Relative Truths

Ok, so I officially became part of the Mac-olution last week when I got my first ever Mac laptop.  I love it
(I also love tax-free weekends).  When I realized my laptop was not long for this world (you know, 10 minute
start-up, having to restart it a few times a day, programs freezing, etc) I decided to go ahead and make the
switch.  I am really enjoying the user-friendliness and the battery life. 

However, I do have to move documents, spreadsheets, music, pictures, etc. from the old computer to the
new one.  Next time it will be easier (macs just migrate stuff), but it has been a hassle.  I have had to look
through through files to see what I need and what I have just been keeping for no good reason, try and get
some music switched over, gets some photos, yada yada yada.  It has been a little bit of a pain, and I still
am not done.  I will probably be moving stuff for weeks.

The point is, changing direction can sometimes be difficult.  I needed a new computer.  However, as much as
the new computer is great and helpful, there is still work that needs to be done, and time that needs to be
invested.  I need to examine stuff to determine what is necessary moving ahead.  The same is true in the
church.  Sometimes we need to move in a new direction.  Maybe we are operating in an old model that was
good, but not working anymore.  However, the move to a new model, paradigm, direction, vision, etc. will
often be difficult.  Even though it is necessary for the good of the Kingdom, it requires examination, work,
and dealing with those tricky "files" that just won't move on to the new direction. 

The truth is, though, that when we are willing to put the effort into moving along and forward with the direction
that is required to serve God faithfully, amazing things happen.  I have a Mac that doesn't freeze up in the
middle of writing a sermon, or lock up when I am editing the website.  My computer is a useful tool for what
I need.  When the church is willing to move forward and do what is necessary, it will become the needed tool
for what God calls us to do: make disciples.

Ok, so I was checking my morning aray of blogs, and I read my brother David's blog about church
number reporting.  BAM.  It was awesome and it hit me between the eyes.  Now, I am starting a
new church.  Right now, we have 0 in worship.  Of course, we haven't started worship yet.  Even so,
when we do start, I hope that I can say our attendence is more than 3 (me, the worship leader, and
hopefully Rebekah).  In any event, David sent a reminder that no matter what, I should be honest
with my numbers.

There is a lot of pressure on pastors.  The main things we are judged on are worship attendence, money,
and membership.  So, we inflate worship numbers, shy away from reporting membership (it doesn't matter,
after all, our worship is so high), and always talk about how even though we are behind in the budget,
we'll catch up. 

Well, I think we all have pressure in our lives, no matter what we do, to inflate things.  Sometimes it is about
the past.  I remember that I could bench 300 in high school (I couldn't) and run a 4.8 40 (4.8 minutes maybe). 
Or, we talk about how great things are at work to our "friends" when they really aren't.  We have to sound good
and impressive, right?

Well, the truth is that no matter how great we report ourselves to be, or what accomplishments we embellish, God
is the only one that has done anything worth bragging about.  I never created a universe.  I also don't know anyone
that could live a perfect life, die on a cross, and come back to life (besides Jesus that is).  So, the Cold Hard Truth is
that we shouldn't try to impress, like David said, we should just give God glory and trust that if we live as He calls,
that will be enough. 

Ok, so I went out of town and didn't have an oppurtunity to post about this yet.  July 22-24,
I was the speaker for the youth at FUMC Lawrenceville during Camp Meeting.  FUMC has a
weeklong camp meeting with evening worship.  After the service, the youth gather for their
own worship and Allen asked me to be the speaker.

I had a great time.  One, I love to speak.  Two, I love teenagers.  Three, I love/miss the
teenagers at FUMC.  So, it was the perfect combination (plus I got a little Allen time and that is
always good).  Since I had three nights, I picked the tempation narrative from Matthew 4:1-11.

We looked at how we can be the Ultimate Fighters God created us to be (not to be confused with
my brother's church, The Vine, and their series).  The last night we invited kids to come forward
and be annointed as God's ultimate fighter.  It brought me to tears to see the number of kids that
came forward to make that commitment.  I later found out that some kids even changed thier facebook
religion profile to God's Ultimate Fighter. 

I think God created us to do amazing things for him.  I am always thrilled when people decide to be
the awesome person they were created to be.  To think of a generation of God's ultimate fighters
rising up gives me chills.

Anyway, are you willing to be an ultimate fighter for God?  Do you want to make a difference? 
Just asking.  God bless.

Ok, so I got tagged by Leah in this thing called, meme.  I like Leah, so I will play with this.  Plus,
it will allow me to talk about myself.  Anyway, here it is.

Here are the tag rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

About Me:
1. I am a cat guy.  Like dogs, but I prefer cats.
2. My favorite coffee beverage is black, decaf coffee.  I love Fraps, Caps, and Lattes,
but I am simple.
3. When I was little I wanted to be a scientist.  I had a chemistry set.
4. Later, I wanted to be an FBI agent.  Man, isn't that a switch.
5. I love beef jerky.
6. I own 6 big band Cds.

Alright, I am tagging 3 (like Leah)
1. The best preacher in McDonough: Alex Stroud.
2. The best preacher in Braselton: David Walters.
3. The best baker in said Braselton: Rebecca Moon.

All for now.  God bless.

Ok, so I just wanted to post real quick about my weekend.  Rebekah and I went to Savannah
this weekend for my brother Adam's wedding.  On Saturday, David and I co-officiated his wedding
to Susan.  It was a fun weekend and a great experience.  I am proud of my brother and real happy
that he found someone that makes him happy.  I have that, David has that, now Adam does as well. 
Anyway, I just wanted to pass a few things along that I learned.

Crackle Barrell is a great option when you have had 2 hours of sleep.  We meet David, Liz, and the
kids there on the way down.  I needed that energy to stay awake for a LONG Friday.

I love my nephew.  All the guys went on a boat to an island to hang out with Adam on Friday.  On the
way back, Brayden fell asleep on me.  That made me really happy.  He was also such a stud in his
ring-bearer outfit.

I enjoyed seeing my family.  I never get to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  The truth is I need to
do that more, they are fun (I mean, they are related to me after all).

Cafe DuMonde in New Orleans has the best beignets.  However, Huey's in Savannah is pretty close. 

That's all.  Hope you had a great weekend. 

Ok, so I referenced an experience last Sunday that gave me goosebumps.  I kind of forgot to
post it, so I am going to do it now.  Like I mentioned, I preached at Sugarloaf UMC last week. 
Sugarloaf is about 5 miles away from where I am starting the new church.  Some churches could
be territorial and complain that I am starting a new church close by.  However, I have been embraced
by the staff and the lead pastor, Tommy, and the people of Sugarloaf.  I truly appreciate the kingdom
mindset that they have.

Well, after the first service Sunday, I was greating people and answering questions about the church. 
I had one of the principals of a local elementary school approach me, give me his contact information,
and told me that we should get together for lunch.  He told me that he would work with me if I ever
wanted to use his school and offered to help me understand the culture of Suwanee.  That was very
generous, but what happened next gave me goosebumps. 

He told me that he doesn't attend Sugarloaf.  He told me that he attends another church regularly,
but that God told him to come to Sugarloaf that morning!  How awesome is that!  Now, I have always
trusted that God is behind this plant.  I started having a desire for this area three years ago, and
have felt nothing but peace since I was given the opportunity.  Yet, to have that experience reminded
me that God is so in control.  No matter what difficulties or challenges I face, I know this is his calling,
and He will be victorious. 

Anyway, don't know if that story gave you goosebumps or not, but it did me.  What has given you
goosebumps lately?  How has God shocked and affirmed you this week?

Ok, so I mentioned yesterday that Saturday was my niece Laney's 4th birthday party.  It was
this whole underwater, Ariel, Little Mermaid theme (for a look at some of the food, click here). 
One thing that I notice out of that is the movie The Little Mermaid came out in 1989.  A movie
almost 20 years ago is still inspiring 4 year old's birthday parties.  That's pretty impressive.

Anyway, there were two occurances that stayed with me from Sunday.  First, they set up a 
Slip-and-Slide.  Remember those?  David and Liz have a really cool hill going to their back yard,
and it gave the kids a perfect running start to hit the slide with.  My 2 year old nephew Brayden
would run at that thing with full force and fearlessly dive.  It was awesome to watch.  I thought,
"I wish we would fearlessly attack things in life."  Like I said yesterday, I preached at Sugarloaf UMC,
and I talked about fearlessly proclaiming the gospel.  Oh that we all would attack sharing the good
news of Jesus like Brayden attacked that slide.  What a difference that would make.

The second occurance happened when Laney went on the slide, she ended up in the grass and
was dirty.  She started crying.  So, daddy scooped her up, took her to their little pool and cleaned
her off.  After that, she was fine and went back to the slide.  The truth is that sometimes we just
realize that we have become dirty.  The great thing about God is that when we call out to Him for
forgiveness and grace, like a good Father, he scoops us and and will clean us off.  Then, we can
continue to live this great life he has for us. 

Anyway, that is what I experienced.  I hope you can make it to a 4 year old's birthday soon.  You
never know what you will learn. 

Ok, so just a quick post.  I am at the Starbucks in Suwanee doing some work.  The guy at the
drive-through greeted a customer with, "Hello, welcome to the Suwanee Starbucks.  My name
is Chris.  How may I caffeinate you today?"  Me and another business man in here just started
laughing.  I don't know about the business man, but I laughed because the guy was so honest
it was funny.  Basically, I would estimate that 90% of the people that come to Starbucks for
caffeine.  This worker obvioulsy knew that.  He was just being honest. 

I guess the truth is that too many times there are false-fronts in this world.  Thus, when someone
is brutally honest it can almost be funny.  Maybe we should be a little more honest with our intentions. 
I have learned a lot from Starbucks about creating an environment for people.  I just learned a lesson
in honesty from them today. 

Ok, so I wanted to do this last night, but I was way tired before I went to bed.  So,
anyway, here is a reflection on Sunday.  I preached at Sugarloaf UMC Sunday morning. 
Being church homeless right now has advantages.  One is getting to preach at different
churches.  So far, I have preached Sugarloaf and The Vine.  Yesterday were the two largest
crowds I have ever preached to.  It was an awesome time for me personally because I got
to share about the new church.  Tommy, the lead pastor, did a great set-up for me.  After the
service, I had long lines of people asking about the new church (I had one experience that
gave me goosebumps that I will share later).  We are having a meeting tonight for people
interested in knowing about the new church.  Pray for folks to come (or come yourself;  7pm
at Sugarloaf).  The truth in all of that is that I appreciate pastors giving me the pulpit for a
Sunday and I appreciate people being excited about what God is doing.

Rebekah and I got to hang out with some good friends we haven't hung out with in awhile. 
Carrie and Eric came to the service, so we went out to lunch with them.  Later, we had dinner
with them and played Rock Band (I love drumming).  It was so much fun.  The truth is that it
was good to spend time with good friends.

Saturday, my neice Laney turned 4.  I can't believe she is that old.  It seems like yesterday I
was holding her little baby body in my hand.  Now she is getting so big.  Anyway, I want to
talk more about that, so I will post about it tomorrow.  Hope you had a great weekend!