ONE that will protect you from more CP errors:

Plurality of Elders (Every church in the NT had a plurality of elders)
Not being able to call all the shots is the best favor you can give yourself.

"One sentence God gave us: WE WANT TO BE A CHURCH PLANTING CHURCH in downtown MEMPHIS"

West Virginia's Finest

With a close win over Jonathan Johnson last night, my fantasy football team moved to 6-1 and two games ahead of the rest of the league in the standings. Most of the guys in our league are preachers and church planters and they are struggling with the sin of jealousy right now.

I had probably my best, wisest draft ever this year, with consistent production all throughout my lineup. I resisted the urge to draft a QB early, waiting until the 6th round to draft Matt Hasselbeck.

Our league is really balanced and competitive this year, with a bunch of guys gridlocked in 2nd place at 4-3.

Reach America Church Planters' Huddle

Tomorrow morning I'll be flying to Memphis for the Church Planters' Huddle in West Memphis AR. Trinity Baptist hosts this event, and is also a great supporter of our work in Morgantown. Looking forward to hanging out with my friends, and meeting some new people. This year they are expecting around 60 which doubles the turnout from last year.

If Wireless Internet is availble, I'll be posting some live updates and notes from the Huddle. Hopefully, I'll get to enjoy some world famous Memphis ribs and Catfish. I think a trip to Beale Street is actually on the agenda.

Great Weekend

I enjoyed a great weekend with my family and friends. Friday evening our family went downtown to watch WVU's homecoming parade on High Street. This parade is probably the best one you'll find in Morgantown thruout the year. We enjoyed trying out DP Dough, a shop that specializes in calzones, then got some chocolate at Slight Indulgence across the street.

I got two 45 yard line, row 9 tickets from a friend for the WVU/Miss St game Saturday afternoon. Aaron Johnson came over and our section introduced him to West Virginia football. He took some ribbing for being from SEC country, but I think he had a great time. WVU 38 MSU 13.

Our small groups are firing on all cylinders and it is spilling over to Sunday mornings. Several people are being introduced to StoneBridge thru small groups and we had several come for the first time to a Sunday service yesterday. We had 60 in attendance and there was a good spirit in the house. If we could eliminate our monthly "mulligan" Sunday for attendance, our averages would look much better, spiking up to the mid 60's instead of the 50's. Talked to Tommy Duke at ICC about this phonomenon today, as he is experiencing the same thing. If anyone has ideas on how to avoid attendance craters, let me know.

We celebrated my daughter Janna's 6th birthday yesterday. There were kids everywhere at our house, and we had a blast. I had made a deal with Janna a few weeks ago, where she agreed to stay 5 forever, but it looks like she is going to break our pact. Bummer.

Search and Rescue for Jacob Allen

Yesterday morning, I headed out to Dolly Sods to join the search team for Jacob Allen. They staged the volunteers at the Canaan Ski Area and divided us into task teams of 10-15 people. Once there I ran into a couple of friends from Morgantown, John Griffiths and his friend Dave. We were a part of a task team that crossed Red Creek and hiked straight up a gas line to an elevation of 2800 feet, then fanned out in intervals of 20 feet and searched across the side of the mountain for Jacob. It was the most grueling hike I've ever been a part of, in fact I thought I was going to lose my lunch at one point. We were basically bushwacking across the mountain, going over and under fences and downed timber.

Around 2:15 pm, we got the wonderful news that Jacob was found alive about 1/2 mile from the Boar's Nest Trail! I have been praying all week that he would be found safely, but 5 days in many of us were beginning lose hope that he would be rescued, or even found at all. We serve a BIG GOD! I've been reading IN A PIT where Mark Batterson talks about how many of us don't have a big enough view of GOD, and I have been guilty of that many times thru out my spiritual journey.

I consider Jacob's safe rescue a MIRACLE FROM GOD! What are the odds of a severely autistic young man surviving 5 days and 4 nights in the most rugged wilderness area of WV and possibly the eastern US? Thousands of people have been praying fervently for his rescue and God answered those prayers. May God receive all the glory from this and hopefully this will impact the lives of people who need Jesus.

I will post some pics from the day as soon as Belinda returns my camera cable.

I-79 Day

Yesterday our staff went to Washington PA to meet with the Johnson boys at Lifepoint, Scott Bates, and Tommy Duke, planting Iron City Church in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh. I enjoyed talking ministry with these fellows and hearing the ideas shared from the various books the guys are reading.

It was great getting to know Tommy yesterday. God is already using ICC to spread the gospel around Pittsburgh and to see lives changed. The Lord steadily confirms in our hearts that He is going to continue to work thru church planting to reach the lost in Western PA and WV. And that is an exciting thought...

Pray for Jacob Allen

Please pray for Jacob Allen, an 18 year old autistic man who got separated from his parents Sunday afternoon in the Roaring Plains backcountry adjacent to the Dolly Sods wilderness. Jacob and his family are members of Chestnut Ridge Church in Morgantown. Pray that he will be found today and will be safe, and that God would give wisdom and direction to the search team.

For more information go to wvmetronews.com.

Update

This past week has been a whirlwind of activity. I just got back into town this morning from the Eastern Panhandle over the weekend. On Saturday I officiated a wedding in Gerrardstown (close to Martinsburg). The happy couple both attend StoneBridge and the bride and I grew up in the same church (FBC Inwood). Belinda and the kids got to go with me on this trip, which made the trip wonderful for me. Friday night, Belinda and I had a working date, getting to go to the rehearsal dinner at the Bavarian Inn together in Shepherdstown minus the kids. Anytime you can have dinner with your wife, eat Filet Mignon, crabcake, and other delicacies, and it's free....IT's A GOOD THING. The wedding took place at the bride's family's home, which is beside beautiful orchards and autumn cornfields. We had a great time and got to reconnect with some old acquaintances from the area.

Early Sunday morning, I travelled (minus the family) over to the Baltimore area to speak at Arundel Baptist Church. They are having a Missions Emphasis month and invited me to come over and give them a glimpse of what God is doing in Morgantown, and preach. Pastor Myers and the church presented our church with a generous offering. I had a wonderful time there, and they topped the morning off by taking me out to eat at Damon's Grill (best ribs around).

Sunday evening I gave a church planting update and preached at FBC Inwood, our sending church. After a full exhausting day, I feel like I did a really poor job. The Powerpoint presentation I was ready to show didn't work, I gave a lousy report, and my message seemed really disjointed, and as Tommy Duke would say, I felt like I was preaching underwater. Out of 8 pages of notes, I preached about 2 1/2. (Note to self: If you're preaching using the KJV, make sure your notes aren't in NIV!) Anyway, several folks said the message really made an impact on them, so that just goes to show you how God can use the ordinary to impact the lives of people. The Pastors and the people at FBC Inwood are so wonderful and encouraging..it is always a blessing to spend time with them.

Why We Need More Churches in WV

Here's more proof and reason to push for planting churches across the Mountain State...

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

Yesterday StoneBridge Church was clicking on all cylinders. We had a good crowd (69) and there was a great vibe at church. One college student, Mollie Burdette, has brought what seems like at least 15 friends to church with her over the last three weeks, so she gets two scratch and sniff stickers this week. :) We had five people go through StoneBridge Boot Camp (101) yesterday. Yes, I'm kidding about the name.

Saturday, our family went to the Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins. The kids had a great time riding the carnival rides and eating corn dogs and funnel cakes. Belinda and I both commented that we wished there was more of a forest emphasis in the festival, other than highlighting the logging industry (boo!). Another disturbing sight was a Dolly Sods Land Sale booth in the city park. Seems like a land company is selling off 161 acres of privately owed land just a mile from Bear Rocks, a beautiful overlook in the Sods. They are subdividing this land into 2 acre plots, which I'm sure will be bought out by DC metropolitan sorts who'll build second homes on the property. No bueno.

I'll be glad when the summer heat wave in October leaves the area. When I'm sweating setting up church in October, something's not right. The temp is supposed to drop to a high of 59 on Wednesday.

In fantasy football news, I only need 43 yards from Marion Barber tonight to hang a BIG LOSS on Scott Bates, which will most likely put me back in first place in the league.

Rewriting the 101 and Weekend Tidbits

This week I'm wrestling with rewriting our 101 Membership Class. We've been doing a tweaked version of RICK's 101 class for three years now, and we're tired of it, because we're not passionate about the material, as we would be if it were more customized to our city and church. We've got a crew of about 10 folks ready to take the class.

This weekend was insane if you're a college football fan. I think WVU still has a shot to work their way back up the rankings and at the very least, get an at large bid to one of the BCS games. I believe they will run the table from here on out.

After a great service Sunday morning, I headed to Damon's Grill with my family, David Story, and Jake Holt for some ribs and football. I've never been able to stomach the thought of paying $250 for Directv's Sunday Ticket so I could watch the greatness of the Cowboys every week, so my plan now is to head to Damon's each time they are not broadcast in Steeler's country. My wife Belinda is the best...why? because she had no problem leaving me there the extra 2 1/2 hours after lunch was over to watch the Cowboys whip the Rams. One other interesting note...Marc Bulger's sister Meg was about two booths over from me watching her brother play Sunday. Must have been tough to watch, since he played with two broken ribs and no O-line. Meg is a star basketball player at WVU, but is fighting to come back from a severe knee injury. I hope she makes the comeback for her Senior season.

Before I Get Voted off Blogosphere Island

The last three months have been a whirlwind and I am trying to catch my breath. Just got back from Washington PA from a 3 day planning meeting for CityReach 2008. It was an intense three days of planning and visioneering, as we are expecting between 250-300 to show up in Washington next June for 7 days of intense ministry in the city and intense worship and teaching in the evenings.

I have been watching intently as several new churches have launched this month. Two churches in our region launched the last two Sundays, LifePoint in Washington PA, and Iron City in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh. I am praying that God will build great churches in each of these locations, and that we will see many more planted in the I-79 corridor. One thing that I am reminded of watching these launches is how hard it is to plant churches in this part of the country, but how rewarding it is to watch God work in spite of difficult situations.

This fall is going to be extremely busy, with two more trips on the calendar, a trip to our Church Planters Huddle in Memphis in late October, and a trip to visit supporting pastors in central Texas in November one week before deer rifle season opens in WV.

Notes from the Compound

I've been somewhat silent in the blogosphere for some time now, due to extenuating circumstances. Here's an update on what's going on.

Belinda's Dad and Grandfather drove straight thru from Texas on Friday to deliver furniture that Belinda inherited from her Mom. During the last month, both of Belinda's grandfathers have visited our home in West Virginia for the first time, which has been a special treat for all of us.

Our church has been living out our core value of GENEROSITY over the past week and a half. One of our families lost their home in a fire and our church has mobilized in a BIG WAY, culminating with a big crew from StoneBridge moving them in and donating furniture, money, and other stuff on Friday evening. We had a great service this morning, with several guests in the house.

I am getting pumped about our upcoming Pastors' Retreat this week at Seneca Rocks, WV. Jason and I began putting this together two years ago to give pastors in our association a time to relax, find encouragement, and build deeper friendships with one another (hard to do those things at association meetings). The last two retreats have been wonderful.

For the past two weeks, I have had the homeowner's blues. Two weeks ago, the compressor seized up on my AC unit. We had no A/C for a week (not usually a big deal in WV), but finally got it fixed last Friday ($900 poorer). I finally bit the bullet and decided my oozing septic tank had to be fixed, and found a reputable local retired contractor to do the work for me. No more bubbling greenish gray gook in my yard. Yee-hah! Hopefully my homeowners issues won't reach the trifecta stage.

Dolly Sods Bear Warning

I like to include local oddities on this blog, and like to share hiking/camping adventures with you, which I haven't been able to do much of lately. I thought I'd share this one with you today. This is the first time I've heard of aggresive bear activity since we moved here 4 years ago.

"Dolly Sods Bear Warning

A black bear has recently destroyed a backpacker's occupied tent and backpack off of the Blackbird Knob Trail. A smaller yearling bear has been invading Red Creek Campground and going through the trash cans. Also, A hiker reported being bluff charged 5 times by a bear last week while in the Sods. He scared it off all 5 times. Don't know the location of that one.The Forest Service has posted signs at all trailheads recommending that tent camping be discontinued until the problem has been resolved.

Contact the Potomac Ranger District before planning any trips there at 304-257-4488 to check on the status of the situation."

They're Back

Thousands of students have returned to Morgantown, moving in over the weekend, and they are affecting every aspect of Morgantown life as we know it. On the negative side of things, it took me 35 minutes to drive the 3.6 miles from the old Stadium loop downtown to University Town Center in Star City. On the positive side, it was evident that the students are back in yesterday's service. Lots of new and returning faces.

Yesterday, I finished a quick two part series called "20/20", dealing the vision that God has for our preferred future, and what the Bible has to say about sex, and dating and marriage relationships. I enjoyed preaching this series, and hope it makes an impact on our people.

Belinda's workload is coming back down to a manageable level. She is the Executive Coordinator for the Augusta on the Square apartments, a brand new complex that has been built literally a stone's throw away from downtown campus. Hillery, a fellow StoneBridger, is the new property manager and will be starting a small group for college females on site in September.

It's almost football season, and I can't wait to see how my teams are going to fare this season: Morgantown High, WVU, THE University of Texas, and America's TEAM, the DALLAS COWBOYS.

I am Better Now

Just thought I'd share that.

I'm In a Pit..Somebody throw me a Rope

My blogging has been infrequent for some time now. Not sure if that is a symptom of a greater problem or not. Had a good week last week, and really enjoyed my message prep and getting to speak Sunday. I'm doing a two part series on marriage and dating principles, and having the proper perspective for what God desires for our futures. I think the message really hit home for a lot of folks based on several comments after the service.

Since Sunday, this week has really begun to drain me. Found out today that a young couple that had visited three times has decided to join the local megachurch down the road which is also much closer to their house. Belinda has been working crazy hours on probably the largest project she's ever had to manage in her life and tomorrow is her deadline and its 3:30 in the morning and she is still at work, which is not cool.

Do any of you ever get to the desire to stick a "for sale" sign in the yard, pack up the car, and head out for a destination unknown? That's about how I feel right now. I've had it.

I'm sure all this will pass, tomorrow is a new day, but right now I just need to vent. LIft up a prayer for the Knight family when you have a spare moment.

Bacsik Gives Up 756

I missed watching Barry hit #756 last night by about 15 minutes. Didn't really read too much about it until I noticed a write up in the Dallas Morning News this evening about the pitcher who gave up the historic home run -- Mike Bacsik.

Rewind to 1995. Belinda and I attended just about every Grand Prairie High School (my alma mater) baseball game that year. GPHS was ranked #2 in the nation by USA Today behind Germantown, TN who was ranked #1. Our ace pitcher was Kerry Wood, famous as a pitcher with the Chicago Cubs and for tying the single game strikeout record (20) in 1998. Our #2 pitcher was Kevin Walker, who pitched for the San Diego Padres for several years. Shortstop Jeff Ryan went on to be the National Collegiate Player of the Year for Wichita State. Third Baseman Lale Esquivel went on to start for the National Champion Miami Hurricanes. Catcher Danny Fatheree went on to play in the Houston Astros organization. This team was loaded. Rangers GM Tom House said it was the greatest high school baseball team he had ever seen.

Yet, on a cool night in April 1995, Belinda and I watched as Mike Bacsik, pitching for our hated rival Duncanville Panthers, matched Kerry Wood pitch for pitch, and due to a couple of errors, was leading the game 2-1 going into the 7th inning. The winner would cinch up the district championship. In the bottom of the seventh, Bacsik walked the first batter, then gave up a shallow single. Kerry Wood then hit a walk off, 3 run homer to win the game and the place went nuts.

I hadn't thought much about Mike Bacsik until tonight. Didn't even know he was pitching in the majors. Hope I didnt bore you with the baseball details, but I thought I would share a little history from the annals of Dallas Fort Worth baseball history.

Missing the Melon

Each year on the last weekend of July I get a little homesick. My Mom and Dad's hometown, Naples, Texas (pop. 1908) has an annual bash better known as the Watermelon Festival. This yearly festival celebrates the harvest of the local watermelon crops in the area. The festival is complete with a small town rodeo, classic car show, a parade with local floats, horse riders, kids in gocarts and ATV's, etc, and all the FREE ICE COLD WATERMELON YOU CAN EAT! It's a great time to be had. Usually on this weekend, Mom and Dad's families get together also for a good time.

This year, Dad was able to attend his 40th High School reunion during the festival. He graduated with 31 other students and 18 showed up for the reunion 40 years later. Here are a few pics including my nephew Andy getting ready to devour some ice cold watermelon and Dad's high school reunion.

Exponential Conference Podcasts

Most if not all of the sessions from the National New Church Conference we attended in April are now available via podcast. You can download them by going to exponentialconference.com. (For some reason, since I switched to a Mac, my blogger toolbar is missing a few vital elements, including the link button. If anyone can help me out that would be fabulous.)

Sports Camp Is Over

Today we finished an awesome week of Sports Camp. We had 48 campers this week and 4 kids accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior! Today was highlighted by our end of the week scrimmage games. The red team in flag football ran back a kickoff that was reminiscent of the "Music City Miracle" made famous during the Tennessee Titans playoff game a few years ago. Today I filled in for Greg Thompson coaching softball and I played the role of the unpopular umpire having to call a few close ones at first base. Nobody can rival the 4th and 5th grade girls when it comes to competitive fire.

One of yesterday's highlights was having Dorrell Jalloh and Erza Tilaye, wide receivers for the Mountaineers, and Josh from FCA come and speak to the kids, sign some autographs, and spend time playing with the kids. They totally rocked and the kids had a great time hanging out with them.

South Union Baptist Church turned out to be one of the best groups we've ever had in Morgantown. They were ready and willing to serve, and they bonded with the kids this week. Several received "Thank You" cards from parents of the kids they were coaching. The same can be said for the fellows from Green Valley and The Heights -- we couldn't had an excellent camp without these groups.

Time will tell what fruit God sends our way from this camp, but I know that good seeds of the gospel have been sown all week!

Weekend Camping Recap

Our family had a great time camping this past weekend with Nikki, an old friend from Texas. We gave her a grand tour of the Blackwater Falls/Canaan Mountain/Dolly Sods area. God blessed us with great weather: beautiful skies, sunny days, and cool weather. Friday night, the temp got down to 43 on Canaan Mountain, which made for good sleeping weather.

Sports Camp Day 1

We're off to a great start for our Sports Camp. Today we had 47 1st-5th graders in camp and are expecting about 10 more tomorrow. All of our coaches did a fantastic job today and we didn't lose any kids on the PRT. Again, special thanks goes out to South Union, FBCGV, and FBCDH for making this camp a huge success. I can't wait for tomorrow.

We ended the day by having a cookout at Coopers Rock this evening. One of the highlights was finding a cave below the lookout. There were about 15 of us crammed in there at one time at one point. Major props goes out to our cooking crew for the evening: Manny, Dan, Adam, and Matt. Great work!

Sports Camp Spree

We had arranged for one of our friends to bring his sportings goods and equipment up from Arkansas to use for our Sports Camp next week, but when we found out he couldn't come this week, we shifted to Plan B. We decided to make an investment and go in halves with LifePoint Church in Washington on purchasing the necessary equipment.

So today Aaron Johnson and family brought their brand new cargo trailer down to Morgantown to hold the equipment for the week. Between trips to Walmart and Dicks Sporting Goods, who both gave us great deals, we had fun loading up about $1400 worth of balls and equipment for our Sports Camp. Can't wait for next week!

Chick-Fil-A Family Night

A good time was had by all at Family Night at Chick-Fil-A this evening. Our team did a good job of providing fun activities for the kids, and we had a chance to connect with new people tonight. Kim, the marketing director at Chick-Fil-A, said our church does the best job at Family Night, which made my evening. Yeah! She said we were the only church to ever utilize the green space outside the restaurant, which was cool.

I am thankful that we have such a good partnership with Chick-Fil-A as we continue to take the gospel to the streets of Morgantown.

Sports Camp Coming Together

We are one week away from our All Day Sports Camp for 1st-5th graders and I am getting pumped! Along with StoneBridgers being involved, 15 students and adults from South Union Baptist Church in Daingerfield Texas are coming up for a mission trip to help staff our Sports Camp. Pastor Mke Yoho and several others are also coming from FBC Green Valley to help out. Last but no least good friends Nikki and Christi are coming up from Texas to help out.

Things are coming together in the logistics and planning area. Several area restaurants are coming through big time for us with donations and discounts. Thanks Chick-Fil-A and Cici's Pizza! Also, WVU is donating cross campus transportation on the PRT for the week.

We are expecting between 80-100 elementary aged kids for the week. Pray for God to do mighty things during the week!

Kids Day Looking Back

Kids Day was a huge success! We handed out information about our church and upcoming Sports Camp to hundreds of people, gave away 576 bottles of water, provided crazy balloons to kids everywhere, did face painting, and other fun stuff. StoneBridgers were out in force to make this event happen! John and Ynita Swomley drove 2 1/2 hours over from Inwood to do balloon tricks and provide face painting, and worked nonstop for four hours, and wouldn't even take any money for their services. Unbelievable. Thanks to all who made Kids Day a rip roaring success!

Family Night at Chick-Fil-A is next on our agenda Tuesday night. Here are a few pics from Kids Day.

Tripleheader

Over the next two weeks at StoneBridge, we've got a tripleheader of community events on the calendar: Kids Day in downtown, Family Night at Chick-Fil-A, and our All Day Sports Camp July 23-26 on the campus of WVU. I am pumped about the opportunities we're going to have to connect with people in our city. I'll try to post pics after each event.

Camp Rewind

Enjoyed last week at Summit Lake Camp in Maryland. We essentially run two camps in one: preteens and teens with separate programming for each group. For the past three years I have been in charge of preteen recreation. The highlight of rec for the week (in my opinion) was playing Ultimate Dodgeball on Thursday afternoon where 4 teams of 20 kids each square off against each other at once. They rush in from four corners to several large trash cans filled with giant kickballs, kickballs, pool noodles, and tennis balls. It was crazy fun, except for the complaints about the ferocity of the tennis balls (oops).

My 7 year old son Ryan make his rookie debut at camp. Twenty minutes into the week, he wanted to run off and play. When I went to look for him, he was playing in a 5 on 5 game of hoops with about 9 guys over 6 foot tall. He had a blast all week. I guess I'm getting old, because I set a personal record for my earliest bedtimes ever at a church camp. I was in bed by 10:45 just about every night.

There were several professions of faith for the week which was encouraging. Jason's messages were in the pocket and David brought a good energy to lead our evening worship sessions throughout the week.

Mac

I got tired of waiting 10 minutes for my 4 year old Dell laptop to boot up and it freezing up when I run video backgrounds in MediaShout, so I broke down and ordered a new MacBook last Monday. It came in on Friday just as I got home from camp. Saturday morning I ordered the much heralded ProPresenter worship presentation software. Can't wait for it to come in and use it next Sunday.

Now if I can get past the learning curve...How do you copy and paste?

Sunday Night Not So Deep Thoughts

Today was a great day at StoneBridge, with several first timers...July is off to a good start, and was a banner month in 2006..

God is sending us people who are hurting...and our people are up to the task of loving them and serving them...

John Mellancamp is doing a concert at Walter Reed Medical Center on HDNet. It's not a 4th of July in Morgantown without watching fireworks at the river and listening to "Small Town"..

A quality church website is a must...the vast majority of our guests who aren't invited by a StoneBridger are connected to us via the web...can't wait for our new site to hit the web shortly

I'm getting too old to run recreation at church camp...

Scored points today with Belinda helping her pick out new clothes at the mall and running clothes from the rack to the dressing room...

Kids Day

On Saturday, July 14th, StoneBridge will be sponsoring a booth at Kids Day, a Main Street Morgantown sponsored event. We're going to do some cool stuff for kids such as crafts, face painting, inflatables, etc. We're also going to have the chance to promote our Sports Camp coming in late July.

If you have any good ideas that we can implement at Kids Day, let me know.

Inwood

Traveled to Inwood WV with Jason and David to visit our sending church Sunday night. These trips are always a shot in the arm for us because the people there are so encouraging. Trips to Inwood are nostalgic for me since I lived there from 1975-88.

Seen on the trip...on a billboard in front of an Independent Baptist Church in Martinsburg..."One of America's Most Exciting Churches". Wow. Don't get me started on that one.

New Website Almost Ready!

David is putting the final touches on the new stonebridgebaptist.com, which should be up and running by July 1st! I am pumped about our new look, which I think will more accurately portray who we are and why we are doing what we do in Morgantown.

Check out the progress here and let me know what you think.

Pray for Calvary Baptist in Jonesboro

Just found out that the group from Calvary in Jonesboro had a tire blow out 20 miles from home coming back from CityReach. Their van and trailer flipped several times on the interstate. There were no deaths, but I know of one lady who has a broken pelvic bone and there are other injuries. Please lift them up in your prayer time.

CityReach is Over

We had a fantastic week at CR07! Got home last night at 8:00 pm after a full day of travel. Remind me never to fly in and out of Baltimore again. The traffic is horrible. Jason and I left BWI at 3:15 pm and had stop and go traffic until we got through Hagerstown, MD. Aarrgh! I think I would rather jump off of Seneca Rocks than fight that DC/Baltimore/No. Virginia traffic every day.

CR07 was a huge success, despite some technical and logistical difficulties earlier in the week. 198 students and adults converged on Loveland, CO from 17 churches across the country. Over 6,000 contacts were made in Loveland and Fort Collins through these ministry tracks: COPS (Christian Opinion Polls), Sports Camp, VBS, PIT (Project Impact Teams), RAK (Random Acts of Kindness), and Absolutely Free Car Wash.

We know of 51 people who became Christ-followers through the efforts of CityReachers. Six students answered the call to ministry. People all over the city talked about all of the "people in the green shirts". The key to the success of CityReach each year is combining the gospel message with good works. When people experience the love of Christ through good works, they are more open and receptive to hear the good news of Jesus Christ! Too often, Christian people want to cram the message Jesus down people's throats without sharing the love of Christ through good works or acts of kindness.

Most likely CR08 will take place in Loveland, CO again and there is a slight possibility that a 2nd location could be added in the Eastern US. For more detailed recaps of CityReach, check out these blogs: Jason Sheffstall, Jonathan Johnson, John Yoho, and Kevin McCauley.

Colorado or Bust

Tonight I'm busy packing to leave for CityReach in Loveland CO. Tomorrow morning Jason adn I will be heading east to Baltimore Washington Int'l Airport for our nonstop flight to Denver. Over the next week I'll be leading the Project Impact Team, a team of about 30-40 high school students who will be engaged in servant evangelism projects across the city. Pray hard for life change.

Vacation Recap -- Kumbrabow State Forest

The first two nights of our mini vacation were spent at beautiful Kumbrabow State Forest, 45 minutes south of Elkins near Huttonsville. Kumbrabow has a small, rustic campground (13 sites) that sits beside a beautiful native brook trout stream, Mill Creek. There are great hiking trails, rustic cabins if tent camping isn't your thing, and nice waterfalls to explore. Also nearby in the tiny village of Helvetia is a world class Swiss restaurant. Swiss immigrants settled and started the town of Helvetia in the late 1800's and their descendants live there today. On Saturday evening the four of us journeyed to Helvetia and engorged ourselves at the Hutte' Restaurant. Here are some pics.

Vacation Recap - North Fork Mountain

After getting rained out Saturday night and Sunday morning, we packed up our gear and headed for Seneca Rocks to seek out a dry place to hang out for a couple of days. I found the perfect cabin on North Fork mountain, but when I called the owner said she wouldn't be able to rent it because she sent her housecleaner home after the weekend. I coaxed her into letting us stay and do the cleaning ourself (there wasn't much to do) and we got the cabin for $50 per night (1/3 of the cost).

This cabin was four tenths of a mile from the Redman Run trailhead which leads to the summit of North Fork mountain. I've been wanting to hike North Fork mtn for a couple of years now. Outside Magazine ranks the North Fork mtn trail as the "best in the east". Backpacker magazine also ranks the trail as the best in West Virginia. This mountain is the driest mountain in the Appalachains, and has unique plant and animal life. The summit is covered with twisted Virginia pine, and the mountain is home to black bear, turkey, whitetail
deer, and many birds of prey, including bald eagles, peregrine falcons, hawks, etc. The air currents flowing over the mountain from the Allegheny Front provide perfect conditions for these birds to cruise. On the eastern side of the mountain lies the famous Smoke Hole canyon and the South Branch of the Potomac. The "Smoke Hole" gets its name from the mist lying between the mountains that looks like smoke.

On Monday, we hit the trail and hiked a 4.5 miles round tripper. Janna made the entire trip on her own two feet, which was a huge win! Here are some pics. Can you find Belinda in the cliffs?