Friday, September 21, 2007

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.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

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.