Off and Running

Last night several StoneBridgers and I rode up to Washington PA to attend "An Evening at the Park", a Project Ecclesia gathering (Washington PA church plant). This was their first community outreach event after six weeks of small group meetings and it was a hit. Several new families and individuals attended from the community, along with their small group and well wishers from StoneBridge and two other church plants.

Being there brought back memories of our early days three years ago, when we were basically a house church in the fall of 2003. The Johnsons and their families are getting it done in the area of building relationships and I'm glad they are here, challenging us to raise the bar in Morgantown.

More from the Pastors Retreat

As mentioned in a previous post, our second Pastors' Retreat was a great success. I define success in terms of pastors coming, being refreshed, relaxing and having fun, and leaving ready to charge hell with a water pistol. We had 7 messages on the following topics: retreat, rest, remove, revive, refuel, remember, and redeploy. The bulk of our day on Friday was spent relaxing or pursuing adventure activities. I enjoyed spending time with my Dad, who flew in from Dallas, during the week. The only negative during the weekend was Pastor Billy Shepard falling and breaking his ankle on Friday night. He is facing upcoming surgery on his ankle so lift him up in your prayers. Here are some pics from the retreat...

A Great Start to the Day

I know its a great day when...I'm sitting at the Moose eating their portabello omelet with red peppers, onions, and feta cheese. Good stuff. Makes me ready to take on the world.

Back from Colorado

I spent last week in Loveland, Colorado attending the CityReach Board of Directors meeting. We spent our time reviewing CR06 and planning CR07 which will take place in Loveland CO. CityReach is basically a ministry camp experience designed for high school and college students, allowing them to participate in elective ministry tracts during the week that benefits a local church plant. We voted last week to officially go to Loveland next summer to help church planter John Sanders and Loveland Baptist Church.

There are some awesome things on the docket for CR07 including...staying at Colorado State University, a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park (snow in June), a Saturday block party at the church, Sports Camp, free car washes, Christian Opinion Polls, Pit Crew (construction), VBS, music by Two Copper Coins, and a speaker to be named later.

After pushing our pencils most of the afternoon, we arrived at a registration fee of $356, an increase of only $6 over last year, even though our costs at the university are up significantly from last year. I can't wait to head to Loveland next June, and I'm looking forward to taking several StoneBridgers with me.

Hiatus Explained

Reasons for my recent blog silence...We had a granddad doubleheader starting with Belinda's dad flying to WV over the Labor Day weekend. We had a great time, taking him to StoneBridge with us, and also camping on Canaan Mountain (43 degree night). I took him back to the airport and picked up my dad, who was flying in for a Pastors Retreat at Seneca Rocks, WV. I enjoyed my time with Dad, and our kids enjoyed their granddad double header. As previously stated, we headed to Seneca Rocks last Thursday for our 2nd annual Pastors Retreat, which Jason and I put together to give our fellow pastors an environment where they can relax, build relationships with one another, and get fed from the WORD. It was a great time, which I will blog about later. Yesterday morning I flew to Denver for a meeting this week in Loveland to plan CityReach 07. Today we will be visiting Colorado State University to pursue the possibility of making the school our headquarters for meals and lodging. I'm excited about visiting with John Sanders, who is planting a church here. He is a great friend, and I'm looking forward to seeing his city and meeting his people. More details coming soon.

Prediction

WVU 55 Marshall 7

Top Ten WV Campsites (Continued)

#8 - Seneca Shadows Campground - Seneca Rocks, WV


Seneca Shadows is the newest campground in the Mon National Forest, overlooking one of the crown jewels of West Virginia, the famed Seneca Rocks. It has a walk-in tent camping section that provides beautful views of the rocks. This is a great place to come when you want some of the comforts of home (i.e. hot showers). The campground host staff consists of retirees who provide a welcome atmosphere and are engaging in conversation. This campground makes a great base camp for exploring the rocks, canoeing the South Branch, and hiking Spruce Knob, Dolly Sods, and North Fork mountain. The only drawbacks with this campground are the occasional road noises coming from US33 which echo out of the valley and up the mountain, and the lack of solitude in the campground.

First Day of Kindergarten

Someone send me a box of tissues...

Mobile Pastors

I struggle understanding the logic behind church planters spending hundreds of dollars on office space. I have enjoyed the freedom of calling the Blue Moose Cafe and Panera home, studying and administrating in the midst of the marketplace. Being in the middle of the marketplace gives me a chance to feel the pulse fo the culture and listen to the hot coffee conversations of the day. It gives me a chance to build and develop relationships that would not be possible inside the four walls of an office. Besides that, the Blue Moose is one of the great locales in all of Morgantown, an eclectic mix of people groups that come together to form a unique community in the heart of downtown.

Jason's mobile office made the headline news of the Daily Athenaeum, WVU's daily newspaper. You can check out the article here.

Top Ten WV Campsites Continued

#9 - Bear Heaven Campground

Bear Heaven Campground is another National Forest campground that sits on a high spur ridge (El. 3,600 ft) 11 miles outside of Elkins, WV. Bear Heaven has it all...huge boulders, cool mountain breezes, nearby access to the Otter Creek Wilderness, and a beautiful overlook to the west via a huge rock outcropping. Another reason I like this campground is because of its name -- they don't call it Bear Heaven for nothing. There are ample opportunities to see wildlife in the area. When our college small group camped there at the end of March, there were still traces of snow along portions of Forest Road 91. The forest is beautiful with several species of conifers abundant in the area.

Like Spruce Knob Lake, this is a primitive campground -- vault toilets only (no showers). The price is hard to beat at $5 on the honor system.

StoneBridge Inventory

Just finished a whirlwind day with fellow StoneBridgers. Our Back to School Celebration day was solid, but not spectacular. We fell short of our attendance goal by 20 people, but it was good to see many new faces in the crowd. Our small groups signup for university students is going well. We are on track to launch three groups out of our one group from last semester, all led by students with apprentices in place. This is a major development. Jason and I are looking for apprentice leaders to emerge for our Tuesday and Wednesday small groups, so we can eventually hand over the reins in these groups. This will free us to pioneer new groups. I am examining the possibility of launching two new groups soon...one for nearly/newly marrieds and one for junior high/high school students. As of the first week of September, we will have 5 or 6 small groups, which seems to be a sign of good health for our church.

I think everyone enjoyed the picnic this afternoon, once people began to eat. We are going to develop a Ministry Team which handles the planning for our picnics and other events. This will take the load off our our staff. We are doing a much better job of empowering people for ministry than in the past, but events like today remind me that we still need to make strides in that department.

Since Jason gave out props in one of his blogs, I'm going to give out a couple of MVP awards for the day. One goes to Loren, who made a huge difference in the life of a StoneBridger today, and the other goes to my wife Belinda, for once again going the extra mile to put together some awesome activities for the kids at Coopers Rock.

All in all, it was a good day. God has developed and added to our fellowship this summer, our best summer ever. I'm praying that we will be able to ride a really big wave this fall, and see a growth explosion, not the incremental baby steps we have taken to this point. For that to happen, we've all got to raise the bar of commitment and excellence.

WV Camping Top Ten

Thought it would be fun to compile a personal top ten list of campsites (vehicle accessible) in West Virginia. WV is an outdoor lover's wonderland, and many of the best places to go are within 2 hours of Morgantown.

#10 - Spruce Knob Lake Campground

Spruce Knob Lake is a National Forest Campground within the famed Spruce Knob - Seneca Rocks National Recreation area. This campground offers cool weather during the dogs days of summer (el. 4,000 feet), a beautiful high mountain lake, nearby access to hiking the Seneca Creek backcountry and the summit of Spruce Knob. Spruce Knob Lake was our first family camping destination two summers ago and we were awed by the beauty of the high country and the need to wear sweatshirts in July. At the summit of Spruce Knob, the red spruce branches grow to one side because of the high winds and fierce weather on the Allegheny Front.

Make sure you pack in exactly what you need because there is no running to the corner stone once you get there. The trip to the Spruce Knob area involves 25 miles of country road driving (mostly gravel) once you leave US 33.

Shane the Barbarian

Barbarians make good friends. They stretch you and make you think. They pull you out of your comfort zone. My friend Shane is a barbarian. After pastoring a local church in Morgantown for two years, he realized that he could not accomplish the vision and mission that God has placed on his life. In June, he resigned, left a good salary behind with no prospective income lined up, and launched out into the deep to pursue God's plan for him and his family. When he did this, I told him I thought he was crazy. I couldn't understand why he would take such a financial risk and wondered if he was making a rash decision. In spite of the doubts that I had and many others had, Shane stayed true to the vision. He was willing to take risks for the vision and to suffer for the vision.

Shane and a core group of 25 people will be launching Crossroads Church this fall. God has given them a vision of reaching the lost and unchurched of Westover and Granville with the good news of Jesus Christ. They have a vision to reach the underprivileged, to start a food pantry, and eventually to house the homeless through the ministries of our church. Their church will fill a huge void and will help advance God's kingdom work in the greater Morgantown area. I'm thankful for Shane and I know God placed him in my life to challenge me and to stretch me. Rock on Shane.

Did You Know?

Found this on Perry Noble's blog:

"The average American gives $649 to the church every year–while spending over $900 per year on dog food and $1,000 on specialty coffee drinks…apparently more people in our country are passionate about worshipping Fido and caffeine than worshipping God -- money DOES NOT lie."

They're back...

Today it took me 40 minutes to drive 7 miles through Morgantown. Yes, class is now in session. Thousands of frazzled freshmen parents brought their kids to Morgantown this weekend, fought the traffic and the crowds to get their kids moved in to various accomodations, and I'm sure worried about the prospects of leaving their kids in the jungleland we know as Morgantown.

I was pleased to see many new faces at StoneBridge on Sunday, many of them college students. The return of the students means frustrated driving and crowded living, but also represents new and exciting opportunties on the missional front of our church.

Seneca Creek Backcountry

This past Monday and Tuesday, Ryan and I went on our first backpacking trip together. Just the two of us. This was a new experiment which involved me carrying all of my gear AND all of Ryan's gear. We went to the Seneca Creek Backcountry which is just down the mountain from Spruce Knob, the highest point in WV. We hiked a total of 9.6 miles, and Ryan passed the test with flying colors. We camped at a beautiful spot about 5 miles down the trail next to a 30 foot waterfall on Seneca Creek. I am so thankful for the chance to spend some quality one on one time with Ryan. He is quite the outdoorsman and has a special gift with animals, catching 19 salamanders on the trip.

Retro CCM

Don't know what prompted this, but I'm sitting here riding a retro trip through the contemporary Christian songs of my past. Twenty years ago, I spent many a Sunday night after church listening to cool Christian bands of the '70's and '80's in my good friend Trey's 1984 Nissan. Trey was a great friend, a sound tech kind of guy, and had just put in a new Pioneer cassette deck with "Dolby B". Cutting edge stuff at the time. We listened to various bands and singers including: Harvest, Dallas Holm, Keith Green, Don Francisco, Petra, Isaac Air Freight and others.

Since I've been doing a message series on spiritual warfare, I thought of a hilarious song we used to listen to performed by Keith Green which was called "Dear John Letter (to the devil)". Here are the lyrics to the third verse which you might enjoy...

Well I believe in Jesus and what He said He's gonna do
He'll put an apple in your lyin mouth and cook you in a sulfer stew...one that'll never be through (Is it soup yet? No) Ah, but if he hadn't rescued me then I'd be down there cookin' too
Oh if Jesus hadn't rescued me then I'd be cookin' right next to you

I used to lie awake at night and see your face on the ceilin' what a great feelin' I have
When I think of how you're gonna get yours at the end of the world at the end of the world
Oh at the end of the world

By the way, "Dear John Letter" is available on ITunes. I'd be curious to find out if any of you listened to any of the above mentioned artists back in the day, and I would like to know about your favorite CCM artists and songs from the '70's and '80's. About Trey...he was a great friend, Sunday School teacher, and a positive influence in my life. He passed away several years ago from lymphoma. I'm thankful that God placed him in my life for that time and season.

Panera War

I'm sitting in Panera watching two guys go toe to toe hashing out organizational disagreements and different visions for their company. At times it has been heated and has bordered on a major public display. Sadly, many of God's churches have acted out this very same scene. These arguments stem from different visions, pride, and power struggles, and they always hurt the cause of Christ in their communities.

I'm thankful to be a part of a unified church with a simple structure, who knows why we exist, what we need to do, and where we want to be. It's all about the kingdom.

I hope these guys don't start throwing food...

Big Fish

Ryan and I went fishing Tuesday evening with our neighbor John. Ryan was quite the fisherman catching 19 bass and crappie to my measly 6. We had a great time. Here's a picture of the big catch, a fish Ryan caught weighing around 4 lbs.

The Return of the Fajita

After 3 years of living with a certain void in my life, the fajita made a glorious return today at lunch. Yes, the fajita. You Morgantown restaurant connouisseurs are probably scratching your head and saying, "We have fajitas in Morgantown" but I must wholeheartly disagree. I'm sorry, Rio Grande and Los Mariachis, but what you have been serving to the general public are poor excuses for true fajitas. Sliced chicken and beef stuck in a tortilla does not constitute a fajita. It's just sliced chicken and beef in a tortilla.

Today, Belinda and I celebrated the opening of Chili's Restaurant at University Town Center. For months I have longed for the Chili's franchise to come to town and now they are here. Chili's holds a special place in our hearts dating back to numerous Sunday nights of the past spent hanging out with our Marshall Drive BC friends after Sunday evening services, raising cain and listening to Paul complain about automatic gratuities for groups of 8 and more. As we entered the building today, we were comforted by the familiar surroundings: the tiled tabletops, the chalk art, familiar menus, and the aromas from the grill. The fajitas came out sizzling, creating a firestorm that caught the attention of the neighboring booths. And they came with all the necessary fixings...sour cream, good guacamole, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, black beans and rice. Real, genuine, fajitas. They were delicious, and today it was just like old times.

Thoughts from Yesterday

I kicked off the Armor All series (Eph. 6) yesterday. On what seemed like a down day in attendance we still had 52 which is good. Can't wait for the students to return in 2 weeks. David and the band introduced a new song with a spiritual warfare theme that was really awesome.

Several people mentioned that the message impacted them and that Satan needs to be exposed more often. That was affirming for me, because I haven't preached since February and its hard to communicate effectively when you're out of the groove. I have to admit that I struggle with my confidence in the area of preaching, desiring only excellence. I am glad to have this first message under my belt and am looking forward to the next two weeks as we pursue putting on the full armor of God.

Small Groups Produce Life Change

Tonight our new small group, born out of our original Tuesday group met for the first time. Our new group consists of four families and two single men, representing four counties: Fayette County, PA, Monongalia County, WV, Preston County, WV, and Marion County, WV. Don't ask me how this happened, especially since we tried to keep people together on a geographical basis and on the basis of affinity. Other than our geographical challenges, I think we do and will gel together quite nicely. Andy Stanley and Northpoint Church gives their people childcare stipends to attend small groups -- I think we are going to need gas stipends.

I couldn't have asked for a better first meeting for our group. The experts say to put in at the beginning what you want at the end. Well tonight, one of our single moms who is getting married next month accepted Christ as her Savior. I got to close the deal by sharing Scripture with her and showing her how to pray, but her good friend Amanda got her to that point by loving her, being there for her, and sharing what Christ has done in her own life. They didn't need me. It fires me up to see God working through Amanda to lead her friend to Christ. I'm praying for more successes like this one to take place in our small group ministry: StoneBridgers building relationships with people and helping them cross the threshold to a point placing their faith in Christ. I can't wait until next Wednesday night.

only in wv

Monday Sabbatical

Yesterday, I put my Bible and notes in my backpack, along with water and some snacks and headed to the Potomac Highlands region of West Virginia. Temperatures reached 90 in Morgantown, but the thermometer on my Jeep never climbed over 82. The reason for my solo journey was to clear my head and gather thoughts for a 3-week series I'm going to be starting this Sunday dealing with our spiritual battle against Satan, and putting on the full armor of God. The big idea for the series to make people realize that we are in a spiritual battle, and that we need to move to the frontline of the battlefield if we are going to make a kingdom impact. When we move to the frontlines, we should expect resistance and assaults from Satan and his forces. To be ready for the frontline, we've got to "armor all", putting on the full armor described in Ephesians 6. If you have suggestions or have preached this before, please send any relevant material my way.

Rolling Thunder

This weekend, an estimated 50,000 motorcycle enthusiasts hit the streets of Morgantown for the 2nd annual Mountainfest. Also in town this weekend were Mike and Deby Prince. Mike is our church planting coach and has been in the area for the past week and a half coaching church planters. He and Deby have been a big-time encouragement to our team over the past several days. Being a biker himself, Mike was interested in the vintage motorcycle exhibit, so the three of us spent some time checking out vintage motorcycles, some dating back to the early 1900's.

Today was a good day at StoneBridge. God again blessed us with new faces and we set a record for attendance over any previous summer month. David and Tom led an acoustic worship set today, both playing guitars. It was awesome. David was right...Tom can really move around the fretboard and his family is bringing new talent to the table. There were two new songs introduced today, both relating to Psalm 23:6, the text for today's message. Jason closed out the Psalm 23 series on a solid note, with the encouraging message about God's goodness and mercy. The only thing missing was a recording of "who let the dogs out?" (inside joke). All in all, a great day, and Flo and Mo both made appearances. I pray that we are able to keep the momentum building through August and then through the fall. I believe it is entirely possible that we may double in attendance over the next few months. Please join me in that prayer.

One other note: tonight we launch our new AdventureLife small group, comprised of several individuals that have never been involved with StoneBridge small groups before. This is an outdoor adventure group, and tonight we will be hiking out to Cheat View, sharing Scripture together, watching the sun (if it ever comes out) go down, and hiking out by flashlight. Good times. I'm thankful that God has placed me here. I can't imagine being anywhere else.

Lessons Learned by a Church Planter

Ridgestone Church in Georgia is getting ready to celebrate their 2nd birthday next week and church planter Gary Lamb shared some lessons he has learned in the past two years. I have to share these...

1.) If you truly believe in your vision then 99% of decisions are already decided. Saves you a lot of trouble.

2.) God will send scaffolding. You need scaffolding to build a house but once it is built the scaffolding is gone. God sent us some GREAT and GODLY people who were scaffolding. I hated to see them leave but I now realize God sent them for a time and for a purpose.

3.) You CAN build a church without a building. Everyone told me you couldn't in this area but, God has done it here. I have really kicked up our land search lately just to be prepared, but lack of a building will never be an excuse for us not growing.

4.) You can lead your people by doing life WITH them instead of being ABOVE them.

5.) People want a pastor who is the same Monday-Saturday as he is on Sunday.

6.) You can't grow as a leader without having mentors who are ahead of you in the game. I thank God for those people in my life.

7.) I have the greateast wife in the world. She is the greatest pastor's wife in the world because her ministry is our family, not Ridge Stone Church.

8.) God WILL send Christians who will be sold out to your vision. It took me a year to understand this.

9.) Go after those that no other church would want and ask God to send those to you.

10.) Be yourself. Love me or hate me, I am who I am. Most pastors are who they think they are supposed to be.

11.) There will be critics. Only insecure leaders feel the need to defend themselves.

12.) You must grow ahead of your church's growth

13.) Fight, scrap, and kill if necessary to keep the BIG MO going. It is so vital.

14.) Preach vision AT LEAST every two months. You think your people are sick of it, but they don't live with it like you do and will forget it.

15.) Core Values aren't some written thing, they are something you live.

16.) Have tunnel vision.

17.) If you aren't friends with your staff, then why are they around?

18.) Sold out lay people actually make the church what it is.

19.) RUN to confrontation.

20.) Love your people no matter what.

21.) It's ALL about two things: Jesus and People

Thanks Gary for these principles. I have to admit I struggle with some of these, particularly #11, #12 and #19. I pray that God will continue to equip me for the challenges and opportunities that are right around the corner and that I will be ready to take the steps necessary to grow as a leader of God's people at StoneBridge.

Weekend at the Top of WV

Yesterday evening, our family left home at 5:30 pm headed for Spruce Knob for an overnight camping trip. One of our summer traditions at the Knight house is escaping on Friday/Saturday overnight camping trips whenever the opportunity arises. This trip marked only the second time we had been camping together this summer, so we had some catching up to do. Our trips to our West Virginia sanctuaries are extremely therapeutic for us.

We had planned to leave our house around 3:45 pm to backcountry camp on the summit of Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia. However, due to some unavoidable circumstances, we didn't leave until the before mentioned time of 5:30 pm and had to settle for car camping at Spruce Knob Lake, a National Forest campground. To get to Spruce Knob, you have to travel approximately 30 miles of gravel forest roads. Pack in what you need, because there's no going to the corner store once you get there. As soon as we arrived, set up camp, and enjoyed a cup of coffee, the thunder rolled in and the rains came. And it rained all night. And into the morning. When the rains slowed down to a drizzle, we hastily broke camp and packed wet gear into the Jeep. Now wanting to give up on the trip, we proceeded to travel the 9 miles from the campground to the summit of Spruce Knob. The weather broke long enough for us to explore the Huckleberry Trail, which runs along the ridge of Spruce Knob for several miles. We enjoyed the exploration and eating the wild blueberries which are prominent on the mountain. On the way home, we enjoyed a big midday breakfast at Bob Evans in Elkins.

My kids are true mountaineers. They love being outdoors, and I'm glad that wilderness activities is a part of their DNA. Belinda loves the mountains also, and these getaways give her a chance to breathe deep and detox from the busyness of her work and the rigors of life Monday thru Friday. Thank you Lord for allowing us this time together.

May the glory of the LORD last forever! The LORD rejoices in all he has made! The earth trembles at his glance; the mountains burst into flame at his touch. I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath! May he be pleased by all these thoughts about him, for I rejoice in the LORD. Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth; let the wicked disappear forever. As for me--I will praise the LORD! Praise the LORD! - Psalm 104:31-35

Addition to the Blogosphere

Fellow church planter Aaron Johnson has entered the blogosphere. Aaron moved to Washington, PA last month to begin a new church planting journey. We share the same sending church, FBC in Inwood, WV. I am pumped about what God will do through their planting team in the weeks and months to come. You can view his blog here.

Birthday Recap - Part 2

Today, my beautiful wife Belinda celebrated her 33rd birthday. Yes, 1 day after mine. She tried to keep her big day on the dl at work until I busted her cover by emailing her boss so her co-workers could have a little fun. Happy birthday sweetheart! I hope God allows us to grow old together.

Wherefore Art Thou, Excellence?

Excellence is a core value at StoneBridge, but I can tell you it went on vacation yesterday. Problems were abundant...a mic was left unplugged to the snake, inputs were switched, our wireless went down at the halfway point of Jason's message due to a dead battery, dead space during the service, and Flo never arrived. Add to that an entire group of worshippers who seemed tired, and it made for a difficult day at the Warner. Jason's message on "No Fear" (Psalm 23:4) was the highlight of the morning. On the bright side, having a day like this forces us to go back to the drawing board to raise the bar on Sundays. God deserves our best, and if Gary Lamb's crew in Georgia can set up church starting at 5:30 am every week, we can certainty give a consistent, top-notch effort at the Warner week in and week out.


Reaching the lost and unchurched people of Morgantown will require us to continue to strive for excellence and give God our best. I'm looking forward to next Sunday already...

Birthday Recap

Yesterday marked 33 years since my entrance to the world in Henderson, Texas in 1973. Highlights of my big day included enjoying lunch with Belinda, Ryan, Janna, and the Sheffstalls after church. Last night, I hiked out to Cheat View to meet Jason, David, Manny, Adam, Loren, Ashley, David, Kevin, and Uus to hang out and watch the sun go down. They stayed to camp for the night, and Jason and I hiked back out at midnight. We saw several deer as we hiked back out. Cheat View is an awesome overlook in the Snake Hill Wildlife Management Area close to Morgantown and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a 3-4 mile roundtrip hike in the area.

Belinda and the kids really gave me the VIP treatment yesterday. God has blessed me with an awesome wife and great kids. Thank you Lord for 33 years.

Small Groups Kickoff

Tonight begins our new semester of small groups. I can't wait to see what God will do thru all our small groups between now and Christmas. Tonight, one of our families groups will meet and we're going to return to Acts 2 to reexamine how the Jerusalem church did life together, how they functioned, and how their city was ultimately impacted with the gospel. Life-change happens best in the context of small groups. In the next 2-3 weeks our small group will "give birth" to a new group which will be forming. This is a monumental step for StoneBridge, because this is the first time one of our groups will be multiplying. If we can successfully multiply a small group, then some day we will be able to successfully mulitply and plant a new church from within our own congregation. I know this will be a real test of leadership for Jason and me, and I'm praying that our people will follow our lead on the journey of multiplication.

Pumping It Up With Hans and Franz, and Manny

Today I began a quest to fulfill a longtime goal of getting in serious physical shape. Manny guest-passed me into the Student Rec Center at WVU for the first of two sessions this week. Manny is acting as my personal trainer on my epic journey to pompitude. We worked out for about two hours and I was really proud of myself until the post-workout weigh in, when I weighed in at 196 instead of 188. Oh well, I've got lots of work to do.

Fruit

God is at work. Last week, a group of 10 StoneBridgers spent the week at Summit Lake Camp in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Jason and I have been involved helping to staff this camp for the past two years, but this year we took David with us to lead camp worship, and Manny, Dan, Krista, Loren, and Ashley to help minister to the kids who were at camp. Our group displayed the hearts of servants and made a difference in the lives of several children last week.

God seems to be harvesting some fruit that's been on the vine for a while at StoneBridge. This morning Manny Johnson shared with our church that God is calling him to a life of ministry. I love spending time with him and am looking forward to continuing to encourage him and begin some training time with him. For more about Manny, check out Jason's blog. More and more people are finding out about our church, checking it out, and sharing positive worship experiences with us. God is sending us a unique mix of people including young families, college students, and a group of homeless people from the Bartlett House. I am so glad we didn't abandon downtown and are getting a chance to impact the heart of the city.

We had a great service today...we sang two songs recently written by David, Jason hit a homerun with the message dealing with Restoration (Psalm 23 series), and several guests made return visits. Our attendance this summer is higher than its ever been in the summer months...and I'm looking forward to watching what God does when the students come back in force.