Weird Weather

I think we have had a little bit of everything this December. Last weekend we were experiencing sub-zero temps and frigid wind chills. Today I think we reached a high of 68 degrees. But we are also getting a lot of rain, so it's not too enjoyable.

Tomorrow is the last Sunday of the year. I'm looking forward to preaching (especially since I didn't get to preach last Sunday because of the power outage).

Have a Blessed Christmas

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

Luke 2:1-15

Enjoy

This dude has some pipes, eh? Wow!

The Heat Is On!

Hunkered down under a bunch of blankets on Saturday night, but woke up to 48 degrees in the house. Brrr! Spent the day with some friends. Came home to check the house, then the juice came back on. Kudos to those guys working round-the-clock to restore power.

Still no power at the church building. Cancelled services (duh!). It's COLD in there. But really COLD outside (zero, with a minus 10 windchill). Worshipped at the Auburn Church of Christ today. Enjoyed hearing my friend John Scott preach.

Now I'm drinking coffee, watching football, blogging, and thanking the Lord for a warm house.

Ice Storm

We got a nasty ice storm this morning. When the weatherman predicted a half-inch of ice, I thought he was exaggerating, but it turns out he was right. Ice everywhere. The tree limbs are groaning with the weight. We lost some very big branches. Limbs and power lines are down all over town. We lost power about 9am and the house is getting COLD. They say power might not be restored until Sunday. Wow. We are getting warm at Starbucks now.

A Liberal's Christmas Nightmare

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Beware of the Doghouse

Guys, a reminder as you choose your Christmas gifts this year.

Larry Russell

Tracy and I just got back from a trip to Virginia for the funeral of Larry Russell. Larry and his wife Betty became dear friends when we ministered at Northampton. He was diagnosed with cancer just three weeks ago. He went to be with theLord on Sunday night. His funeral service was a celebration of his life and the fact that he knew the Lord. He will be missed.

Christmas Pics

After yesterday's service, a friend took some family photos for us to use for Christmas cards. Here's a sneak preview.

Rush Limbaugh and Barbara Walters

I got home from a meeting last night and the Barbara Walters “Most Interesting People of 2008″ special was on t.v. Tina Fey and Rush Limbaugh made the list. Surely I’m not the only one who noticed this: Babs was very chummy with Tina, joining in the mocking of Sarah Palin, laughing when Tina called George Bush an idiot, celebrating Tina’s success, etc. The Rush interview came next. She was hostile & accusatory, chastizing Rush for his big salary and essentially calling him an intolerant bigot. The double-standard was obvious.

Ouch!

This post from Craig Groeschel kicked my butt:

In ministry, I’ve had seasons of full blown passion for Christ and His Kingdom. At other times, my passion leaked and I was spiritually empty. Here are a few signs you might be a lukewarm pastor from my own life and experiences helping other pastors.

A lukewarm pastor:
Prays as much, or more, publicly than privately.
Is almost exclusively dependent on others’ sermons to preach than directly hearing from God.
Cares more about his church than The Church.
Preaches about evangelism but doesn’t practice evangelism privately.
Tolerates and rationalizes unconfessed sin.
Preaches for the approval of people rather than the approval of God.
Is overly sensitive to criticism.
Harbors bitterness and unforgiveness.
Reads the Bible to prepare sermons but not for personal devotion to God.
Is jealous or critical of someone else that God is blessing.

Wintry Sunday

I had a rare Sunday off today. It's really weird to be on "vacation" but still at home. I enjoyed sleeping in and waking up to enjoy some coffee and the morning paper. We worshipped at Christ's Church at Georgetown today. I enjoyed hearing my friend Chris Steele preach.

I wonder if other preachers struggle with being able to concentrate on the service when they are visiting another church. While worshipping, I find myself thinking things like, "I wonder where I can get that cool PowerPoint background" or "How can we get our lights to do that?" or "A fiddle would sound great in our praise band" or "we need to copy this thing that they have in their bulletin." Anyone?

Weekend Off

I have the weekend off. We aren't doing anything particularly special. Just hanging out together. Probably will get some of the Christmas decorations out. Spent some time today raking leaves. I hope to finish the job tomorrow. Have a great weekend everybody!

24: Redemption Trailer

Jack is back!

Holiday Mania

Hey Christians, how 'bout we do something different this year and not freak out about merchants saying "Happy Holidays" instead "Merry Christmas"? I started thinking about it while preparing to teach a Bible School class tomorrow. We've been talking about issues over which Christians disagree (alcohol, role of women in the church, tattoos and other cultural things, etc). My topic is holidays. You know, that whole pagan origins thing. A couple of key Scriptures that I will use are Romans 14:1-8 and Colossians 2:16-3:4.

One of the problems with the line of thinking that says, "You can't celebrate or participate in anything which has evil origins" (even if nobody but fanatical Christians remember what those origins are) is that it is impossible to be consistent. Are we going to start calling the days of the week by alternate names (they are based on pagan gods)? And the same guy who would never go to a Maundy Thursday service (too Catholic or denominational) has no problem celebrating the Christ-Mass.

But I digress... For the past few years, some Christians have freaked out because retailers are using the phrase "Happy Holidays" (there's no mention of Christ you know). Let's think about this:

1. They are trying to sell merchandise.

2. "Happy Holidays" includes several holidays for a diverse shopping crowd, including Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year's Day.

3. If we are not sharing the name of Christ during the other 11 months of the year, let's not gripe about other people (MOST OF WHOM ARE NOT EVEN CHRISTIAN) who don't do it.

Chill out folks. And Happy Holidays to you!

P.S. I started to post this when I suddenly realized that it sounded familiar. I checked the archives and found that I did a similar rant a couple of years ago. Oh well.

Catalyst One Day

The Catalyst event at Granger was awesome. I was so thrilled to have most of my staff and several elders with me today. Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel are excellent communicators.We were challenged and convicted, and we left excited about ministry.

Some take-aways:

If you don't know what is causing your momentum, you are only one
stupid decision away from killing it.
I said, "God, do something in our church. And God, 'that's why you're there.' I mean, who built the ark?" (God worked through a person).
Do anything short of sin to connect people to Christ.

Mark Waltz put some great notes on his blog (scroll down past his anniversary post).

Snowy Message

Roger Cook leads our grounds ministry at The Creek. He has mowed a message into a little ridge on the edge of our property. The message really stood out this morning after a little dusting of snow.