Fired Up!

I am fired up to preach this weekend. It has been three weeks and I am ready. I have been challenged more personally in the prep for this series than in anything we have done to this point. I believe that if God is challenging me, he may challenge you as well. We are looking into the "Upside Down Way of God".

If you are pretty satisfied with where you are spiritually, where you are in life, you may want to stay home for the next few weeks. Seriously, this is a five week series that could have radical implications in your life. If we go beyond hearing into the realm of obedience, I think some of us will look back at July 2008 as a turning point in our journey with Christ.

Each week will culminate in communion as we remember that Jesus embodies the Upside Down Way of God.

Don't be the one that punks out on church this weekend.

Addy's First Date!

Well Addy is getting older, 3 1/2 years now, and we thought it was appropriate that she begin dating. So I took her on a date yesterday. Just her and I. I took her to Sonic for one of her favorite meals, a corndog. It is one of the few things that she will eat all gone. After waiting 17 minutes for our food, we were off to the movie. We were late, but so was the movie.

Addy nearly had a meltdown as we were walking into the theater. She is very apprehensive of dark or "scary" places. She kept saying, "let's go home daddy, let's go home." I picked her up and assured her we would be alright. When we got in and they were still playing previews we agreed we needed snacks. So we got a small coke, small icee, and a small popcorn and it set us back $7.50.

Kung Fu Panda was the movie she chose and she enjoyed it for the most part. There were a few "scary" parts that she couldn't bear to see, but she sat on my lap and gave me lots of good hugs and kisses. I should have warned her that no kisses shall ever be given in a dark theater. That will be another lesson for another day.

When the movie was over she wanted another slurpee, so we went to quick trip and she got another slurpee and some laughy taffy. It was a great time and she has already asked for a second date. I am truly a lucky man.

This is us in our seat at the movie.

Addy and I outside the theater

Krazy Keegan & Wrestlemania Pics!

Keegan is our litte wildman. He is all boy and a true barbarian, we wouldn't have him any other way.



Addy and Keegan Wrestlemania (He is already more than she can handle):

Refreshing Honesty

I went to the library to work on a couple of sermons and it was so stinking loud in there. Lots of kids for a reading program. So here I sit in Starbucks preparing the messages.

In a few weeks I will teach from a portion of Mark 9. As I was reading the back story leading up to the portion we will look at I came across the story of Jesus healing a boy possessed by and evil spirit.

Jesus and the boy's father have a brief discussion where the man asks Jesus to heal his son. He says to Jesus, "...But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."

Jesus says, "If you can? Everything is possible for one who believes."

To which the man replies, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief."

I love this passage, because it resonates in me. Do I believe Jesus is who he claims to be? Do I believe that he conquered death? Do I believe that he offers me full life if I am willing to trust him? YES I do, but when it comes to the realities of day to day operation, I struggle with unbelief.

I look at people and tend to write them off, there is a sense of unbelief that God could change that person.

I look at a situation that seems hopeless, there is a sense that God is nowhere to be found, a sense of unbelief.

I look at the bills pouring in, I look at the income, I struggle with unbelief that it will add up.

On and on it goes.

I believe in the big things. I believe in Jesus, he has my heart, but I need his help to overcome my unbelief in the realities of the day to day grind.

If you are honest today, do you believe, but need help in overcoming your unbelief?

Hardcore Starting Today.

I had lost about 20 lbs and stepped on the scale and had gained 5 back. NOT going to happen this time. I am publicly stating that I am back to counting my points hardcore. No more counting in my mind. Weight Watchers has always worked for me when I work it. I need much more water and fruit in my diet. Also need to eliminate all liquid calories.

I will post once a week about how this is going.

We are down to one car since the van is still in the shop. I hopped on the bike and rode 8 miles to Firewheel mall for a lunch appointment. That will be 16 miles total and some sweet bonus points for me today.

Thoughts

• I got up and went to a 9:00 service at Chase Oaks Church in Plano. Sprang and I met the worship leader a month or so ago and I wanted to see what was up. Very good worship, just confirmed that our band is on par with about anything out there. I am not nocking the band at Chase Oaks because they are great, but our band could fill in without a drop in quality.
• We continued the One Prayer series. Perry Noble was awesome. He was part comedian, part preacher. Our people were laughing out loud at this guy.
• He had some funny quotes. "I like big biscuits and I cannot lie." "Awwww Shoooooot." "Better keep that fork" just to name a few.
• Sprang did a great job with worship especially since his voice was shot the day before.
• Our bulletins look sweet with the One Prayer logo across the front.
• We need more people for the sole purpose of energy. It is so much easier to feel comfortable in a room with a few more people. I encourage you to invite friends. I hesitate to do this for fear that you think all I am interested in is more butts in the pew. That is not it. We need to have at least 60 people in that room before people will not freak out when they walk in. We all love to blend in when we are in an unfamiliar situation. Kind of hard to do that at Catlayst right now. Just being honest folks.
  
• I have had this feeling that the One Prayer preachers are setting a high bar for me to come back to, but I am pumped about preaching again. Three weeks off is an eternity. One more week and I am back in the saddle.
  
• You guys will be getting some Sprang love in the next month or so. We are committed to letting him find his "preaching voice" . He can only do that if he gets to preach some. I will be leading worship the weeks he preaches. HA HA HA. Just kidding, that would be aweful, just aweful.
  

Sprang Post

Sprang and I have worked together for over 5 years now. To say that we were at opposite ends of a spectrum when we first teamed up would be an understatement. I won't get into it, but he was fresh out of college with a head full of ideas and I was a dogmatic punk that did not want to hear many of his ideas. Well God has brought us to a middle ground. We have both made some huge strides to meet in the middle.

My first Sunday at PowerLine Church of the Nazarene, I was truly surprised by the worship style. Sprang basically had a crew cut, a silk suit, and was playing his guitar. It would have been a cool look if was in a punk band, but he was not in a punk band. He was leading 5-10 year old choruses with a choir, a piano, and somebody banging on a set of drums.

I started throwing cds of newer stuff on his desk and challenging him to lose the suit. I also used the P word which really set him off for a while. The P word was "Praise Team" . He informed me that he already had a praise team and it was called a choir and wouldn't it be cool if they had robes? Did I mention that we were at different ends of a spectrum?

Fast forward to 2008. Sprang has longer hair than my wife, wears old jeans and a t-shirt to church, and owns a macbook pro (which officially means he is cooler than me). He will be fired if he ever institutes a choir and he would quit anyway if I tried to tell him to start one. The oldest songs we play are several hundred years old and are played in a relevant way. He is giving me new music and has a killer band. Within a year I would imagine that we will have 2 or 3 full bands and people will be frustrated that they don't get to play more.

His creativity is off the charts. He:

• is a madman with graphic design. He has never had a class, but we may just change that this year. He has learned a lot on his own and doing some crazy good stuff.
• is a madman on Ableton, a program that creates tracks and is used during life performances.
• had a guy reprogram a guitar hero guitar, linked it to a computer program, and played a worship song live with a guitar hero guitar.
• held a guitar hero tournament at camp and the winner played with them on stage the last night of camp.
• is improving his range, and guitar skills.
• is learning to be a strong leader.
  
• is more prepared for rehearsals and Sunday worship than he has ever been.
• has a heart for worship that is hard to find in anybody. He is a true "lead worshiper" not just a "worship leader".

Over the past 5 years God has brought us together as friends, accountability partners, ministers, and dreamers.

Five years ago I could not have seen us where we are today. Five years from now I can't imagine us not working together in some way.

There is no one on the planet that I would rather lead worship at my church on a weekly basis. Seriously, there is no one. He is one of the best kept secrets in worship leading circles. It won't be that way for long, he is getting more and more invites to lead and play and we will let God use this dude to lead the masses if that is what he has in store for him.

I love his heart, I love his passion, I love his creativity, and I love and appreciate him more than he could possibly know.