- Went to see The Dark Knight on Friday with Jesse Loya. That movie was AWESOME! It totally lived up the the hype and Heath Ledger was incredible. Man, that movie was dark but awesome!
- My vacation ended yesterday. Bummer.
- It ended in a great way though: I spent the say doing yard work and the evening being with my favorite Fire Youth Ministry adult leadership team ever!
- It took FOREVER to mow the back lawn at our house in the northeast; the grass was LITERALLY almost as high as my waist. I like doing yard work though because it's so tangible - one minute the grass is waist high, the next it's short and neat and pristine. That's awesome.
- Today at Del Sol Church was AMAZING. Man it was SUCH a great day! The worship through music was so Spirit-filled, it just messed me up. "Oh God let us a be a generation that seeks Your face!"
- Troy had a great message. I think his message points should somehow be part of our core values at Fire Youth Ministry.
- It was really good to be recognized in the worship gatherings this morning. I totally did NOT expect to receive a standing ovation like I did in the first service.
- This week is gonna be SO busy. There's always so much to catch up on after being gone, plus we have to get ready for the cookout on Saturday, for the GrowGroups signup starting on Sunday, and for Promotion Sunday on the 24th. In the middle of all that, we've got to get ready for Sunday, interview a couple of new leaders, and prepare for All-day Staff Meeting on the 27th.
- I'll be teaching on prayer at the Mix on Thursday, August 28th. I'm REALLY excited about that.
- Finally, two very important people in my life, my good friends Dave & Katie Schubert added to their family yesterday:
And baby Haley Grace Schubert makes 3. This picture really makes me happy. =)
Every Friday I'm posting a list of 5 things either directly or loosely connected.
Today, I'm going to share with you 5 ways I'm trying to be "green":
1. Recycling - I was the catalyst for the recycling bins you'll now see all over the Del Sol Church office. I started off by buying a recycling can for my office and for the Firehouse, and by asking others "Gee, we sure do go through lots of paper, huh? I bet we could fill up a recycling bin pretty quick." And now about a year later, we have a recycling bin on the back lot, blue recycling cans in pretty much every office, and large recycling cans throughout the campus.
2. Water conservation - Ok I'm still working on this, but I've been trying to remember to turn off the water when I'm brushing my teeth, when I wash dishes, or when I'm lathering up in the shower.
3. Fluorescent light bulbs - I've slowly but surely replaced almost every light bulb in my house with those squiggly little compact fluorescent light bulbs. It's amazing how many light bulbs a house has, and how much energy you can save when you go from using 60 watt bulbs to using 13 watt bulbs (the CFL equivalent of regular 60 watt tungsten bulbs).
4. Unplugging - I've long known about how much energy can be saved by unplugging electronics when not in use but it wasn't until recently that I started unplugging my cell phone and laptop chargers from the outlets when I'm not using them.
5. Ceiling fans - Did you know that by using ceiling fans with your air conditioning, you can save tons of energy? I've heard that you can reduce the air conditioner's energy consumption by 40% just by turning on a ceiling fan. I'm sure you use a small bit of energy with the ceiling fans but I doubt that it's the same as the 40% that you save by using them.
So what about you - how are you going green?
There's a former pastor of a church here in El Paso who has been in ministry at that church for a couple of decades, I think, and he was such an influential leader that if he asked the people in his church to do something, they would do it without asking. This guy wielded some serious influence but has to resign as pastor not because of any sin or moral failure, but because of an illness which the doctors have said will claim his life within a year.
Even though he wasn't the pastor, his church still loved him and supported him; he was STILL the influencer in that church ...until it happened.
It was found out that he had an affair and is getting divorced. [By the way, don't try to to guess who I'm talking about because you're probably incorrect =) ] Now people in his former church are not going to church, saying things like "why bother?" because of this man's sin.
I just found out about this situation this week and it's had me thinking - who would it affect if I committed some moral failure? Of the people I influence, who would say "why bother?", not wanting to have anything to do with God or with His Church because of what I did? It would kill me to have any of my youth say "why bother?" with God or His Church because of some stupid decision I made!
So my heart has been hurting for the church and the pastor I've written about above, and I've been investing some time into brutally honest self-evaluation this week because I do not want to be the cause of someone turning away from God or His Church.
So if you would, pray for God's Holy Spirit to empower me to be more disciplined in my spiritual life, to be daily connected to Him, to stay far away from anything sinful that might trip me up, and to be a humble, gracious, loving servant of all.
Please ...I need your prayers because I simply cannot be the stumbling block that would cause someone to give up on God or His Church. I cannot be the person that would cause someone else to say "why bother?" on God or His Church.
And while you're at it, pray for yourself as well, that you would not be that person either but would be spiritually disciplined, daily connected to God, staying away from sin, and living humbly as a gracious servant.
- It's amazing how much stress anf work it is to prepare for vacation time and then, when you get back there's always so much work piled up that it takes like a week to get caught up.- But ...a 9-day vacation is definitely worth the hassle. - I taught on Thursday about the differences between Catholicism and non-Catholics (or "Cats and non-Cats" as my friend Stephanie says). We agree on some major essentials and we disagree on some even more major things - but in the end, I think there is quite a bit that us non-Cats can learn from our Cat friends. - I had a great time with Levi Lane working on the yards at my family's investment property in Northeast El Paso. We were there all day working in the sun, sweating like crazy, and drinking tons of water - and it was pretty fun! I never would have been able to do it all on my own, so major props to Levi for working hard with me. - On Sunday, I went to St. Paul's United Methodist Church for the early service, then to Harvest Christian Center (they're Assembly of God) for the late service. What an experience! The people at both churches were really friendly, but Harvest definitely was more organized and professional than St. Paul's. At St. Paul's, I felt like I was unintentionally welcomed ...like I was welcomed kind of as a second thought - like when someone walked up to me in the middle of the service and gave me a gift bag and quietly said "don't forget to sign the welcome register."At Harvest though, I was intentionally welcomed 4 or 5 times before I even got to the doors of the worship center. I felt welcomed at St. Paul's, but I was very impressed with the way they handled themselves at Harvest.- St. Paul's was a very traditional worship service, with liturgical elements such as reciting prayers and blessings, "sharing the peace", and going forward to the altar and kneeling on kneelers to be given communion. I was kind of uncomfortable because I had no idea what to expect but everyone else seemed to know what they were doing ...that made me feel a little left out but it also made me keenly aware of what someone who is a first-time guest at Del Sol Church probably feels like. Well I was wanting to experience a traditional worship service, and that's definitely what I found at St. Paul's.- At Harvest, it was much like I expected. It was very modern, with fancy lights, drums, electric guitars and basses, and lively music ala Hillsong. They're part of the charismatic Assemblies of God denomination so I wasn't too surprised by flag dancers and people bringing their tambourines, but I was surprised when at one point in the gathering, a lady started loudly yelling out in "tongues" (which is supposedly a Heavenly language from God). As soon as she finished, I was watching the pastor to see what he would do ...and I was very impressed with how he handled it. He asked if anyone had an "interpretation" of what was spoken and nobody did anything, so then he prayed and was supposedly given an interpretationfrom God - albeit pretty generic. After that, he briefly explained that while they allow public tongues-speaking, they also require an interpretation because Biblically, that is the only acceptable way for tongues to be used in church gatherings. Besides that, everything was great. There was an incredible message given about being a person of forgiveness, a time of self-examination, and everyone in the church gathering took communion at the same time, as one Body of Christians. It was definitely a very intimate moment.So now I'm enjoying my time off, but finding it difficult to disconnect from the work of ministry. I'm trying not to think about the things I forgot to do or what needs to be done for the fall kickoff. I'm trying just to rest, relax, and enjoy my time off with God.
It's Friday and that means it's time for another "Friday Five!"
Here are my top 5 favorite restaurants:
1. Buck's Steaks & Bar-B-Que (103 SW Georgia Ave, Sweetwater, TX 79556). THE best brisket, all you can eat sides and salads, and oh so wonderful peach cobbler. If you're ever on the road to Dallas from El Paso or back to El Paso from Dallas, Buck's is DEFINITELY a must-eat. It's about 35 minutes west of Abilene on I-20. Oooooh ...Buck's .... =)
2. Peter Piper Pizza. Every Friday I go for the lunch buffet there. Peter's is my favorite pizza chain and the pepperoni & sausage pan crust is my favorite kind - from Peter's or pretty much any pizza place, really.
3. Cheddar's. Love that Santa Fe Spinach Dip and the Smokehouse Burger!
4. Taco Cabana. It's fast-food, but it's still pretty fresh. Love the chicken fajitas, and them salsas - mmm boy, they're good!
5. Chili's. Who doesn't like Chili's? MUCH better than Applebee's.
What about you - what are your top 5 favorite restaurants?
I've studied, prepared, rehearsed, prayed like crazy, edited, prayed like crazy some more, studied some more, had some others pray for me ...
and NOW, after all that ...I'm ready.
Tonight: the Mix, series finale of the "What's the Difference?" summer message series. Part 4: Catholicism and non-Catholics
God's gonna do some GREAT things tonight. Oh yeah ...I'm ready and I'm pumped!
