Lost and found....

Well it's here......the shopping is done, presents wrapped, my wife and daughters are baking stuff. I think I am finally feeling the Christmas spirit. I've had a hard time finding it this year. I don't know why. There have been times when I've felt it, but it's just been slow coming. When I was teaching the excitement of a two week vacation helped produce some of that spirit, but this year that wasn't there. I've been excited about the Christmas Eve services, shopping for my family and stuff, but I didn't even take the time to put up my Christmas village this year that I always have up.

I thought I was getting there Wednesday, then something happened. I went to check the gifts that I had hidden at the church and they were gone. About $500 worth of stuff was mistakenly wrapped and sent off with the Good Samaritan gifts for needy kids that our church had collected. I was able to find everything and re-buy, but I was in a panic.

Last night we watched "Christmas Vacation" and something just clicked. I woke up this morning, did some last minute shopping, and I am pumped. However, my Cowboys are trying real hard to give away this game to the Panthers and that's ticking me off. There is no way Julius Peppers blocked that field goal.

Well, we've got 3 services tonight, and I'm excited. Tonight is also the night that we, as a family, watch "A Christmas Story," and eat pizza together after church. It's my favorite night of the year. Have a great Christmas and an happy New Year.

I'm out.....

Merry Christmas..

Well....just 5 more shopping days until Christmas. I think we're finally done. After a long day at Stonebriar and Firewheel, I think it's over. I love going shopping at this time of year, but I do more people watching than anything else. I'm a very deliberate shopper in that I know what I'm looking for, and I don't waste a lot of time. But watching people is just fun. Of course, I spend my fair share of time in the food court too.

Our Christmas concert services were great this weekend. You can check it out at springcreekchurch.org. You know...there is just something awesome about celebrating the birth of Christ through music and fellowship. It was great. I grew up southern fried baptist, and some of my favorite memories are of our Christmas Eve services. I'm really looking forward to our Christmas Eve, "Home for Christmas," services this weekend. We have family and friends coming in, and it's just a great time.

We've been talking about community and connecting at "The Net" for the last couple of weeks, and I've been thinking of the importance of these things in my life. Who are we hanging out with, how are we encouraging others, where do we turn for encouragement, and are we being a positive influence to those around us?

This is such a great time to take inventory and look at how our lives are affecting others, and what is affecting our lives. The birth of Christ began a life that changed my life forever. We have opportunities every day to change lives forever and my prayer is that I do that personally, and that we as a church do that for our community. Have a great Christmas....

I'm out....

I don't have much to say about my Cowboys. No where to go but up from that one......I'm no fair weather fan though.......GO COWBOYS!!!!!!!!!!

Amazing...

My buddy Ray Miranda pointed out to me that I did not mention the Cowboys yesterday. You see, I had them TIVO'd and I had not watched the game yet. Now that I've seen it.......HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS? WOOOOO!

Just had to get that out....a little late.

I was thinking today about the way God operates in our lives. It's so amazing to look back at the things He has led me through to prepare me for this exact time of my life. There are so many times that I've tried my own thing, thinking I had a handle on what was best. Turns out...it wasn't. Seeking God's guidance and direction always leads to better things.

I made a coaching move one time based on the fact that I wanted a varsity coaching job. it was the worst move of my life for so many reasons. So many things began to crumble in my life that I wondered if I could ever get out, or if I just needed to punt. As I began to pray for guidance, God led us to Dallas. I don't even have the space to write all of the ways He led me through to this point.

But even through all of that, I still take the wheel too much. I pray that God would continue to allow me to lead in this ministry, but that the controls would stay firmly in His grip. We serve a truly amazing God.

I'm out.....

Another weekend in the books...

What a great weekend.......

Let's start with Friday. We had a great time at the staff Christmas party. It was a night of hot wings and hockey. There was more food than that, but they were the best. Judy (our children's minister), Jennifer (board member's wife), and I picked the winning score and got prizes. The hockey game had several good fights and a lot of scoring. And to top it all....Jay had a date! Way to go Jay.

Saturday started with my kids and I going to see "The Chronicles of Narnia." It was good. I'm not a fan of fantasy movies, but this was good. I won tickets to the premier from a radio station and it was real cool. Our students had a Christmas party for the needy families that we adopted Saturday afternoon. There were some things that I'll change when we do it next year, but all I had to do was talk to the kid's parents, and watch the video footage to know that it was a success. It was incredible!!! I'll post some pictures later. After church Saturday night we piled on to a trailer and into a few trucks and went looking at Christmas lights, came back to the church, ate pizza and hung out for a while.

We wrapped up our Desperate Households series in the main services today. Pastor Keith did a great job delivering a message dealing with finances, pride, and sacrifice. Using some of his personal story combined with biblical truths about giving and finances, he delivered a powerful close to a great series. The Net was great tonight. Our students are really looking into their relationships with each other and God. It's exciting to see them begin to grow and look for opportunities to express the love Christ has for us to other people.

I those of you that were at the Net tonight that I would post the verses I referred to so you could look them up, along with some questions I gave you. Here they are:
1 John 4: 7-12
1 John 3:11-18

Questions:
1. How have past experiences with God's love made a difference in your life?
2. What does it mean to you to be personally loved by God?

God loves you.....you love God....God provides power to love others.....you love others.

Have a great day tomorrow...I'm out

Happy Birthday....

Today is my daughter Ashli's 14th birthday. Happy Birthday sweetheart. And what a birthday/snow day.

What? Dec.8, and we have a snow day....that usually doesn't happen until january or february if at all. When we went to bed last night we knew this was a possibility. My wife, being a teacher, was up at 6:00 checking the news for school closings and as Garland ISD rolled across the screen it was as if she had just gotten a Christmas bonus.

I grew up in Houston, and we never had a snow day. We had a couple of hurricane days, and one refinery explosion day, but those just don't carry the same amount of fun as a snow day. Okay, so it was mainly ice, but snow day sounds better than ice day. My son and I played a great game of Madden, some Medal of Honor, and then he played some bug your sisters. We got the Christmas tree up and my wife got her Christmas decorations done. On refinery explosion day, you have to stay inside until the air is deemed safe to breathe, and/or evacuate your home. Not near as fun as sliding on the ice down your sidewalk and putting up Christmas stuff while watching Rudolph and The Christmas Story.

We've got a busy weekend coming up, but I should have some awesome pictures of our student Christmas party, and staff Christmas party when it's all done. Good luck to the Lady Mustangs of Sachse High School (especially Meg, Pen, and Coop) as they take on the Garland Owls tomorrow night in their first district game.

I'm out......

What/Who defines us?

I just read my buddy Bob Bickford's blog......what a Scrooge. Put your stinkin' lights up. I started putting mine up tonight and should be done tomorrow.

Man we had a great time together at "The Net" last night. There are just so many good things going on, and I'm just trying to keep up with our kids. They're so awesome! I had the chance to sit down with a friend of mine today. Curt Grice is the youth pastor at FBC Arlington. I had the opportunity to preach and lead worship at their Wake Up Weekend last year and will be doing it again this February. He's just incredible.

We talked about the things that our students are bombarded with daily, and the need to teach them to identify truth, and how to make God led decisions. So much of todays society is lived for the moment. Trends in everything from entertainment to fashion change so often it's hard to keep up. It's not just an issue with our students. We as adults struggle with the same stuff.
No one wants to look old, or outdated.

You know though, God looks at us with a completely different set of eyes. And the more I see myself, the more thankful I am that He looks at me with His eyes. So much of what we do and what we have just does not matter. I'm not slammin' all of these things because the fact is we live in the world, and will be exposed to these things, and be a part of this stuff sometimes daily. However, we do not have to let these things form our character, identity, or anything else about us. That is where we allow God to form us and then use us in the midst of everything around us in the world.

I made the statement last night to our students that I'm really glad the God uses us in spite of who we are, and not because of who we are. I know that's right....

I'm out...

Come up with a caption for this picture taken at our guys campout/paintball trip. The winner gets a free lunch brought to their school.

Guy stuff

A few years ago I came home from leading worship at a week of camp. It had been a long summer of camps. As a matter of fact, I think I had led at 8 weeks of camps that summer, and I had just finished the last one. It had been 2 weeks since I had been able to spend anytime with my kids. My son had been at home with girls for too long. When I walked in the door the greeting was awesome. Hugs, kisses, and excitement that let me know that I had truly been missed. But my son was not only glad to see me, but was just happy to have another guy in the house. As he hugged me and welcomed me home he looked me in the eyes and said, "dad, can we go do some man stuff?" He just wanted to get away and do things that guys get to do without the girls around.

Well I had the chance to go with my senior high guys on a campout/paintball trip this weekend and it was awesome! We took 20 9-12 grade guys camping last night, woke up this morning and played paintball for about 4 hours. But the hangout time was the best. No need for details, you know what goes on when guys get together on campouts and do guys stuff. We have some great guys and they were just fun.

However, they wore me out, and I'm going to bed. Pictures tomorrow..I'm out...

Community......

There's something about this time of year that just seems to draw people together in spite of differences. I know that's kind of typical, 'tis the season kind of statement, but it's true. Cultural differences, political differences, economic, racial, all seem to take a back seat during this time of year. It's very cool to see people just being nice to each other. In the hectic rush to get the things we "need" to get for the people on our lists, we all seem to look at everyone in a little different light.

Last Friday I was in downtown Ft. Worth shooting video for our Christmas services, and saw tons of people. After two hours of talking to families, kids, moms, dads, grandparents, and people from all walks of life, the coolest thing happened at the very end of the night. As we were getting ready to pack up our cameras, the parade had just finished, and people were packing up their things to go home, I walked up to a street corner where there was about 25 people. These people were all with seperate groups, and did not know each other outside of their own family. I simply asked if they would sing "Jingle Bells" for our camera. Without hesitation, they put their arms around each other, starting with the kids and working through the parents, and just started singing. I've got it on camera.

You know, one of the things that I've seen a lot of youth ministries is the need for connectedness among their students. It's easy to flock to the people that think, act, dress, and believe the same way we do. It's much harder to connect with those who are different. Christ certainly made a habit of hanging with those who experienced life on the flip side of His own.

Our students start a six week study on connecting this week. Our church is a great community, and I'm looking forward to the things that God teaches me, and our students in this study. Pray that God gives us the strength and discernment to take the opportunities He provides to reach out to those a little different than ourselves. They say it takes 21 days for something to become a habit. There are 24 shopping days left 'til Christmas.

I'm out.......

as promised...here are pics from our junior high hoe down last night....yee stinkin' haw...

Holiday Top Tens..

When I think of all of the fun things about this time of year one of the first things that come to mind are all of the tv shows and movies. Here are my top ten lists for Christmas movies and Christmas tv shows.

Movies:
10. Home Alone
9. Scrooged
8. The Santa Claus
7. The Santa Claus 2
6. The Grinch
5. Polar Express
4. It's A Wonderful Life
3. Christmas Vacation
2. Elf
1. A Christmas Story

TV Shows:
10. Rudolph's Shiny New Year
9. Frosty Returns
8. Little Drummer Boy
7. A Charlie Brown Christmas
6. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
5. A King of the Hill Christmas
4. Frosty
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
2. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
1. Rudolph

Let's hear your opinions....

We had a hoe-down tonight at The Merge. It was a hoot. We had a bluegrass band, and a square dance caller, along with 76 people square dancing, yee hawin, and whatever else you do at a hoe down. It was a lot of fun. I'll have pictures up tomorrow.

I'm out....

jumping back in..

Well.....it's been a while since my last post. We had a great Thanksgiving, and have enjoyed hanging out together over the last week. The kids go back to school tomorrow, Kelly goes back to work, and things get back into our routine. It's been really nice to kind of slow down and chillax a little bit.

This time of year is so awesome. It's cold outside (at least for now), Christmas lights are going up, there are football games at every level every weekend, parties to go to, gifts to give, it's just awesome! We went to Houston for Thanksgiving, and had a great time with my mom, my brother, and his family. Then last Friday I went to Ft. Worth to shoot some man on the street type video stuff for our Christmas services. I was there with 5 other members of our staff (Keith, Gerry, David, Jay, and Harp) and we didn't know until we got there that it was the night of the Ft. Worth Christmas Parade. 250,000 people for us to interview. It was so much fun. The weirdest thing was that the very first people I walked up to to ask if they would let their small children sing "Jingle Bells" for our camera happened to be a girl that I went to junior high and high school with, and haven't seen in about 12 years. It was really weird.

We had a great group of students at "The Net" Sunday night. Wednesday is our jr. high hoe down. We've got a live bluegrass band coming, and a square dance caller. It should be a lot of fun. I'll make sure to take a lot of pictures.

Sometimes it's hard to jump back into things after having some time off, but not at this time of year. There is just so much to be thankful for, and it's just fun. Speaking of fun, I couldn't write tonight without mentioning Monday Madden Madness. My buddy Harp and I got to play today, and, in his words, it just wasn't in the cards for him today. That's all that needs to be said. He did get a freakin' awesome new tv for Christmas.

That's it for now....I'm out...

My favorite time of year...

It is here....my favorite time of year. The weather's getting colder, we're doing Christmas shopping, the Cowboys play 3 times in 11 days, and there is lots of food involved.....AWESOME!!

You know, it sounds cliche, but it is so true. There is really so much to be thankful for, and it takes me slowing down, and getting away to realize it sometimes. As I put my kids to bed tonight, their smiles, their voices, and just their overall well-being reminded me of the things that make my life incredible.

My dad died 5 years ago this week. He actually died on Thanksgiving Day 2000. I remember that day very well, and each Thanksgiving I'm reminded of the 32 years I had with my dad before Thanksgiving 2000. As a kid I remember looking forward to the parades, the games, the food, and just hanging out with our family. I want my kids to look forward to these days for more than just the presents and gifts they will receive in a few short weeks. We're going to my mom's in a few days and I look forward to it for many different reasons. Reasons that make this my favorite time of year.

Happy Thanksgiving......I'm out

Cowboys 20 Lions 7..........SWEET VICTORY!!!

What do we do with out time?

Life is so fleeting....a friend, and former colleague passed away yesterday. Sandra Reeves-Blackmon was a business teacher at Rowlett High School. My wife and I had worked with her for the last 4 years. She was my wife's department chair, and her husband, Stan, is the head basketball coach at Rowlett. She was at school when she had a heart attack and passed away in her classroom. When I got the phone call from a friend at the school telling me about this tragedy I began to think about our time here on this earth and how I choose to spend it.

My hope is that my investments into my own family will far out live my existence here on this earth. Are my kids learning from me in ways that will assist them in their lives without me? I hope so.

I've seen many churches and ministries fall apart when their leader leaves. Where, then, was the focus to begin within that ministry. It should be on Christ, and any pastor, or church leader should want their ministry to live on when they are no longer part of that particular congregation. If it does not, then who have we led these people into following in the first place.

Think about your life, and how you spend it. What is your time being invested in, and will it last beyond you? My prayers are with Stan Blackmon, Casey Reeves, and the rest of Sandra's family. She was a wonderful lady, and will be missed.

I'm out...

Wow...I didn't realize it had been 5 days. What a game last night. My boy Roy picks one off and runs it back to give the Cowboys a huge win against the Eagles. How bout them Cowboys? We're not going to talk about my last place fantasy team....just let it go...

You know........I was thinking about friends, relationships, and stuff today. Sometimes keeping things together can be really hard. Fights, arguments, bad choices, and conflict are just a part of life that most of us do not like dealing with at any time. Whether it's a husband and wife, or just a few friends, keeping things together can be very difficult.

I'm sure the disciples completely got on each others nerves at times. Twelve guys hanging out together, trying to learn from Christ, and interpret His lessons....you know there were differences of opinions. Peter may be my favorite apostle. It seems that he was constantly sticking his foot in his mouth, jumping the gun on something, or reacting without thinking. I can just see Christ kind of shaking his head and saying good help is sure hard to find. You know they got fed up with each other. But they did hold one another accountable for the things they had been taught by their Master. They were men who had given up everything to follow Christ. I'm sure there were times they thought about going back to the things they knew best. There were days Peter just wanted to go fishing. I think Paul was probably an athlete, or at least a fan of sports. Many times when things don't go just right, we retreat to what we know best. There are also times that we make bad choices, and surround ourselves with people doing the same thing so we don't feel inferior or out of place. That's much easier than facing our shortcomings head on.

We need friends that let us know when we're screwing up. It can hurt to hear it, but there are times we need it. Jesus loved his disciples. He loved them enough to call them out when they were wrong. When they doubted, when they denied, and when they betrayed, he still loved them. Making them confront the bad choices they sometimes made did not change the fact that He loved them more than they could imagine. As Christ followers, we need to encourage each other in our walk with Christ. But we also need to call attention to the things that might be a "stumbling block" to others. I have friends that I count on to keep me in line. I have a wife that does not hesitate to remind me of whose I am, and why I'm here. She's awesome!! Think of the people in your life that God has given you to help you in your walk. The friends that love you enough to watch out for you, and love you unconditionally. Most of the time the pain of what they say is due to truths being revealed that we'd rather forget or ignore.

Thanks Kelly (my wife)....thanks Greg, Michael, Harp, Gerry, Bob, Ray, Keith, Jay, just to name a few of my honest buddies.

I'm out...........here are some pics from the Jeremy Camp concert w/The Afters, and Bethany Dillon...what a great concert...

Pennies, Hermit Crabs, and other confusing things...

So everything at our student snack bar is priced at $.50 and $.25. How then do we end up with .$21 in pennies after "The Merge," our junior high service on Wednesday nights? It's just one of those things that confuses me. And what about the hermit crab kiosks at the mall? Someone has taken it upon themselves to paint the homes of these poor crabs who chose the shell as camoflage and protection. Suddenly they're thrust into the life of "rockstar" crab because of the peace sign, smiley face, NASCAR logo, or any other of the grafitti that someone has tagged on to their humble abode. Not only that, but people actually buy these for their kids and allow them to bring them out into public. The thing is called a hermit crab for a reason....they don't like attention!

What about the "pull my finger" pen that the lady who works the counter at my favorite morning diet coke stop uses on me everyday. With a smile on her face she looks me dead in the eye and says "pull my pen"....everyday. One day I'm gonna turn the tables if you know what I mean.

My daughter's junior high had a Homecoming game. What? No one wants to go back to junior high. One time through is plenty. Bad hair, voice changing, stinky feet, jacked up teeth, drastic weight changes......no thank you. I guess that will happen again here in about 40 years if I live the normal life cycle.

How about the single pop tart that winds up, unwrapped, back in the box because someone just wanted one. Or it could be sitting in the frig unwrapped, either way, why? Along those lines.....half full canned drinks, glasses of what used to be milk, trash on top of the trash can or beside it, and the question that most parents have heard....why do I have to bathe, I didn't sweat today?

Some days I just get confused and search for answers. Sometimes answers come, sometimes they don't. Oh well, at least the Eagles finally suspended Terrell Owens and ended some of the confusion as to why anyone with a brain would put up with him. But then again people pay $5 for a football hermit crab that just wants to be left alone, but will surely have to endure being used as an actual football by my junior high students.......why?

I'm out.....

A big thank you....

Last night we, as a staff, had the opportunity to thank the many volunteers that help the ministry of SCC. It was a great night, and everyone seemed to have a great time. Abuelos provided great food, Tim Hawkins was incredible entertainment, and the night was a success. I don't think there is anyway that we can fully thank all of the people that help this church. They are really an incredible group.

I thought I was going to bust my gut during Tim's part of the program. He is one of the funniest people I've heard. I've had the opportunity to work with him a little, and he gets funnier every time I see him. If you have never heard him, check out timhawkins.net. Hilarious!!

Monday night...8:00.....are you ready for some football? Patriots v. Colts...greatness!

I'm out.......

lunch-n-stuff

After a 15 year teaching career, you'd think I'd have school cafeterias down, but each is so different. Honestly, I could probably count on my two hands the number of times I ate a school lunch in the 5 different schools I taught in over that 15 years. I either brought mine from home, went somewhere off campus, or went home.

Sunday night I gave away free lunch coupons to everyone who brought their bible with them to "The Net." It gave the bearer the opportunity for me to bring them lunch from any fast food place they wanted one day over the next month. I've made three deliveries this week, all to Naaman Forest High School here in Garland. I wondered why my Naaman students were so quick to turn in their coupons. Most of the school cafeterias I've been in here are not bad. North Garland has a great bakery, and burrito stand. Rowlett High School and Sachse both have great deli, snack bar type lines. I have not made it to Garland HS, but my students there say it's not bad at all. Our schools in Richardson and Plano have actual restaurants bring in food on certain days. But watching the stuff that came out of the line at Naaman made me feel sorry for those kids. I was there on chicken nugget day, and with a good dose of gravy (a beverage at most schools), or ketchup, they are doable. But watching Amanda and Nadia put away Sonic and Chicken Express on Wednesday, and Meghan with her Panda Express Chinese today, I realized that there was some serious ministry happening. Hearts were being reached through the stomach, and it was a sweet sight.

For those of you who may find yourself in a school cafeteria at lunch time, I've developed some helpful hints....

1. A-lunch (10:30), while more like breakfast from a timing standpoint, has much better
quality than D-lunch (12:30). The lunches in between are okay, but quality definitely
decreases as the day moves forward.

2. Avoid shepherd's pie at all cost. While this an age old staple of most school cafeterias, the
recipe remains a secret. Frightening.

3. The red juice is always the best.

4. Pay no attention to the kid that puts hot sauce, gravy, or ketchup on his pizza. He/she is
simply disguising whatever is disgusting with his condiment of choice. Gone are the days
of the square pizza with cubed pepperonis.

5. Anything that says "special" acutally means "we need to get rid of this by this afternoon or
we're going to have problems with the health department."

Well, I'll update as I find new and exciting dishes at the schools I go to next week. For now, it's the weekend...and I'm out.

Trick or treat..

Bob, I loved your stuff on Halloween. I've been through all those phases myself, and can identify. I still think the look on "the boy's" face would be worth lots of money when he heard the words "get in the car son." I myself sit down with my kids and go through the candy and make sure that I take away the stuff that they may not like. I see it as my responsibility to test the things that are in their bags for taste, and quality. Who wants to bite into a pack of Starbursts that have lost their burst, or a not so jolly rancher. My personal favorites are the 3-pack of SweetTarts, and Now-N-Laters. But the mother of all catches are the boxes of Hot Tamales. I'm happy with our take this year......

I'm sitting here mind numbingly blank as to what I should write about tonight. My son just took a shower with the curtain open.........I'm out.

CLOWNED!!

I think this weekend was awesome! With that being said, I'm glad it's done. Don't get me wrong....there were a lot of good things that came out of this weekend, but I need some rest. Those of you that have to get up and go to work today, don't get all ruffled up about that statement, Monday is to me what Saturday is to you......a day off.

Saturday night we took about 35 high school students to the haunted maze. It's a corn field that someone has turned into a very creepy halloween freak show. They also have a "fun" house full of stinkin' clowns. My students know I'm terrified of clowns. My friend Kevin Williams, one of our adult leaders, bought me a ticket to the stinkin' fun house, told all of the clowns my name, and I went through it with most of our kids. OH MY GOSH! That might have been the creepiest thing I have ever been through in my entire life. One of those hideous creatures knew my name and kept popping up everywhere whining my name. It was a 3D house with some real weird effects, and the stupid clowns came out of no where. Fun house is just not an accurate title....."stinkin', creeped out, pee your pants clown house" would be more appropriate. I'm scaring myself so I'll stop talking about clowns now.

Great services last night and this morning, and then a great sr. high service (The Net) tonight capped this weekend off in a great way. God just continues to bring people our way, and they're awesome! I am looking forward to resting tomorrow and trying to get rid of this sickness.

How 'bout them Cowboys.....big win over the Cards.....I'm out.

run over...

It has been years since I was sick enough to stay home from work. I started getting sick Thursday night, and by Friday morning I was running about 103 temperature, and felt like I had been hit by a train. I got to the doctor and was diagnosed with strep and an ear infection. I'm feeling a little better, but I have to lead worship tonight, take my senior high group to a haunted maze, lead worship tomorrow morning, and get stuff done at "The Net" tomorrow night. I need some help...just pray for me that I will have the strength to get this stuff done.

You know what the worst part of it is. It's when your fever breaks during the night, and you sweat in the bed. I hate that!!! It's just miserable.

Not much to say today....if someone walked into my house and robbed me blind I don't even think I could get up to stop them. I guess it can only get better from here. I'm out....

A great day...

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like everything you did was productive. It has definitely been that kind of day around here. Maybe that has to do with the fact that everybody has the Thursday off except for me and Jay. We just got so much done and it was great.

The one negative happened when I put up my 2006 wall calendar. I began to fill in personal dates such as birthdays, etc...and I got to my oldest daughter Ashli's birthday in December, and I had to write in the number 15. Say it ain't so.......

You know what's funny.....When I was a coach and teacher I would run into parents constantly that would want to talk to me about school, all that's wrong with education, and what to do about their kid. I couldn't change the subject, get away, or divert their attention so that I could run. But now as a "pastor," and I use that term lightly, just the mention of my job gets the subject changed quite quickly. Just this morning, I was working out and the guy waiting to get on the bench press was talking to me as I was lifting. We talked football for a long time, and then he asked what I did now that I was out of coaching. I told him I was a student pastor, and his next question was "what kind of mp3 player you got?" The lady on the treadmill next to mine asked me what I did for a living? I guess she couldn't tell that I wasn't exactly at a time I could discuss such things without sucking the air out of the room between each syllable, so I said "I......am......a........youth pastor." "Do you have that thing on an incline?" she replied.

Of course there are people that want to give you their dissertation on what they think of the church. I love hearing all of the different takes on church, church people, church music, church food, church carpet, church parking, church finances, and all of the other church stuff. It's fun.

Well...I'm off to a high school football game tonight. Rowlett v. Garland for the district 11-5A championship. It should be great. I'm sure I'll get into some good conversations about what I left teaching at Rowlett to do..........I just hope that the people who get uncomfortable talking to me about my job get convicted by God of why it is they feel uncomfortable talking about the God that gave them the breath I just sucked out of them.

I'm out....
Here are some pictures from our jr. high halloween party......


Caroline the Chicken!

"Best Costumes"

What a great time of year...

I'll go ahead and get this out.....Scott Harper beat me two out of three games yesterday. They were good games, but games I let slip through my fingers. And as expected, due to my slightly exaggerated victory boast two weeks ago, he showed no mercy. Oh well....you live to play another day.

I love this time of year. Football on Friday nights, football on Saturdays, football on Sundays, and the World Series mixed in as a nice filler between games. It's also been great waking up to 40 degree weather and actually experiencing what most of the country would call fall. It's a rare occurence around here.

You know, I sometimes think about what kind of activities fill my day. Are they things that will have meaning, be productive, help someone out, or will they just be meaningless activities that take up the 24 hours we call a day. All of these things are important to have in our lives. I can fully identify with the need for meaningless, fun activities. However, there's nothing quite like the feeling of accomplishing a project, chore, or something that has meaning. I love the times that I spend playing video games, watching movies, tv, or blogging about stuff that may or may not be read. But I also love finishing up things around the house, leading worship, teaching, eating, playing with my kids, eating, and grocery shopping in order to enhance my eating.

There has to be the same kind of balance in our churches. People have to receive applicable, meaningfull messages of truth when they come to our churches. But they also have to enjoy being there for that to happen. There are so many things that churches can and should do to make people enjoy coming. We can't expect anyone to have everything together before they come, nor can we expect someone to enjoy seminary lessons on theology when they may not even be sure why they are there . We are there to show them the love of Christ regardless of what skeletons they may have in the closet, or what my be happening in their lives right now. I'm certainly not condoning watering down the gospel message, but I am saying that it's okay if they hear it because they came for the free pizza.

Oh well, just something I was thinking of as we planned out our year with possible sermon series topics, drama, music, and other stuff. I'm going to watch the World Series (the Astros are up 3-0 in the 3rd), fold clothes, and help my son on a project about sea creatures. I think that's a good mixture......oh yeah I'm going to eat too. What a great time of year......

I'm out.....

p.s....and by the way Bob, my shirt is off. Lata...

Friends...

I must say that I'm glad tomorrow is Monday. It's my day off, and I'm dead tired. It was another great weekend and I'm ready to regroup and see what God has in store for the rest of the week.

We took a group of junior high kids to a haunted cornfield maze last night and it was very cool. 26 junior high kids, two haunted cornfields, and fun house of clowns. Big daddy doesn't do clowns, but the kids said it was quite creepy. We take our senior high kids this weekend to the same place.

You know I was thinking about stuff today. I am so thankful for the diversity in my student ministry. As I talked with the kids tonight before we got started I became more and more aware of their many differences. I've been encouraging our small groups to learn to share with each other, and with their leaders so that relationships might begin to grow throughout our groups. I've already had kids letting me know that they have discovered something about themselves, their relationship with their parents, and most importantly their relationship with God.

There are a ton of things that go through my head about this student ministry. I want so much for these students to realize the awesome plans that God has for their lives. At the same time I am constantly searching and seeking the plans that God has for me personally. The bulk of our small group lesson tonight was on sharing with each other and encouraging each other to develop relationships with the people that God brings into our lives. Connecting people with God and others is how we grow as a church, and how the church helps us to grow spiritually in our relationship with God.

I can think of so many people in my life that have played a part in seeing me through lots of things. Friends who have taught me many valuable life-lesssons. Our group is on its way to becoming a very effective student ministry, not just a youth group. That's exciting!

Speaking of relationships, I'm playing Madden tomorrow with my buddy Scott Harper. This will be the first Monday Madden Madness since my victory boast a couple of weeks ago. I've been threatened with a beat down of epic proportions. Oh well, a day of Madden, pizza, and just having fun with a friend...if I have to take a beat down, I have to take a beat down. It definitely could be worse.

I'm out.....

TGIF...

Man....my wife gets home tomorrow, and I am ready. I have had a lot of fun with just me and the kids, but it is hectic. Tonight it was baseball 5:30, dance 6:00, softball 6:30.....3 kids, 3 different places...same time.........no stinkin' way.

You know, I was thinkin' about small groups today and I thought back to my high school years. We didn't have organized small groups, well we did but it was called Sunday School. That's not what I'm talking about though. We had a group of students that spent time together sharing what was going on in our lives, praying for each other, going places together, and all kinds of things. That was such a huge part of my life, and played a huge role in developing my spiritual life.

The small groups we have are meant to do a lot of the same things. We need people with different view points, different lifestyles, opinions, etc...to add balance to our lives and provide us with varying perspectives. Just knowing that there is a group of people that care about what's going on in your life, and knowing that they want to help and encourage is something that we all need.

I remember the seniors that made me feel welcome into our youth group as a freshman in high school. I remember the kids that came into our church that didn't have the same kind of parental support that I grew up with as a kid. The love and support that the seniors showed me was the example that I used to know how to handle the new kids when I was older. That type of leadership is contagious.

The ultimate example of that love and leadership is the love Christ showed to the "have nots" when He walked the earth. It's also shown in the fact that God chooses to use us in spite of who we are, not because of who we are to accomplish His ministry on this earth. I want to be the type of leader that learns and leads.

I'm out....

Here are some pics from "The Net" this week.

Bachelor for a week.....

Well...it's been a looooooong day. As of this morning, I'm a single dad until 5:00 p.m. Friday. After a day of meetings it was time to get the kids where they needed to be. Baseball at 5:30, dance at 6:00, back to baseball until 7:30, back to dance at 7:45, a stop by McDonalds for healthy dinner, and home to baths, dishes, laundry and my weekly Law and Order fix.

Of course my wife would feel no sympathy for me. As a matter of fact, she left huge posters for me in various locations in the house to make sure I knew what had to be done each day that she is gone. I also found several reminders at work. The kids are great though. I think they feel sorry for me, so they go above and beyond to make sure I have help.

The weekend was great. Our services dealt with the subject of pornography, and its effects on our society. A very tough subject to tackle for a church, but one that must be addressed. It was a great weekend. Check out our church blog at springcreekchurch.org to see some of the comments and reactions. I am so excited about what is going on at Springcreek right now. There is a buzz every weekend that is felt when you come into the building. It's awesome!

Sunday night was another great night for our high school student ministry. Our small groups were good. My wife, Kelly, took the 11th grade girls and did great with them. She loved them, and they would really like for her to be there permanent leader. That was a real answer to prayer. The right person for those girls was right under my nose the whole time. Awesome!

You know...it's an incredible feeling when you know you are right where God wants you to be. I can look back over the last 15 years and see the ways that God has prepared me for this ministry position. I am, however, searching for answers on how to have three kids in three different places at the same time Thursday night. You've got 36 hours to send me help. I'm out.....

Saturday, in the park..........

And so we're at the end of a long Saturday. My oldest daughter, Ashli, had a softball tournament that started at 7:00 a.m. today. Man...that feels really early on a Saturday. It was fun though, and she did well.

You know.... a couple of days ago I mentioned an issue with a parent not wanting their kid in a certain small group with "bad" kids. Well, she called the small group leader, had the same conversation, but this time referred to the kids in the group as "misfits." Wow! You know, fortunately in my career as a high school teacher/coach I learned how to bite my tongue at certain times.

It's that very attitude that has driven so many people away from church. The term "seeker friendly," or "seeker sensative" church has been thrown around a ton. In reality that should be the description used for any church. You can't share your light with the light and expect growth, and spiritual maturity. I know this is nothing new, and certainly deep theology, but why does it continue to permeate the church. People want to be met and accepted for who they are, and then explore the promises of a life in Christ. How can we expect people to want to be a part of our body, if we're busy trying to flush out the people that aren't just like us. I just don't understand.

Tonight's service was great. We tackled a tough topic, and it was done very well. Check it out at springcreekchurch.org. Three more times tomorrow.....I'm out.

Cowboys vs. Giants noon tomorrow.....thank goodness for TIVO. Have a great Sunday....I'm out...

Busy day...

Have you ever felt like you worked all day and got nothing accomplished? That's me right now. I find myself sitting here at 11:00, watching SportsCenter and blogging. What? I should be asleep.

I've getting some e-mails from some of our students, and I am so excited about where we're going. We're using the "life together" curriculum from Doug Fields in our high school small groups and it's going to be great.

I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I'm going to have to spend some time next week talking to our junior high kids about manners, and respect. They can just be totally disrespectful to the people teaching and leading them in worship. In their defense, this is all new to them, and they do have to learn. We'll have some tutorials next week.

Check out our church blog at springcreekchurch.org for some pretty interesting e-mails we received about our current sermon series on sex. It's a great series on biblical truths about sexual relationships, and it is good, solid, biblical teaching, but some people just can't get past the word sex. Check it out...

Well...I"m falling asleep...but here are some pics from "The Merge" as promised.

I'm out.....

what's up with jr. high?

We are officially, completely underway with our new schedule. "The Merge" was a big success tonight. Jay did a great job organizing it, and it was good. Our adult leaders are great. All of the small group leaders really enjoyed their kids, and the ladies that did the snacks for us and stuff were awesome. We also had several of our high school kids helping out, and they too were awesome! I'll have some pictures up tomorrow.

I bought an mp3 player today, so i'm going to go play with it. I'm out....

What's in it for me?

Let me start by clarifying yesterday's Madden boast. The fourth game was prematurely halted at the end of the third quarter with nothing settled. Harper will surely run the score up on me the first chance he gets for that one.

Today started off with an interesting conversation with a parent of one of my high school students. It seems that her student had a rough time Sunday night at "The Net" (our high school bible study). The problem was with our small groups. Her student and the mom had a problem with the fact that there were other people in the group that were less spiritually mature. Without going into detail, her student has not experienced some of the things that some of the other kids have been through.

As I thought of our conversation throughout the day, there were some things that continued to bother me. I would hate to think that our student ministry was one in which we only catered to those that had their life together. The mom is concerned that her student will not want to come to church anymore because of certain people. Some of the kids have already spent time in my office coming face to face with the very things that this particular student does not want to be around.

One of the reasons we started this new schedule was to increase the overall spiritual maturity of our group. The attitude of I can't worship here because these people are different, or I don't want my kids in that group because those other kids are "trouble" really kind of irks me. It's not that they're "trouble" it's the fact that they are "troubled" by things that some of us could not imagine. These are the very people that Christ spent his ministry reaching out to and purposefully hanging around, not looking for a way to get away from them. I would like to see our kids develop the attitude of what do I bring to this worship service, not what does this church have to offer me if I come. I guess our parents have to develop the attitude of what does our family have to bring to the table, not how is the table set for us.

I just had to get that out. I pray that I will have the mindset of what do I bring to each service not what do these kids and this church have to offer me.

I'm out.......

A day off...

It's so nice to just have a day off. We all need that time to re-energize and just get things done that need to be done.

For instance....today I took my kids to school, then went and worked out, and then spent a few hours playing Madden with my friend Harper. It was a good time!!! We played about 4 games, ate some Pappas pizza, and I feel much better now.

I did receive some bad news today. One of my cousins in Houston died this weekend, and I may be making a trip down there tonight or tomorrow to do the funeral. I'm just kind of waiting to hear from my mom on what is going on. I feel for my aunt Sandra. My cousin Tiffany was only 31 years old when she died. Her 15 year old son discovered the body and called the police.

Five years ago this Thanksgiving my dad died. I preached his funeral along with the pastor I had grown up with and several of my dad's brothers and sisters came to know the Lord through that service. There were so many ways that God took perhaps the most tragic event in my life and worked through it only as He could. My aunt Sandra is one of the siblings that has developed a relationship with Jesus since that time. Her daughter Tiffany however, did not, and I know she didn't know Christ when she died. It's hard to preach a funeral when you know the person was lost.

Tomorrow is staff meeting, and programming meeting day. That makes for a long day, but we have been making a lot of headway in our meetings lately, and I'm really kind of excited about what we'll get done tomorrow.

By the way......I won 3 out of the 4 Madden games...I'm out...

Great Sunday...

Man what a night! Our first weekend with the new schedule is over, and it was awesome! The main services were great last night and today. Our high school service, The Net, was better than I had hoped for tonight. We had Hunter and Daniel Hall in to lead us in worship and they did a great job. They'll be back with us Wednesday night for the junior high service, The Merge.

I brag on them a lot, but our students are the bombdigiddy. We are primed and ready for God to do some amazing things in this student ministry and I'm just glad to be around for it.

We also had some adults that showed up tonight that just took control of some things that I simply did not have time to do, and they were a huge help. They ran the snack bar, took attendance records, helped put up and tear down, and several other things that were just huge helps. Not to mention the small group leaders. What a church!!

And after all of that.....I get home and watch the Cowboy game that I had on TIVO (perhaps the greatest invention in modern history) and watched them absolutely dismantle the Eagles. There's a tear of joy streaming down my cheek right now.

Now at the end of the day, I can still hear the voices of our congregation singing at the top of their lungs. This morning's services were just amazing. Keith's (senior pastor Keith Stewart) message was great, and I believe our people are showing up on weekends wanting to offer themselves up in worship. As I led this morning and could back away from the mic and hear their voices singing it was truly a worshipful moment.

Worship is a lifestyle, not just something you show up and do during a church service, and I see this lifestyle becoming more, and more apparent in our people.

I'm going to bed happy.........out.

Red River Blow-out...

OU vs. Texas.....every year about this time Dallas is taken over by burnt orange and crimson. The past 5 years the folks in crimson have gone home much happier than the burnt orange crowd. But after the whoopin' UT put on the Sooners today the Longhorn fans finally have something to cheer about. And tomorrow, Cowboys vs. Eagles......go 'boys!!

Our service tonight was great. We're looking forward to the new service times tomorrow. I'm interested to see which service will turn out to be the one most of our people attend. Our pastor, Keith Stewart, starts his series on sex this weekend. Chris Davis rocked out U2's "Desire" to kick the service off tonight. The worship time was slammin'. Our congregation has really become a responsive, worshipful group of people. There was a time when they just kind of sat and listened to the band, but over the last few months we have seen them respond well to our efforts to engage them in the worship service.

Yesterday was homecoming at the school I taught at the last 3 years of my teaching career. I have a couple of students at that school in my student ministry so I went to the pep rally, then to the game last night. I saw a ton of kids that I taught, and many of them made a point to come by and say hi. Almost everyone of the kids asked me about my new job. As I spoke to them about what they were doing in their life, and heard story after story of how they weren't sure about what they wanted to do, or where they were heading, I was able to take comfort in the fact that I am right where God wants me to be. There is nothing like the peace that comes from following God's call on your life and being in the place He has intended you to be.

Well, my oldest daughter should be home from her baby sitting job soon and I'm beat. John Heder is hosting Saturday Night Live tonight and it's hilarious, so I'm going to watch a little SNL and go to bed....I'm out....

new schedules and what not....

It's Friday night and that can only mean one thing in Texas......high school football. Rowlett vs. Sachse is the big game tonight. I loves me some high school football.

I was talking with Jay and Bob today (Jay being our associate student pastor, and Bob Bickford, our assoc. pastor) about some concerns that had been expressed by some of our junior high students and a few of their parents. Our junior high students begin meeting on Wednesday nights this week, and there are a few students who have still not grasped the concept of why this is happening. The decision to make this move was made by our entire staff after a lot of discussion and prayer. Here are the three major reasons we decided to make this move.

1. To connect students to the rest of the church. When I took this job in May we basically had two churches within one building. The students met in the back of the church and did their thing, and the rest of the church operated with very little student involvement at all. Our staff expressed a desire to have the students become a more integral part of our body, and not a separate entity in and of itself. I think this is so important in developing leaders within the student ministry, and within the church. Students are not the church of tomorrow, they are the church of right now. I also feel that if the church is expected to support the student ministry, then the student ministry should be expected to support the church. We have taken some major steps toward making our services more applicable to a younger audience and not just built for adults.

2. To provide students the opportunity to serve in other ministries at Springcreek..... When we presented the new schedule to our church body one of the things we asked of our members was to attend a service and serve during a service. With four services (one Saturday night, 3 Sunday mornings) it is crucial for our people to serve in various ministries. The same is true for our students. We have students that have signed up to teach and lead worship for our children's ministry, to help with audio and video, to serve on our red carpet team, and many other ministry areas. Developing young leaders and servants is where the church in general has fallen short. There is nothing more refreshing than serving others, and our students will benefit greatly by serving others and giving of themselves to help others. Our students have so much to offer, and most are just waiting for someone to ask them to help.

3. To allow us as student ministers to have a service specifically for junior high students and one for high school students. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize the differences in junior high and senior high students. There is just a need to teach these students in separate services. There will be times that we do things together, but the weekly teaching and hanging out needs to be done separately. After deciding on two separate services, we decided that senior high would be better on Sunday nights due to the huge number of activities and stuff in high school. Junior high students were given Wednesday nights, because very few junior high extracurricular activities occur on Wednesday nights. We realize homework, and family stuff may take place, but we want to make "The Merge" something these students will not want to miss and make a part of their weekly schedule.

Well....I hope this clarifies some of the questions that have been raised. I would encourage any or our junior high families to make this a part of their weekly schedule and commit to making this ministry a very powerful part of the ministry of Springcreek Community Church. We've got a lot of great things planned for our students and we want you to be a part of the great things going on here.

Thanks for your time....I'm out....

A Little Late....

Got in late last night from church and didn't do anything but go to sleep....very nice. Well, I should clarify that I watched a little baseball and ate some queso first....also very nice.

Man...went out this morning to get my paper and the weather is awesome!!! For a sweathog like myself the coolness is a cause to celebrate. I think I might just take my shirt off and run outside right now (that was for my buddy Bob Bickford).

Last night was our 1st Wednesday Communion Service and it went great. We had it in our student auditorium due to some construction going on in our main auditorium. It's great to gather and take communion as a body and be reminded of the sacrifice Christ made for us. I can never get enough of that. The fact we have real crackers helps too. The little, bland things I grew up with were NASTY!!!

I had my first meeting with my new senior high small group leaders after the service and I am pumped about the upcoming year. "The Net" starts Sunday, and we have some great small group leaders waiting to start teaching these students. It's so exciting to have these guys on board. I honestly feel like I have 7 other youth pastors working with me.

If you haven't already done so, you have got to pick up the new Lincoln Brewster Live Worship cd. It's titled "All to You" and it's crazy good. He's an amazing worship leader, and unbelievable guitar talent. Check him out.

I'm going to head out to the new mall here in Garland today and check things out. They're giving away a lot of stuff for the grand opening and I'm all about the freebies. As promised, here are some pictures of some bad bikes at the state fair that I took Monday.


Is this bad or what? It's the Web Bike that was featured on American Chopper.

These are just some awesome bikes!

Check out the size of the back tire on this monster!

Tuesday's Gone...

You know...Tuesday's can be a whippin' sometimes, but I have to say that today was maybe the most productive Tuesday we've had as a staff. My buddy Bob Bickford wrote about staff meetings on his blog today and had some really good stuff to say. And I am lucky enough to serve on a staff that has some really good staff meetings. We have a lot of fun, but normally get stuff done. We met today as an entire staff for about 30 minutes, then met as a programming team the rest of the day. Along with having some awesome meatball sandwiches for lunch, we programmed our entire upcoming sermon series for the month of October. What a great feeling to have an entire series planned a month in advance. We truly have a great team here at Springcreek and I am proud to be a part of such a wonderful ministry.

The Angels have got to beat the Yankees. I am so sick of the Yankees it's not even funny. Speaking of baseball, by son Beaux had two hits, an rbi, and a run scored in tonights barn burning 8-8 tie between the Rough Riders and Hawks of the Rowlett 10 and under baseball league. If I play my cards right, and teach him to hit from both sides of the plate, he could be my retirement.

You know there are times when it feels like we're just running everywhere. For instance, Thursday night all three of our kids have events at the same time in three different places. I'm not sure how that's going to work out but it will. It's at those times that I feel pulled in 100 different directions that God reminds me of His blessings in my life. The only reason I have to be in those places is because I have 3 great kids to follow around.

Our student ministry is the same way....we put in a lot of hours to make sure things are set up, planned, organized, etc....but we have great students that want to develop their relationship with God into something that guides and directs their lives on a daily basis. What a great place to be, and what a great group of kids.

I'm going to sleep.....out...

Fair Times

Well....it's state fair time here in Texas. I took my oldest daughter and my son to the fair today. My other daughter was sick, and stayed home with mom. I'm so cheap. The amount of money we dropped at the fair today will hurt me for days. But we did get two inflatable bats, and a small, stuffed puppy to show for it. The two state fair corny dogs that I put away were the highlight of my day. Oh yeah, the OC Chopper guys were there, and they had some sweet bikes with them. I'll have pictures tomorrow....

On another note.....Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church here in Dallas has a service every Monday night called Footnote. It's driven by their singles, and college, but open to everyoned citywide. Dave Edwards preaches every week, and my band Envoy leads the music. It's been great. We only have 3 more weeks this fall, but they are looking to do it for 12 weeks in the spring. We're having a blast doing it and look forward to more of this.

I can't believe the Packers are so terrible. I know that was random, but I'm watching Monday Night Football right now, and I'm a big Brett Favre fan, and it's just weird to see them so bad. Oh well....

My wife just asked me what this blog thing is for and am I going to become obsessed with one more thing to take me away so it's best I leave now. Until tomorrow...I'm out.

The Cowboys make me cry....

The tears have finally dried after today's Cowboy game, but my heart still hurts. We had two great services today, and our student services were awesome. Jay (our associate student pastor) did a great job with our junior high kids this morning, and will start our new middle school ministry (The Merge) Wednesday night the 12th. The Net, our high school ministry, starts next Sunday, but of course I've mentioned that in each post.

Adam Barnard and Brendan Walton did a great job leading our high school students in worship today. They always do. Auditions for our new worship team start this week and I'm real excited about how it's looking for the future. We've got some great students that want to take on that leadership role.

I'm taking my family to the State Fair of Texas tomorrow. I'm all about Fair food. Car shows and corn dogs....Yeah baby!! The Orange County Chopper Crew is going to be there, so I'm ready. Hopefully I'll have some cool pictures to post tomorrow night.

I'm out.....till tomorrow.

Back home...

Man is it good to be home. We had a great service tonight. I am must so excited about the things going on at SCC. Our services have an energy and spirit about them that seems to raise another level each week. Our student services have been growing as well, and we're ready for the new high school and middle school services to start next week. Tomorrow we're talking about what happens when you blow it in life, and how you can right that ship. My students are the greatest kids in the world, and I love seeing the things God is doing in their lives. We're in this race together, and I'm pumped!!

we are so small...

just a reminder of the power of our God, and our place in His universe...

This is cool...

Hey....this is pretty cool. I'm in South Bend, IN right now at the Innovative Church Conference at Granger Community Church. It's awesome! Ready to get back to SCC and get rolling with our new schedule. I am so ready for "The Net" and "The Merge" to get started. We have got some great things planned for our students. It's an exciting time at SCC and I'm just happy to be a part of it with you. Lata....