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.