YES!

Well....it is here! I LOVE FOOTBALL SEASON!

The Cryin' Eagles (my son's pee wee team) are looking good, i'm goin' to a high school game tomorrow night, espn college gameday starts saturday, and we're one week away from the nfl regular season. WOOOOOO!

Maybe it's just the old player or coach in me, but I still wake up on Fridays with excitement in my gut. And I love getting up on Saturday and reading the high school wrap-up while watching college gameday. And thank goodness for TIVO on Sundays....I love it!

The Cryin' Eagles open up Saturday against the pee wee Vikings....or as I like to call them....The Viklings.

The back to school party went really well. The band, Abandon, did a great job. Check them out on itunes. Good stuff.

I'm two weeks into a weight loss challenge with my buddy Danny. We're going to the last weekend of January and to get where I want to be I've got to average losing 1.5 lbs/week. So far I've dropped 7 in 2 weeks......we'll see what happens.

Starting Weight.....264
Current Weight.....257

We'll see what happens.

Reading thru 1 Corinthians right now......what a great book. I'm out.....

what's goin' on....

So......I'm teaching my 15 year old how to drive. She's got her permit and we're drivin' all over the place. She has her good days and she has her bad. My wife won't even ride with her. She's terrified.

She's actually doin' okay. We've got to work on turning into parking lots when traffic is coming out, keeping her speed constant, and not drifting to the right (perhaps the scariest of her faults).

It's back to the office tomorrow after being off for two weeks. I'm looking forward to it. Two weeks is a long time, and I love my job, so I'm ready to go back.

This week marks the end of the summer and it's back to school. This has been a great summer for the students at Springcreek. We've seen a lot of spiritual growth and I am pumped to see the plans that God has on our campuses this year.

Well...I know these were just a few random thoughts, but it's what's goin' on. By the way....how 'bout them Cowboys?!

I'm out....

Slowing Down and Catching Up

Well..we're back from our little beach trip. Mustang Island was great..very relaxing. It was great getting to just slow down and enjoy doing nothing. The weather was great and the view from our condo was incredible. We spent a lot of time soaking up the sun and the water. It was nice, but it's also nice to be back.

On the way home yesterday we stopped in Temple to visit an old friend. His name is Roy Parker and he is the Senior Pastor of Memorial Drive Baptist Church in Temple, TX. He was my pastor growing up at First Baptist Church Baytown, TX.

Roy was there when my mom and dad were dealing with marital crisis. He was there when I surrendered to the ministry at the age of 17. He's the reason I ended up at Ouachita Baptist University where I found my wife, and began the ministry God had called me to. I can't tell you how many times Kelly and I would get a letter from him with $50 in it telling us to go out and enjoy each others company when we were pitifully broke college kids. The last time I saw him was 7 years ago at my dad's funeral.

We stopped in around 4:30 for a short visit, and 4 hours and dinner later were on the way home. At 67 years old, he has decided that he is retiring at the end of this year. We sat and talked about church and ministry. He has an incredible grasp of what is needed, not just at his church, but in the church overall. He said he just doesn't know if he has the energy to do it, so he's going to retire before his church wants him to retire.

I have never known anyone who is a better example of the love of Christ to hurting world. His influence on my life is immeasurable. As we walked across the parking lot with my arm around him, he began to tell me how proud he was of me, and encourage me. I reminded him who my leader was as a young man, and where I learned what the love of Christ looks like. His parting advice....to replicate the love that I was shown to the people around me. That's my prayer as I continue this walk. Thanks Bro. Roy.....

I'm out.

On the road....

Spent the night in San Antonio last night. We rolled into town around lunch time, and will be leaving for Mustang Island this morning.

Since we were in town at the same time as the Cowboys, Ashli, Beaux, and I went to their afternoon practice yesterday. Yes, we waited for about an hour and a half for them to open the doors to the Alamodome, but it was worth the wait. After the practice was over, we tried to get some autographs, but no one was signing.....except Babe Laufenberg. Beaux did get Tony Sparano (the offensive line coach) to sign his pennant.

I just loved watching the practice. We even got to see a little scuffle between Julius Jones and Patrick Watkins.

We finished the night off with a little mexican food at Casa Rio on the Riverwalk. Good times...

It's off to Corpus and Mustang Island........I'm out...

Balance

Well...our 3-year old niece is back with her grandparents for the time being. Not sure how long that is going to last, but for now that's where she is at. Her mom is in a 90-day rehab program in Kaufman. If she finishes....she has a chance at getting her kid back. If she quits before the 90 days are up....she has virtually no chance at getting the baby back. Dad is in the process of trying to custody transferred over to him. It's a mess.

I just don't understand. God entrusts us with the training and raising of children. I can't comprehend the amount of selfishness it takes to put yourself in front of your kid's well-being. Kelly and I usually walk away so angry after we talk to her sister. We're praying for God to heal her, both physically and mentally. And we're praying real hard for Josie. God has a plan for her life, and at the age of 3 she's got people in her life that are trying real hard to derail that plan. I know God will protect her and draw her to him.

We're leaving on our high school mission trip today. We're taking 20 high school kids down to Houston to do some work. It's going to be a good trip. I just love the way our kids look for ways to help others. It is so encouraging to see a group of teenagers focused on how they can show someone else the love of Christ, and not be focused on themselves. That's truly a rarity in this culture and I thank God everyday for the kids that he has placed at Springcreek.

Missions? Whether it's your 3-year old niece or someone you've never met. Our mission is to love. The love of Christ is a healer, encourager, teacher, and guide. God uses us in peoples lives to deliver his gifts of mercy and grace just as He uses people in our lives to do the same. I probably spend too much time looking for what God wants to do in my life, and not enough time on how He wants to use my life.

I'll send some pics and updates of the trip.....

Cowboys vs. Colts.......11 days.....that's what I'm talkin' about. I'm out...

Change of Plans

Well....I was going to write about waking up yesterday and finding that my garage door had been left open all night. When I found it....the fact that we had slept all night with the garage open, and the vulnerability of my family at that time scared me. I had this really deep thought that compared it to leaving our hearts and minds open, but not knowing we're doing it, and our own vulnerability in those times......it was gonna be awesome! But then we got a call....


CPS took my niece away from her mom (Kelly's sister) and the options were stay with us or foster care. So.....we now have a 3-year old living with us for a time yet to be determined. It's been a long time since we've had one that young, and I didn't think I would be doing it again. She is a precious little thing, but has not been given much of a chance in her 3 years.


I'm not sure where to go from here.....my brain is still processing all of this. We had a long talk with my sister-in-law yesterday before we brought the baby home. It was a real challenge trying to be honest with her without letting my down right anger over her selfishness show through.......


You know.....nothing was taken, no one was hurt, nothing was destroyed, or anything when my garage door was left open all night. Maybe it was symbolic..... opening up the door to our family for this little baby will allow God to begin His work in her and her mom. Does it leave us vulnerable? Yes. Inconvenienced? Yes! A little nervous? More than a little.


But we are protected by a loving God who is the defender and protector of the fatherless, and who rescues the weak and needy.............so my family gets the chance to be Jesus to someone. I get it....it's not all about our life and comfort zone.


I'm out....

fright night fun....

Wednesday night was incredible. One of the largest Wednesday night crowds that we've had turned out for our student led service. we celebrated by baptizing 14 students and sharing stories from camp, and taking communion.

we have some awesome kids! they are just incredible, and amaze me more and more every week.

so Kelly and I were at a wedding tonight and got home around 10:00pm. when we walked into the garage we could hear the kids singing, dancing, and having a big time. so i decided to take full advantage of the fact that they never heard us pull up and open the garage.

sneaking up to the window on the side of our house my oldest daughter was wearing a napoleon dynamite wig and doing a very spastic version of the running man while my other daughter had her shirt pulled through halter-top style while she was pop, lock, and droppin' it. Meanwhile, the manchild was handcuffed to one of the tv trays.

i am still laughing at the screams and sheer panic that insued when i beat on the window. when Kelly and I finally opened the door and went into the house the kids were huddled in our room still trying to figure out what just happened.

I love scaring people.........funny.

I'm out....

back home...

well.....we're back home from camp. got home thursday night after a great week at Lake Tomahawk in Livingston, TX. Not enough room to tell you how awesome the week was...but we're baptizing 9 teenagers Wednesday night, and God did some incredible things while we were there. First Baptist Church of Baytown, TX and Second Baptist of Highlands, TX were with us for the week.

Our kids are awesome! This Wednesday we're going to have a camp share service and get to hear from some of them.....don't miss it.

Kelly and I went to the Keith Urban concert last night. It was great. What a great entertainer. And an incredible picker. My wife thinks he's kind of cute too.....I just don't see it.

Gotta go now.....checking out "Transformers" tonight with the manchild. I'm out....

busy, busy...

Well...lots of stuff goin' on around here. Summer is a crazy time of year.

We took our senior high kids to the Galaxy Drive-in Theatre in Ennis last Thursday. What a great deal. $6 for a double feature and cheap snack bar. Check it out at...

http://www.galaxydriveintheatre.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

Afterwards.....a lock-in at the church. I am so old. I got home around 9:00 am Friday morning and figured I would sleep till noon or so. I woke up at 1:00 looked at the clock and thought...i'll just lay here for a little longer. The next time I looked at the clock it was 4:00. I thought I had really screwed up my sleep cycle, but I had no problems going to be around midnight and sleeping till 9:00 Saturday. I very rarely sleep in like that, so I was pretty pumped.

This will be a busy week. We've got VBS at our church this week, so it'll be crazy every night this week and then we leave for camp next Sunday. We're taking our students to Lake Tomahawk in Livingston, TX. Should be lots of fun.

I'm reading Michael English's book, The Prodigal Comes Home, right now. He's been one of my favorite singers for a long time this story of personal failure and God's redemption is awesome. I'm glad he's on the road again sharing his story. He is truly an incredible talent with an even more incredible story of God's deliverance.

Well....lots of stuff to do. I've got a new lawn mower, so I'm hopin' to get out and mow the yard today. Just 45 days till kick-0ff.....Cowboys v. Colts. Here's a couple of pics of me and Beaux on our man trip a couple of weeks ago......I'm out.

Summer's Here

Well...here we go. It's summer time, which means we're off and running in student ministry. We had our sr. high cookout/swimming party sunday night and this friday is our jr. high lock-in at group dynamix.

I am really excited about this summer. There are lots of things planned, but I'm really looking forward to seeing our students learn what it means to really serve others and grow into the leaders that I believe they have the potential to be.

My oldest daughter is in Florida right now. I have to say....I'm a little nervous about her being gone for a week away from us. I miss her. Each of our kids just bring so much life to our house and when one is gone.....there is a hole in our family.

I think that's what it must be like when God watches us go in and out of our relationship with him. One day we're in and one day we're out. One day we want to follow with everything we have, and one day we wimp out and follow our own desires.

I would drive to Florida in a heartbeat to rescue my daughter from any kind of danger she may face. I'd walk on my knees if I knew it was the only way to get there.......

God sent his only son to die for us.....in spite of who we are. I've known that truth for more than 25 years......and there is nothing that amazes me more every day than that kind of love.

I'm out....

Sonic Aliens

I'm pretty pumped. I had the opportunity to preach in our main services this weekend. We wrapped up our series titled MySpace, and my weekend was titled MySpace MyConcerns. I've taught and preached many times before, but never here at Springcreek. And honestly....it's much easier to teach, preach, sing or whatever in front of people that I'm not around all of the time. The bar for teaching has been set quite high here at Springcreek and I'm here every week. But I think it went well. Everyone was very encouraging and I had a blast.

We had The Net for the first time in a couple of weeks last night. I love being around our students. They're awesome! Afterwards a bunch of us went to Sonic and ate, then went back up to the church for a game of Aliens. It was stinkin' awesome! We had so much fun. Check out the pics.

Today we had a little Memorial Day cookout with the inlaws. Burgers, hot links, and the inlaws....mmm mmm. Really...my inlaws are great. They provide us with lots of laughs...many times unintentionally. After they left....I made some homeade ice cream. I hurt myself.

You know what I remember about Memorial Day the most? I used to watch war movies with my dad quite often, but more so on Memorial Day than any other time. And today.....AMC had a war movie marathon today and my son, Beaux, wanted to sit and watch a few with me. "Flying Leathernecks," "Patton," and "Tora, Tora, Tora." Good stuff! I remember those times with my dad....and I couldn't have been happier today when I got to sit on my chair with my son and watch some of those old war movies.

Summer starts next week. The kids are done with school Friday and we kick things off Sunday night with a cookout/swimming party. It's going to be a great summer. I'm out....

Team....Work

Things are going good here in Canyon, TX. It's nice to get the chance to get away and just look at and talk about the ministry of Springcreek, where we're going and what needs to be done to get there.

I've been involved with lots of teams in my life (coaching staffs, faculties, bands, worship teams, etc...) and I can honestly say that this staff is the second best team of which I've ever been a part. I am excited about each of the individual ministries and how we're working to make sure we facilitate growth in each others area of responsibility. It's exciting.

We had some good mexican food last night...Leal's in Amarillo. Good stuff. After that, a little trip out to the Cadillac Ranch. Not sure why it was done, but it's kind of cool.

We're gonna wrap things up today and head home later this evening. It'll be nice to get back home to Kelly and the kids. That's the best team. I'm out....

The Big Texan

Went to the Big Texan Steak Ranch tonight in Amarillo. Watched these two boys actually finish off the 72oz. steak with baked potato, salad, shrimp cocktail, and a roll. If you finish it in an hour, it's free. If not...it's $72. They did it.

My 22oz. strip was plenty. I'm out....

Interesting flight

Well....I had an interesting flight to Amarillo Sunday night.

This was one of the tiny, American Eagle jets. Anytime I fly American Eagle I pray to sit by someone small, or someone I know because of the close confines. I found my seat next to this tiny young lady and she gladly let me have the aisle seat. We struck up a conversation, and i asked her "so what do you do for living?" her reply......"I dance at a club." I'm not sure what my face looked like, but i know it couldn't have been as shocked as hers looked when she asked me...."what do you do?" and i replied..."i'm a pastor." you think i sweat bad when i'm leading music........

After we both came to grips with the situation, we had a great conversation. She's a 27 year old mother of a 10 year old, and 9 year old. She's been married twice (4 years each) and is currently living with her boyfriend with no intentions of marrying again. I asked her what she would be doing if she wasn't dancing. She begin to share with me the things that she had always dreamed of doing. She said she feels like she will probably quit dancing in the next two years, so that her kids are not ostracized because of her.

She then told me about her 10 year old daughter. In her words....the kid is a "religious freak." She said she reads her bible constantly, is always sharing with her mom, goes to church with friends, etc...

This led to a great conversation about the love and grace of a God that created us and has an incredible plan for our lives. I told her that even when we use the gifts and talents he's given us for things that He did not plan on....his love doesn't stop. She was quite relieved. She shared with me some stories of negative church experiences that she had experienced. You can imagine the looks she gets when walking into a small town church. And you can imagine the anger she has of being judged by these people, but yet "working" for several of them every week. It was really a cool conversation, and as we were finishing she told me that she had never really felt like God loved her before, but maybe she was wrong. I told her that sometimes it pays to listen to our kids. We said goodbye and left the plane.

As I was standing at baggage claim, another lady came up, introduced herself and told me she had been sitting in front of me and prayed for me the entire flight. Her husband was sitting with her, but he was sleeping. He is a pastor here in Amarillo. Isn't it cool that in a plane full of assigned seats. This young lady who never really felt like God loved her, was surrounded by people who love the Lord, pray for each other, and recognize that we're all jacked up and that God loves us anyway and can use us in spite of who we are, not because of who we are.

If you happen to read this Ann.....we're praying for you and your family. And Ashley...keep talking to your mom. I'm out.....

For The Birds

There it was......a baby blue jay sitting in the back of my truck. Somehow he/she had gotten itself into the bed of my truck and could not fly well enough to get out. With his eyes, he pleaded for help....but it was a total set-up.

As I leaned over the side of the truck to get him I noticed momma sitting about head high on a branch 25 feet away. And she had friends....two of them. I felt like Dr. Grant in Jurassic Park...surrounded by raptors ready to pounce. The little one fluttered to the other side of the truck. I walked around to the other side, looked up, and the raptors had moved closer...and they were talking to each other.

I finally realized, with the help of my daughter Brooke, that I was going to have to get into the bed of the truck to get the stupid bird. After a few minutes of chasing this thing around the bed of my truck, I finally caught it. And for the first time...it spoke...loudly. The others closed in as I jumped out of the truck, threw the baby in the general direction of the yard and sprinted around to the driver side of the truck.

This is the second time I've been attacked by birds while trying to help. My family now lovingly calls me "the bird whisperer." I'm done with being nice. From now on...you fall out of the nest, wander into the bed of my truck, porch of my house, whatever......I could care less.

Well...things to do....going to buy a bb gun. I'm out....

aches and pains

For months I've been looking forward to the Brad Paisley Bonfires and Amplifiers Tour. The concert was last night and we had tickets for the whole family.

I've been working with kids for 20 years, so I'm not at all oblivious to the things that go on and some of the stupid decisions we all make as teenagers. This, however, went beyond the scope of bad decisions by kids alone and into the decisions of parents and some of the freedoms they give their kids.

In our service this morning, Keith spoke about parents forcing their kids to grow up too quickly and some of the lifelong effects it can have on their ability to handle choices and consequences. My heart hurts for some of these kids and their inability to realize their own vulnerability. Some of them try so hard to fit in with everyone else while claiming to stake a claim to their independence and freedom. The smoking, drinking, clothes, how they interact all scream...I want to be grown up! But yet, they are in no way ready to handle the things of the adult world. Evidenced by their inability to control their alcohol consumption, their hormones, their mouths, etc...

I don't know if it is their perception of what being an adult looks like is warped by the adults that are present, or conveniently not present in their lives, or if they're just following suite with all of the other independent, free-thinking, non-conformist conformists in their herd.

Kids look for and long for structure in their lives. They want someone to give them a story worth living in....a story they belong in and can star in as themselves. When not provided with these kinds of environments by their parents, they will create their own story. I pray that I am creating a story that my kids want to live, star, and thrive in.....and when they do make a bad decision, that their cast of supporting characters are ones who point them in the right direction.

There is so much more to say about this.....not enough space. My heart hurts.......I'm out.

Stories...

We're back from Atlanta. The Orange Conference was great. Good conference, good time, good company.....it was a lot of fun. I think of all the things we heard, Donald Miller was the best. I've heard him several times and read most of his books, but his message really resonated this time.

We are all living our lives within a story. If we don't like our story we look for another story. So do our families, our students, our congregation members, etc....

We have to provide these groups of people with a great story in which to live their lives or they will find one on their own. What kind of story are you providing for the ones you love? I've already started to try and re-write some of the stories that make up my daily life.

Looking forward to the new series kick-off this week....looking at parents and their students relationships.....helping them look at the stories they're writing.

By the way...the Cowboys play in 91 days. I'm out....

I'm Back....

okay, so it's been a couple of months. i'm sorry......thanks for the e-mails asking me to write something....anything. well....here you go..

i'm in atlanta right now. our conference starts today....but the adventure started yesterday. our flight was at 2:40 and we missed the luggage check-in. we ended up on a 6:00 flight, but all is well.

however.......the lady at our gate for american airlines is not well. I didn't even get her name, but we'll call her Grumpy McHaterton. The most unhelpful woman on the face of the earth. She was just mean. Sharon, however, was great. Once we stopped dealing with Grumpy.....things got done.

late night dinner at the waffle house.......awesome! Mel and Flo (not their real names) provided plenty of late night entertainment. waffle house is a 24 hour establishment right? you would have thought we walked in 3 minutes before closing. Flo was super nice.....Mel was just an angry individual. I'm thinkin' of trying to hook him up with Grumpy McHaterton.

our services this weekend were great. people made their commitments to the Imagine campaign and we had a great time of worship and celebration. after the last service we recognized our senior graduates with a lunch for them and their families. we're graduating a lot more kids this year than last and they will be greatly missed.

speaking of our students....check out the video from this weekend's services about what God has been doing in Meghan Strickland's heart. It had me teared up.......

as far as the consistency of my blogging goes.....i'll do better. i'm out....

Love Languages

So I think I've found some additional love languages to the ones that my friend Ray gave us at the marriage event a few weeks back. Here are a few to think about....

1. Babe's Chicken Dinner House.......especially the chicken fried steak and cream corn
2. Coldstone Creamery
3. football.....namely Cowboys football
4. Madden 2007
5. the tingly hair conditioner stuff they put on my head at Sports Clips last week...I have got to
get some of that for home.

I was fortunate enough to spend last week in Chicago at Willowcreek Community Church with my buddy Clay and my 6 high school students in our mentorship program. It was great! We met Donald Miller, ate at Gino's East Pizza, played in the snow, and created more inside jokes than I have time to mention. It was awesome.

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

down time

Sometimes I just have to make myself put down work and sink myself into some down time. Not just studying for my next Sunday night, or rehearsing for the next worship set, but just time to listen. I talk too much. My life is too noisy at times. I can't hear the little things that God wants to teach me.

Last weekend was fun. My buddy Ray did a great job organizing the Super Bowl party and we had a great turnout. Good job Ray dog.

All I know is that the Cowboys beat the Colts. How 'bout them Cowboys?!!

I'm out...