BLeach

Sold

Well, tonight was bitter-sweet.  A potential buyer came over last week to look at my Jeep, and tonight I signed over the title.  It was sweet because I really believe that God helped me to sell it.  But it was tougher than I expected standing on the porch and watching someone else drive away in my blue baby.  She represents almost seven years of great memories.

Leah and I are going to experiment with one car for a few months and see how it works.  Then maybe I'll become a member of this club.

Weekend Rewind

What a great weekend!  Here are a few highlights.

• Spent some time Friday night in the hospital visiting a man who I affectionately refer to as "The Greatest Greeter in the History of Church of the King."  He helped us launch the church seven years ago and has been a big part of our journey since then.
• Met with our Advisory Committee on Saturday morning.  I love this team of leaders in our church.  They aren't afraid to go after audacious dreams and interpret facts through a lens of faith!
• Met a few of our ministry directors and interns at Southfield Lathrup High School to shoot a video tour of the school.  I'll link to the video as soon as we get it on Youtube.
• Climbed inside of a locker for the closing scene of the video.  Found out I'm bigger than I used to be!
• Saturday night several of us went to see Prince Caspian at The Oaks film festival.  They had almost five hundred people attend this first annual outreach.  Yea God!
• I wrapped up our Exodus series by talking about The Grasshopper Complex.  Check out the message here!
• I loved preaching through Exodus and encountering the God of the Journey.
• Led our church in a time of financial commitments toward the Amplify Campaign.  Our goal was $40,000.00 from our church in one time gifts and three-month commitments.  We had over $30,000.00 committed yesterday.  What a great start!
• Combined with the nearly $40,000.00 that's already been given from friends of our church, I feel confident that God's going to help us hit our faith total of $80,000.00!
• We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it!

Royal Oak Family Film Festival

Just over two years ago our church sent a core group of people to plant a new church in downtown Royal Oak.  I'm proud of the great work The Oaks has done to create a presence for the gospel in one of the most eclectic parts of Metro Detroit.

This coming weekend they'll be serving the community.  On Friday night they'll kick off the first annual Royal Oak Family Film Festival.  They're showing some great movies and making the tickets available to the community for free. 

All of the films will be shown at the Main Art Theater in Royal Oak.  This is also the theater where The Oaks gathers to worship on Sundays.  It's a great way for church plants that meet in movie theaters to connect with the community!

If you live in the Detroit area, come on out and enjoy the experience.  If not, will you pray that this will be a great opportunity to build meaningful relationships with our neighbors? 

You can find a full schedule and other detailed information here.

Brett Favre's Backup

Leah preached for the first time in our church in July.  It's no secret that she tore it up.  In fact, her message set the record for hits on the sermon section of our website.

Before she preached in July she told the church that filling in for me was like being Brett Favre's backup.  At the time Aaron Rodgers had never started a game and everyone in Green Bay wanted Brett back.

Now that she's preached a second time I'm wondering if I need to be worried about job security.  Not only did she hit another home run, but Aaron Rodgers has made everyone in Green Bay say, "Brett who?"

So I'm beaming with pride...and checking to see if the Jets need a chaplain:)

Monday Mind Dump

Some highlights from a great weekend!

• Got back home late Friday night from class. 
• Coming home is so much more fun now that I get to see Leah when I walk out of the airport!
• Saturday was Leah's 29th birthday.  Most people still think she looks like she's 21, but that will come in handy when she turns 40.
• Two of Leah's favorite things are chocolate and cows.  Imagine my excitement on Friday when I found a chocolate cow to give her for her b-day.
• Since this post is turning into a post about Leah, I should mention that she did an AMAZING job preaching on Sunday.  You can listen to her message here.
• There's a good chance my fantasy teams will go 4-0 this weekend.  I just need a big game tonight from Jerricho Cotchery and Nate Kaeding.
• The Lions depressed me again yesterday.  My expectations weren't high going into the season, but wow, I didn't think they'd be this bad.  And the little bit of surprise that I still feel over their ineptitude is probably the most tragic part of all.
• It is great to be the starting quarterback of the team that is playing against the Lions.
• Yesterday we spent a few hours at Erwin's Apple Orchard.  I'll be honest.  I love throwing apples at people.
• Leah's sister (Ashley) and brother-in-law (Nate) flew in on Saturday.  Great to have them at our house for the first time!
• I'm taking suggestions for activities that require apples.  We have fifty of them.
• Also, send Leah your apple pie recipes.
• Anyone want to come over this week to bob for apples?
• I shared some vision yesterday in our service for the Amplify financial campaign.  Next week we will be giving a special offering and making three month commitments to finance our expansion this fall.  Can't wait to see what God is going to do!
• I put my Jeep on Craig's list on Saturday.  I'm hoping to give the money to Amplify.  Let me know if you want to buy a 2001 Grand Cherokee.

Aaarrrrr!

Today's the day.

One of Leah's favorite days of the year.

National talk like a pirate day.

Unfortunately, I'm in class for a few more hours and my professor has resisted my encouragement to incorporate pirate talk into the lecture.  We're talking about discipleship in the local church so I thought it would be a natural fit.

Putting the hip back into discipleship:)

Aaarrrrr!

My Favorite License Plate

The Real Discipleship Litmus Test

Instead of asking yourself whether you believe or not, ask yourself whether you have this day done one thing because he [Jesus] said, "Do it," or once abstained because he said, "Do not do it."  It is simply absurd to say you believe or even want to believe in him if you do not do anything he tells you.

-George McDonald

Eavesdropping in the Church Lobby

Ten minutes after the service...

Consumer Christian: I didn't get anything out of that worship set today.  I really didn't enjoy it all.

Insightful Worshipper: That's okay.  We weren't worshipping you:)

Where Hurry Comes From

I'm back in class this week.  I'm in the home stretch.  After this one I've only got two more to go!

This week we're studying Disciple-Making with Bill Hull.  He's been reminding us that making disciples is intricately connected to being disciples.  Changing a city begins by living a changed life.  Corporate transformation begins by experiencing personal transformation.

Here's the challenge for some of us.  Experiencing progressive spiritual growth takes time, and patience is something I don't always have.

Bill said something this afternoon that I want to remember.  Pride and worry create hurry.

In other words, I'm afraid something important is not going to get done (worry), and I'm equally convinced that I'm the only one who can do it (pride), so I end up living in an adrenaline fueled state of hurry.  And hurry is not the place in which personal discipleship, change and transformation take place.

If you want to lead change in your church, city, family, or workplace, try starting here.

Slow down and be changed.