Back from Texas Church Planting Conference

Last night I got home from a one day church planting conference at Calvary Baptist in Henderson. I was asked to come and give an hour talk about portable church and doing church at the movies. I missed my connection to Longview, got stranded in Dallas, and got to spend the night with my Mom and Dad and ride down to the conference with my Dad on Tuesday morning. I had a great time, ate some good local food (catfish, BBQ, Fillin' Station) and got to hang out with old friends.

One of the trip highlights was getting to spend a lot of time with Bobby Ball and Bill Kuykendall after the conference. Bobby has transitioned a church in Washington State and has done a phenomenal job. He shared several great insights and ideas that I am chewing on for possible application in Morgantown. Bobby and I spent Tuesday evening after the conference visiting with Bill in his home. I consider Bill Kuykendall a friend and a mentor in my ministry. He was extremely influential in my life, especially during my seminary days in Henderson Spending the evening in his living room was a conference all by itself and was worth the trip to Texas.

By the way, Calvary's new worship center is incredible. Pictures coming soon to this blog.

The Big EAST Reigns Supreme

The Georgetown Hoyas made BIG EAST NATION proud by spanking North Carolina in the last ten minutes of the 2nd half and then shut them out in OT until the 7 second mark, winning 96-84. Roy Hibbert, Jeff Green, Johnathan Wallace and company were awesome, sending Georgetown to their 1st FINAL FOUR since 1984. I've got the Hoyas winning the championship in both of my brackets over Kansas (oops).

Growing up in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, we lived about 70 miles from DC and the early '80's Georgetown teams were my favorite along with West Virginia. Many of the games were broadcast on an independent station out of DC. I grew up watching Patrick Ewing, Reggie Williams, David Wingate, Michael Jackson, Ronnie Highsmith, Sleepy Floyd, and many others dominate college basketball in early '80's. It's great to see G'Town once again being a dominant force in college basketball.

Seen at StoneBridge This Morning...

an empty Coors Light can in the third row and a fight between two teenage thugs who came in off the street. And almost a fight between Jason and the thugs. Never a dull moment when you're portable.

Gutter Punks For Jesus

Just read a fascinating article about a network of new churches for "Gutter Punks", hard core heavy metal rockers. Today's Dallas Morning News did a story on Deliverance Bible Church in nearby Hurst Texas. Gotta love their commitment to taking the gospel to the streets.

You can read it here.

Still in Blogging Purgatory

yes I'm still in a funk with the blog...maybe it'll break soon.

Cheated

WVU is the first team in Big East history to win 22 games and get left out of the tourney. And Syracuse absolutely got robbed. Highway robbery. Somebody should pay for this.

Georgetown is going to run the table and bring vengeance to the rest of the country of behalf of the Big East.

More thoughts coming soon, including animosity for Arkansas.

American Idol: Church Edition

Today I'm putting the final touches on Sunday's message. We're in week number 2 of "Disciple", looking at the difference between "Christian" and true follower of Jesus. Jesus set a high bar in Luke 9 when he said, “If you want to be my follower, you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, more than your own life.” Following Jesus has to be numero uno in our lives, in spite of the fact that we live in a culture of "Christians" (85% of Americans claim to be one) who embrace the belief system but run from anything that resembles true discipleship.

So many people judge churches the American Idol way, looking for the most minor flaws, the coolest band, the hippest pastors (hey, we got that), amusement park quality children's ministries, etc. Its a "what can you do for me" mentality, and its sweeping Western Christianity. All this is taking place while the church is spreading like wildfire in places like China, India, and Japan. Disciples in China are spreading the good news like there's no tomorrow and meeting underground to avoid government persecution while America shops for the best churches.

Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC has a great post that sheds some light on the mindset of consumer Christians. Check it out here.

Blogging Drought

I am in a blogging funk. There is no shortage of blog worthy happenings to share, but I just can't bring myself to put them on the page. Not sure when this will pass. Maybe soon.

Date Night

Last night, I surprised Belinda by arranging an overnight date at Mountain Creek Cabins near Coopers Rock State Forest. I spent most of the day making the arrangements...getting world champion babysitter Loren to watch the kids, making the reservation, packing her an overnight bag, and planning dinner and breakfast at the cabin. For dinner, I planned to grill the best two steaks I could find in Kroger, saute' asparagus, boiled tiny red potatoes, and frozen white corn. I even made a homemade marinade for the steak with Lea and Perkins worchestershire sauce, olive oil, and balsalmic vinegar. I picked her up from work yesterday afternoon and unveiled the surprise when we pulled up to the cabin.

We had a great time, enjoying rare solitude without the usual distractions, watching Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest, and chilling in the hot tub on the deck watching the snow come down.

It is a rarity that Belinda and I get away like this, even for a night on the town. I'm going to do my best to plan date nights on a more regular basis.

Guys, we've got to go out of our way to romance our wives! Just like we did when we were dating. When the kids come along, it gets exponentially more difficult to do this, so we've got to gthe extra mile to make it happen. I am a firm believer that a little romance = healthy relationships with our wives = happier kids = healthier relationships outside the home.

Next Friday one of our college small groups is sponsoring a date night for couples by babysitting kids at the activity center of Morgantown Bible Church. I love the missional heart of these guys and girls. Hey guys at StoneBridge, here's your chance to leave your kids in a safe and fun environment and take your sweetheart out for a romantic adventure.