I was brought up from the minors last week. My friend Josh is our senior pastor and he just had a baby son. Gavin was right on time. So, to make sure that he had some time off around the due date he arranged for me and a couple of others to preach in his absence.
Sure enough that time came for me to be called up to the big leagues. I have preached on one other occasion, but there was not as much at stake that time. We were with out a pastor and there was little happening at the church at that time. Well now our community is growing like crazy, and I am among some great speakers, including Josh, the senior pastor. To say I was nervous would be an understatement.
When I was finished preaching, I stood in the back after the service and received nothing but complements. What a great feeling that was. My wife gets to nervous to stay and listen to me, so she leaves and helps out with the children. The following day my wife listens to me on our churches podcast and gives the greatest compliment. She said," This is good, this is really good." I felt so good at that point. As I write this a week after I still have people coming up to me and saying what a good job I did. I love being a servant of God!
You can listen to what I spoke about on our community blog, http://www.beginningsmessages.blogspot.com/. It was on Transformers.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Just Finished
I have finished the longest book I have read since my collage days. To be honest I read more cliff notes in collage then the actual books. This book was a fun read. A lot of drama and suspense. I was surprised at the end, not to the point of disapointment.
The story is about a billionare that does something very questionable with his furtune after his death. The book has a large cast of characters, but a few main ones. There is one main character that is sent on an adventure to find someone and ends up finding himself along the way. While isolated on this adventure he finds out what means the most to him. I think that God tends to do the same to us. When we are isolated we tend to find we need to lean more on Him and build a stronger relationship with Him.
I have not read any other John Grisham books, but I might start after this one.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Missing the Point
Deadbeat dead? Teen’s headstone repossessed
‘That’s just business,’ company official says; classmates pay $750 bill
Updated: 6:11 p.m. MT July 31, 2007
SPRINGVILLE, Utah - The cemetery headstone for a teenager who died in a car wreck was repossessed after a $750 bill went unpaid.
“That’s just business,” said Linda Anderson of Memorial Art Monument. “If we give every stone to everybody, we’d be out of business. They’d repossess your car if you didn’t make payments.”
Brady Conger, 17, and two friends died when their car smashed into a sport utility vehicle a year ago Thursday.
Memorial Art said bills sent to one address were returned, and the business couldn’t reach Brady’s mother, who apparently had agreed last year to pay the balance. “The end result was that there was absolutely no one who I could talk to about this,” owner Mike Anderson said.
Brady’s classmates raised money to pay the bill, and the headstone will be installed again this week.
‘That’s just business,’ company official says; classmates pay $750 bill
Updated: 6:11 p.m. MT July 31, 2007
SPRINGVILLE, Utah - The cemetery headstone for a teenager who died in a car wreck was repossessed after a $750 bill went unpaid.
“That’s just business,” said Linda Anderson of Memorial Art Monument. “If we give every stone to everybody, we’d be out of business. They’d repossess your car if you didn’t make payments.”
Brady Conger, 17, and two friends died when their car smashed into a sport utility vehicle a year ago Thursday.
Memorial Art said bills sent to one address were returned, and the business couldn’t reach Brady’s mother, who apparently had agreed last year to pay the balance. “The end result was that there was absolutely no one who I could talk to about this,” owner Mike Anderson said.
Brady’s classmates raised money to pay the bill, and the headstone will be installed again this week.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
What's up with the weather
My wife and I get a date day once a week. It is our time to reflect on what we are doing and get reconnected. Some times we call it our business time. For the past several months we have done the standard, go get lunch and go to the movies. First, this gets expensive and second, and most important, there is little connection happening when you are in theater for 3 hours and not allowed to talk.
So earlier this week I suggested we go trail running. Christie and I are trying very hard to get into shape, and do it together. So today I woke up and got into gym shorts and an tank top and was ready to go. Christie didn't think I was serious until she saw me making breakfast in this outfit. We dropped the children off at 10:00 a.m. and were off for our adventure.
The trail we choose was more like hiking, not much running occurred, which was good b/c I am still in the getting in shape phase. We got about 40 min into the trail and saw something cool in the mountains and decided to go climbing to get to it. It was great. about 12 p.m. we started to get hungry. We did not plan to stay this long, but hay, we were loving the time together. So instead of going back an hour hungry we collected prickly pear fruit and tried to eat them. This was funny. If you don't know what these are , they are little fruits that are about the size of golf balls covered in cactus needles. Some how we managed to get through 3 of them and they we delicious. Painful on the fingers, but delicious.
We we covered by clouds this entire adventure . It was awesome. Christie ran out of water cleaning her hands from the fruit, so we had to head back. Not something you want to mess with in the desert. If there was an abundant amount of water I am sure we would still be there. This was our best date night yet. It is going to be tough to top this one.
So earlier this week I suggested we go trail running. Christie and I are trying very hard to get into shape, and do it together. So today I woke up and got into gym shorts and an tank top and was ready to go. Christie didn't think I was serious until she saw me making breakfast in this outfit. We dropped the children off at 10:00 a.m. and were off for our adventure.
The trail we choose was more like hiking, not much running occurred, which was good b/c I am still in the getting in shape phase. We got about 40 min into the trail and saw something cool in the mountains and decided to go climbing to get to it. It was great. about 12 p.m. we started to get hungry. We did not plan to stay this long, but hay, we were loving the time together. So instead of going back an hour hungry we collected prickly pear fruit and tried to eat them. This was funny. If you don't know what these are , they are little fruits that are about the size of golf balls covered in cactus needles. Some how we managed to get through 3 of them and they we delicious. Painful on the fingers, but delicious.
We we covered by clouds this entire adventure . It was awesome. Christie ran out of water cleaning her hands from the fruit, so we had to head back. Not something you want to mess with in the desert. If there was an abundant amount of water I am sure we would still be there. This was our best date night yet. It is going to be tough to top this one.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Summertime Rules
These are great. I love seeing them every now and then. You are sometimes wondering if they are real or just drawings. Sweeeeeeet.Party Time
A gate-crasher’s change of heart
Gunman bursts into party, tastes cheese and wine, gets hug, then leaves
WASHINGTON - Police on Capitol Hill are baffled by an attempted robbery that began with a handgun put to the head of a teenager and ended in a group hug.
It started about midnight on June 16 when a group of friends was finishing a dinner of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp on the back patio of a District of Columbia home. That's when a hooded man slid through an open gate and pointed a handgun at the head of a 14-year-old girl. "Give me your money, or I'll start shooting," he said, according to D.C. police and witnesses. Everyone froze, including the girl's parents. Then one guest spoke. "We were just finishing dinner," Cristina "Cha Cha" Rowan, 43, told the man. "Why don't you have a glass of wine with us?" The intruder had a sip of their Chateau Malescot St-Exupery and said, "Damn, that's good wine." The girl's father, Michael Rabdau, 51, told the intruder to take the whole glass, and Rowan offered him the whole bottle. The robber, with his hood down, took another sip and a bite of Camembert cheese. He put the gun in his sweatpants. The story then turns even more bizarre. "I think I may have come to the wrong house," he said before apologizing. "Can I get a hug?" Rowan, who works at her children's school and lives in Falls Church, Va., stood up and wrapped her arms around the armed man. The four other guests followed. "Can we have a group hug?" the man asked. The five adults complied. The man walked away a few moments later with the crystal wine glass in hand. Nothing was stolen, and no one was hurt.
Once he was gone, the group walked into the house, locked the door and stared at each other _ speechless. Rabdau called 911, and police came to take a report and dust for fingerprints.
Police classified the case as strange but true. Investigators have not located a suspect. The witnesses thought he might have been high on drugs.
"We've had robbers that apologize and stuff but nothing where they sit down and drink wine. It definitely is strange," said Cmdr. Diane Groomes, adding that the hugs were especially unusual. "The only good thing is they would be able to identify him because they hugged him."
Gunman bursts into party, tastes cheese and wine, gets hug, then leaves
WASHINGTON - Police on Capitol Hill are baffled by an attempted robbery that began with a handgun put to the head of a teenager and ended in a group hug.
It started about midnight on June 16 when a group of friends was finishing a dinner of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp on the back patio of a District of Columbia home. That's when a hooded man slid through an open gate and pointed a handgun at the head of a 14-year-old girl. "Give me your money, or I'll start shooting," he said, according to D.C. police and witnesses. Everyone froze, including the girl's parents. Then one guest spoke. "We were just finishing dinner," Cristina "Cha Cha" Rowan, 43, told the man. "Why don't you have a glass of wine with us?" The intruder had a sip of their Chateau Malescot St-Exupery and said, "Damn, that's good wine." The girl's father, Michael Rabdau, 51, told the intruder to take the whole glass, and Rowan offered him the whole bottle. The robber, with his hood down, took another sip and a bite of Camembert cheese. He put the gun in his sweatpants. The story then turns even more bizarre. "I think I may have come to the wrong house," he said before apologizing. "Can I get a hug?" Rowan, who works at her children's school and lives in Falls Church, Va., stood up and wrapped her arms around the armed man. The four other guests followed. "Can we have a group hug?" the man asked. The five adults complied. The man walked away a few moments later with the crystal wine glass in hand. Nothing was stolen, and no one was hurt.
Once he was gone, the group walked into the house, locked the door and stared at each other _ speechless. Rabdau called 911, and police came to take a report and dust for fingerprints.
Police classified the case as strange but true. Investigators have not located a suspect. The witnesses thought he might have been high on drugs.
"We've had robbers that apologize and stuff but nothing where they sit down and drink wine. It definitely is strange," said Cmdr. Diane Groomes, adding that the hugs were especially unusual. "The only good thing is they would be able to identify him because they hugged him."
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