What did it say?

Have you ever noticed the cloud of dust that comes from a dropped chalkboard eraser? What words were erased? Was it a drawing? Or just some kid doodling on the board before the teacher came in? Why was it erased from the board? Did the kids remember it? Did they take notes? How did our words become disposable? How many great things or works of art are lost forever in a cloud of white dust?

Wouldn’t it be cool if, when the eraser hit the floor all those words were released into the air OUTLOUD? What would it sound like? What would the drawings come out like?



Are you still reading this? Really, that’s just weird. If this got you thinking you may just have a little Emo in you! If you don’t know what Emo is then stay tuned.

Last night at crosslink

Crosslink is Discovery churches youth outlet (youth group/small group) We meet on Sunday nights and have a blast. Last night was a cool-down night so we headed over to harass the good folks over at Coldstone with some good ol’ Christian lovin’. We ate enough ice cream to give an elephant brain freeze. We then come back to the club to run-um’ till they puked! While we didn’t have any return visits from the previously eaten ice cream, we did have some fun that even the grown-ups got into.

See if you can find your friends below.

Cause You Asked For It.

Attendance 7/29/07 was 132 and offering was $1998.00
Attendance 7/22/07 was 137 and offering was $2557.82

Well last week we had 15 1st timers and this week we had 7 second timers so I guess we dont do a bad job and making people feel welcome.
This week we got the chance to serve 6 first time guest

The nursery was bustin @ the diaper seems with 13 little ones. Thats 26 runny notsrils to wipe, Thanks Mr. & Mrs. Stallings for serving in this area. YOU GUYS ROCKED!!!

Hey, how did ya'll like the music this week? I think it was much better in sound quality. FEEDBACK PLEASE

Cause You Asked For It.

Attendance 7/22/07 was 137 and offering was $2557.82
But the really exciting part is that we had 15 1st time guest with us!!! I pray that you "regulars" made them feel welcome so that we will have 15 2nd time guests next week!!!


And THAT IS BY TUESDAY!!!

in the know

As Family Pastor I feel it is my job to provide you readers (both of you) with some heavy learning. So today I am going to give you some serious street smarts. I know you have seen them, you have all questioned and you all need to know….so here goes:

They are called “Hi-Risers” not High Risers or High Riders or Low Riders but “Hi-Risers” these are cars that are not 4x4’s but are jacked way up on very large rims with low profile tires. But don’t call them “rims”!!! At and above a 20” rim they are referred to as Dubs which is a term that came from 22 inch rims, get it? Dubs = double 2’s = 22’s. These cars are normally larger cars and in the Hi-Riser world, 4 doors are just fine if not preferred.
So now you know the general term to describe these rides (aka “Whips”). We need to go deeper because not all Hi-Risers are created equal! There are 3 categories of Hi-Risers: Donks, Boxes and Bubbles! Am I going to fast? I will slow it down for you. And it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take some notes!

Donks: Mid-'70s Impala, Caprice and Monte Carlo or any mid-'70s ride with a sloping tail Mid-'70s, The key to sporting a true Donk is the keep the rear of the car lower that the front. Kind like a “I’m gonna get you” stance. Please note that there is a little confusion on the Donk secne. Some people think that it’s not a slanted stance but that the design of the car has a trunk that slopes down. To keep on the fence I personally consider both of these cars Donks because the slopping truck give it the same look of doing a wheelie, thus Donkified! (don’t use the word “Donkified” on the street…you will be beat up!)


Boxes: Mid-80s Impala, Caprice and Monte Carlo or any mid-80s ride with a boxey rear clip (a square car). This is an easy one to remember because it sounds like what it is. Also note that Boxes can be a Donk by keeping the front higher than the back.

Bubbles: '90s Caprices and Impalas, '90s rides that are rounded on both ends. Once again it sounds like what it is, a rounded off car. This can also be a Donk by following the rules of Donks!


I personally would be very careful if you decide to mod your car into a Hi-Riser because most insurance companies will not insure a car with a modified suspension.



Ok, as Family Pastor I have done my job & you have been educated.

BTW, Jim, I am willing to help you Donk-out your mini-van on your next visit.

The Work Out: Spotter

This is a biggie. Never go to the gym alone, you need to have a spotter. A spotter is someone who knows your boundaries, they are strong enough to help you when you get in too deep and they are the ones who push you when you want to give up. A good spotter will also correct you when you are lifting wrong or endangering yourself. As Christians these people are sometimes called accountability partners. In my opinion every single believer should have one person who holds them accountable, grows with them and helps them preserver in tough times. At the gym you can really get yourself into trouble trying to push more weight than you can handle. But with a spotter, they can help you get the weight back up and keep you safe. After a while you will be able to handle that amount of weight as the new norm! After that you can try even more weight…as long as your spotter 'got your six' (thats "has your back" for those of you who arnt too gangster)!
P.S. don’t forget to “spot your spotter” they need it as much as you do! This is a 2 way street.

By the way…are ya’ll getting this?

good googly moogly

2 blogs in one day...I am exhausted!!!!

another cool Discovery moment

I love being a part of a moving church...no we are not changing locations but we are moving! We went out this morning to help Dr. David Jeremiah with a new ministry that is focused on getting the church outside & actively meeting people’s needs. They had a pastor’s breakfast today and then unloaded a semi truck full of food & stuff to pass out to the needy. We were called in to help unload the truck & load up the pastors cars. We believe we were called to help because they saw our website and know that this is the stuff we do. So we did, not only that but we got 4 pallets of stuff from them to distribute and bless people with. God is awesome!

For my blaug readers you get the pics first but tomorrow I will get them on the website.

The Work Out: Consistency Pays

On to part 3 of “The Work Out” – “The routine”
Ok, we have the diet and the desire. Now we just need the routine. Like our bodies, if we are not constantly working out we see little to no productivity or growth. You see anyone can go to the gym once and a while to do a crazy hard workout but if they don’t do it regularly, they will see little results. It’s the same with many areas of our Christian walk. If we only read the bible, (attend church, pray or do devotions) once every now-n-then; 1) we limit the amount of Gods word in our lives, 2) we forget what we have read or learned and 3) we distance ourselves from God will. A devotion a day will keep the sin away…not really but it will focus your day on God over self. So for the best results practice your spiritual disciplines DAILY!

Side bar, p.s., rabbit trail or whatever you want to call it: What’s with the “only 10 minutes a day for 30 days” crap I keep hearing? These people want us to think that losing weight and getting in shape is easy and fast!!! LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING; it took years of eating junk and sitting in front of TV’s for us to get this fat and out of shape, what on earth makes you think you can clean up your act in any less time? There has to be a self-sacrifice. You have to take in the good stuff and you have to GET UP and do things! Humm, let me think…you could take in Gods word and you could do something like serve or bless someone and don’t forget; Consistency will yield the best results!

The Work Out: Diet First

Ok part two of “The Work Out” – “the diet”
I am amazed at what these people do to get into shape and stay in shape. Although good cardio and weight training is important the biggest part of it is diet. What you put into your body has more effect than what you do with your body. Although I believe this, it is still the hardest part. In both our physical and spiritual lives, the above is true. We constantly crave the stuff that’s not beneficial and sometimes just plain bad for us. Our spirit needs good nutrients. We can get this from Gods word, Prayer and Fellowship. Instead we feast on TV, secular music and worldly friends. These things clog our spirit up with fat that makes it hard for us to do the things God has in store for us. Sure we make an effort but come up short breathed and out of shape. So before we go any farther into this mini series, let’s start off with the Godly Diet. Remember: what goes in…is what comes out!

The work-out

So I was at the gym yesterday for the first time in about 4 weeks! Man everything I did killed me! It was tough, Just 4 weeks ago I was pushing so much more. This got me to thinking about how much this was like our spiritual walk. If we dont stay up on our game we get weaker and cannot handle as much. This is just the first of a little series I will be doing of the gym vs the walk so stay tuned & I will be back. Oh yeah, sorry about the spelling mistakes if there are any.

for those not at Discovery this week

THis is my blog from our Bulletin this Sunday morning:

Friday night I had the opportunity to stand outside of the Apple Store during the launch of their IPhone. There were about 250 people waiting in line for the 6:00pm release. When the doors opened everyone clapped and were cheering. As I watched the
people rushing in I wondered what generated all that hype. Nobody there had even held one, much less played around with it. They all wanted it because they had been told how great it was and they believed it! They had faith in it and its performance! I then wandered why people don't get that excited over God and Jesus. I haven't see lines waiting to get into church. And I wondered what it would take to for people to cheer and clap when the church doors were opened. I don't have the
answers and don't think I am as excited about my savior as much as I should be. But rest assured, long after the Iphone hype dies down (and it will), God will still be saving souls and loving us at maximum performance. And he will need no warrantee or upgrades!

so here are a few phone [not iphone :( ] pictures I took:


This is the first of the waiters, these are the "campers". I hate to tell them that there is enough phones in there for everyone! 2 days later there were still cases full of them left :)


Here are people like me (sadly) watching people wait in line.

THis is the really long line, I guess about 150 people or so.

its not as small as I thought!!!

God is Good!!!

Nothing particular just a reminder! No matter what my actions are, either good or bad, He is still good. I sometimes have trouble with Gods unconditional love. I find my actions are very conditional, if things are all good, its easy to be good and happy but when things get a little bumpy or totally out of hand, I tent to follow suit and falter in my walk.

I am in Tampa…and have a few minutes and free wifi so though a little update would be nice.
We (Sheila & I) visited Kings Avenue this Sunday for second service and I have to say that Pastor Richards message was good and well received. He had a great tie-in to the 4th of July and I cannot say I have seen so much passion form the pulpit in awhile…then again I really don’t get to much big church time being with the kids and all.
Work is good, we got everything done and are looking to help other companies with their workload. We had no calls over the weekend and it was nice and peaceful!
Mom is having her first quiet day alone since Bobby passed away. I will not call her today, she needs this time to stop fighting it and let the “front” down. She is still the strongest woman I have ever known.
Me and my real father are having a few issues and could use your prayers. I think things will be fine but we both need some time. I really haven’t had too much time to reflect on and morn for Bobby due to this situation. It has been distracting at the least.
Sheila is here with me and probably shopping with her mother. She is good and had been SOOOO supportive through all of this. I don’t think I would have been able to handle things without her help. With trips to Tampa, preaching 2 times, Bobby’s passing and issues with my real father, things have been on edge and I have been ready to crack! So Sheila, if you read this…Thanks again!!!

Well that’s all for now, too much blogging may send Jim & Derek into overload!