Heading back to Greensprings Friday

Somehow we let the teens talk us into going back to Greensprings.
So Friday if you are off work please join us for some fun swinging, diving and swiming. We leave our house at 9:00 am and return around 3:00 pm

here are some photoshopped pics from last time:

Numbers, one years worth.

Attendance 07/27/08 was 129 and offering was $2463.19
We had 12 first timers! I love first timers... but I really love 2nd timers!!!

Attendance 07/20/08 was 168 and offering was $3828.36
Attendance 07/13/08 was 150 and offering was $4663.00
Attendance 07/06/08 was 138 and offering was $3103.67
Attendance 06/29/08 was 121 and offering was $3155.00
Attendance 06/22/08 was 138 and offering was $5557.02
Attendance 06/15/08 was 110 and offering was $4973.00
Attendance 06/08/08 was 135 and offering was $2668.00
Attendance 06/01/08 was 136 and offering was $7428.00
Attendance 05/25/08 was 116 and offering was $1160.00
Attendance 05/18/08 was 138 and offering was $4825.35
Attendance 05/11/08 was 133 and offering was $1699.00
Attendance 05/04/08 was 180 and offering was $7937.00
Attendance 04/27/08 was 185 and offering was $4609.00
Attendance 04/20/08 was 172 and offering was $3695.56
Attendance 04/13/08 was 178 and offering was $3571.89
Attendance 04/06/08 was 190 and offering was $9273.88
Attendance 03/30/08 was 184 and offering was $3891.26
Attendance 03/23/08 was 210 and offering was $5219.00
Attendance 03/16/08 was 163 and offering was $3862.23
Attendance 03/09/08 was 140 and offering was $2694.31
Attendance 03/02/08 was 190 and offering was $7505.75
Attendance 02/24/08 was 199 and offering was $3223.10
Attendance 02/17/08 was 182 and offering was $3452.76
Attendance 02/10/08 was 205 and offering was $2702.00
Attendance 02/03/08 was 190 and offering was $7186.00
Attendance 01/28/08 was 163 and offering was $5461.50
Attendance 01/20/08 was 160 and offering was $2110.88
Attendance 01/13/08 was 206 and offering was $2229.00
Attendance 01/06/08 was 162 and offering was $4096.69
Attendance 12/30/07 was 156 and offering was $5610.70
Attendance 12/23/07 was 145 and offering was $3553.00
Attendance 12/16/07 was 132 and offering was $3213.00
Attendance 12/09/07 was 166 and offering was $3522.00
Attendance 12/02/07 was 153 and offering was $3879.00
Attendance 11/25/07 was 124 and offering was $1215.00
Attendance 11/18/07 was 189 and offering was $3906.00
Attendance 11/11/07 was 169 and offering was $2613.00
Attendance 11/04/07 was 145 and offering was $3459.70
Attendance 10/28/07 was 166 and offering was $2234.00
Attendance 10/21/07 was 126 and offering was $1295.00
Attendance 10/14/07 was 95 and offering was $1015.00
Attendance 10/07/07 was 156 and offering was $4523.07
Attendance 09/30/07 was 140 and offering was $2951.06
Attendance 09/23/07 was 159 and offering was $1612.00
Attendance 09/17/07 was 177 and offering was $4547.73
Attendance 09/09/07 was 163 and offering was $1822.30
Attendance 09/02/07 was 138 and offering was $3394.45
Attendance 08/26/07 was 199 and offering was $4596.00
Attendance 08/19/07 was 127 and offering was $2747.46
Attendance 08/12/07 was 132 and offering was $3945.00
Attendance 08/05/07 was 107 and offering was $2971.71
Attendance 07/29/07 was 132 and offering was $1998.00
Attendance 07/22/07 was 137 and offering was $2557.82

Claude pretending this is twitter

We are riding out to see Davey and Janelle one last time before we head home. We plan on driving through the night but may stop at a hotel in route.

See you in 12+ hours

Down here in the Sunshine state

We are getting wet allot! I don't get it. It rains every day! Anyhow, We spent Wednesday riding around seeing our Brandon Fl. Friends. We stopped by our old church (Kings Avenue) to say hello to them. Most of the staff was at a ball game so we missed them (or did they miss us?). Then we started house jumping. We didn't get to everyone (sorry, we do miss you) but we saw about 3 families from "back home". Sheila and I got to eat at one of our favorite restaurants and it was good. While it is nice to be back down here, It is defiantly NOT home. I miss my small group, my animals and especially my BED.

We will see you guys at set-up on Saturday night!

In staff meeting from 700 miles away!

And I am blogging! We got iChat logged in and the webcams running. 

Jason looks dazed and confused.

Off to Florida

We are heading out in a few minutes to meet up with Davey and Janelle. In the morning we are leading a 3 car convoy to Tampa, the Kolks new home. Now I don't know how these little towners are going to do in big ol Tampa but I made it ok. Remember, I am from New Bern. For all my Florida peeps, look in on them. I really don't know if we should pray for the Kolks or pray for Tampa!!!

Hey Davey, get ready for 6 lanes of traffic on your side of the road!!!

We will blog from Tampa... maybe :)


BTW, 300 post as of this one, I can believe I wasted my 300th on DAVEY!!!!!!!!!!

Vegetarians skip this post!

So we are heading to Tampa tomorrow night and today I looked in the fridge and saw some ribs thawed out. Well we can just leave them for a week! So while I was at set-up, Sheila was packing and getting the house ready for us to be gone, She also became the best wife on the planet by throwing the ribs on the grill to slow cook! So when I got home I was met by a rack of ribs that fell off the bone! Let me tell you, I have NEVER been more in love with Sheila! They were great, and I got some left for breakfast!!!

Set-up ROCKED tonight!

We had over 20 people at it. You guys really stepped up and made set-up a blast. We were pretty much done in under one and a half hours.
For the non Discovery Church readers out there: We are a portable church meeting at the local Boys & Girls club. Weekly we transform that place into a church. We meet at 6:00 pm and set up a ton of stuff (over 18 carts of stuff) and are usually there setting up till way after 9:00. But tonight we were pretty much done by 7:30!

Thanks to everyone who helped and forgive us for not being more organized. We are not used to that many people. I dream of the day when we have shifts doing it and the pastors don't even have to be there. We are getting close to that point but we still need a little more help.

Here is a stop motion of one of our main area set-ups

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU ALL!!!!

40th day (nobody reads long blogs!)

Today is my 40th day on an internet fast.
What: No internet (work ONLY)
When: the last 40 days (5/10 - 6/19)
Why: it is/was distracting, it is/was an idol (see day 8), I needed to get into God’s Word
How was it: Great, in every way. I pray that I NEVER return to “that guy” Heck I don’t want to stay “this guy”

I was the guy that would sit down at my iMac and go straight to my tech sites, my news sites, a few blogs, ebay, craigslist, youtube, newegg, apple, and more, I am sure. Then through out the day I would return to check for updates. I would bet that I hit Gizmodo 20 times a day on most days. But I would go several days a week, if not all week, without reading my Bible unless it was for work. When you are in ministry, it is easy to neglect personal growth. Sure we get fed working up sermons and messages or lessons but God wants US to do it for US. This was/is NOT good. Reading the Bible on my own was happening (sometimes) but it was a choir that “needed” to be done. Not something I wanted or craved. And I should crave it. God, our creator, savior and the one we get to spend eternity with gave us His word so we can better know him. How did we ever get to this complacent place of the Bible being more of a decoration on a coffee table than a source to MORE GOD in our lives.

So by a challenge from one of my accountability partners, I put off the internet for ALL personal use. I decided after about 6 days that others have a problem with this and were encouraged. So I started blogging about it. Now I know that I should fast in private but this was not ordinary fast. This was more of an “eye gouging out” thing than a fast. The internet has become a major distraction for me. I spent more time online than in His presence. I even talked more about the internet than I did about God. I sure can point you to some cool youtube videos but I wasn’t pointing many people to God. Matt 12:34b “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” and Luke 6:45 “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”. This 40 days was a refocus and refilling of my heart. Empty out the junk and refill with the good: God, His Word and His Way. My prayer is that my mouth starts spilling out God’s word and even His power to change lives.

So I fasted, I prayed, and I read allot. God truly blessed this time especially in my reading. I desired to get back to my Bible. I read it with more focus than I have had in ages. I just could not get enough of it. And Its words have been on my mind and in my heart. I consider myself to be a poor reader. But during this 40 days I have read completely through the New Testament. My daily reading had me in John so I started from there and went through. Not just reading but studying and researching things I wasn’t sure about. I am now back in John and (like Nascar) going around again but now I will be picking up some Old Testament. I am feeling Job. I am not proud of me but am amazed at HIM (God) and the way he is moving in my life right now.

I want more, I want to find the days to be to short to read all I want to read, I want my past-time to be God. I want His words embedded in me. When people hear me, I pray they know what is in my heart and that it is Jesus. I want conviction in my life. I want others to feel what I am feeling and more!

I am not just going back to my “net ways”. With God’s help, I am going to keep away from useless sites that breed greed, lust, filth, coarseness, waist and distract me from a Savior who has something SO much better in store for my life, He died for more! I am short-changing His sacrifice for me. So pray for me, Pray for the internet and the control it has on people, and pray for God to move in all of our lives!

Teens to Kings

Dominion that is.

Tuesday we took a little road trip with the youth group to Kings Dominion in Va. I am not a theme park kinda guy but everyone else was. We had a convoy of 2 vans, and suv and a car all full of teens and a few wanna-be grown ups.

We had a blast! That place has a ton of rides (all of which I avoided). Sheila got on her first roller coster in several years and she became a kid again. Here are a few shots of the park:

We made it in a one day trip, next time I say we stay overnight in a local church or hotel. Thanks to all the drivers and to the Hansons who loaned us a van that has AC!!!!

I think I can, I think I can

Our van has seen better days but is still going. As you can see below we recently hit the 190,000 mile mark. I am encouraged by a friend who has squeezed 300,00 out of a truck. And I trust that God will keep us from a car payment.

We have been SO blessed with this van, it is a trooper and we have had very little (major) problems with it. Oh yeah we have had a ton of little stuff go wrong but nothing that sent us walking down the interstate! We have never had to be towed and this baby always gets us home.

here is a list of the little things that we fight even today:
Hubcaps: my rims chunk them off as soon as they can. They like to be seen in the buff! Too often I have seen my hubcaps pass me on the road only to leave my lug-nuts exposed!

Door locks: and unlocks and locks and unlocks all by themselves... never ever leave the keys in the car unless the windows are down.

AC: yeah bout that, it's 260, 2 windows down at 60 mph and pray that it doesn't rain on a hot day!!!

Pop out rear windows: the laches are being replaced by tie straps cause... they keep breaking and at $60 a piece vs $0.04 for a tie strap: the teens in the back will get over it (until we reach 60 mph!)

Engine mount: still cost to much to replace and I like the "clunk" when we take off.

Windshield washer: it shoots off to the side, about 10' to the side, it's a great weapon so DON'T pull up on my left with your window down cause I'm gonna spray you!

Window tint: more like "window blinds" because its rolling up. I don't get it, you can see through widow tint but not the glue when you remove the tint! Ah visibility is way overrated.

Trailer hitch: lost key and it sticks out about 18". I now have really tough shins, and so does Sheila!


I see us driving this van to the ground and finally seeing it's dead body hauled away to be parted and scrapped, But not for many more years, God willing.


P.S. I am going to tampa next week and plan on hitting a scrap yard for a few parts so wish me happy hunting :)

Just say no to interest! Just say no to car payments!

In the words of Forest Gump...

"Something bit me"

One of our wonderful teens bit me! I didn't do anything to deserve this kind of treatment! She just attacked me like some kinda wild dog trying to get a bone! I think she needs to get a collar and tags so we will all know she is up to date with her shots!!!

I just gotta:
"who let the dogs out? whoof...whoof, whoof!!"

two types

During my little fast I have found two types of people. The first is supportive. They encourage me and tell me they are proud and some even have started a fast of their own. One of my teens has given up Myspace! Thats huge! These people I find easy to be around. They are helping me more than they know.

The other type is a different story. They are almost discouraging. They at like they are my Fast Police and are trying to catch me or accuse me of breaking my fast. I found myself actually getting upset. I am sure that it is out of humor that they act and I am sure that in other situations, I may do the same thing. So I give them permission to blog about me when I do it to them. But know this, it is not an encouragement. I am sorry if and when I do this to others (and I am sure I do it). So if and when I fall, don't take joy in it but help me back up and dust me off. I will try to do the same for you.

Now for those who think I am doing good, please don’t! I have sepnt way more time on a God fast than I ever have fasting FOR God. I don’t think my measly 40 days will even make a dent in my neglect for my creator and savior. I claim He is the most important thing in my life but way to often I find myself worshipping ME, Serving ME and building Me up. God said he is the “I AM” but I like to try to be the i am way too often.

The youth lock in!

ok, we may have had the most fun on the planet at this weekends lock in. We invited Wilson Communities youth to join us for a sleepover and a trip to green springs.

At the lock in we started with some pizza and free time. The most awesome band interrupted the free time for some crazy good music. Then we had a guest speaker come and challenge us to live a little more for God and a little less for ourselves. After all that came the gross stuff, a six foot wheel of dare that had the teens licking, cramming and eating everything imaginable. Turns out Ella likes her feet licked (don't ask)!! Next was an interesting bobbing event that I cannot and should not mention on this blog. Then a game of marker freeze tag where we had white tee shirts and 4 teams with different colored markers. We played different games until about 2am! After BED TIME Wilson Community proceeded to beat the tar out of each other until about 3am (this was great entertainment for Discovery teens!)

The next day was a trip to Green Springs swimming hole. Where most of the Wilson crew launched off of the fifth level (about 45' off the water). While they were great at jumping, their swinging skills could use some refining.

At noon we fired up the grill and cooked hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone out there. We counted about 40 people that were NOT with us that we feed.


I think I can speak for all the teens and adults in saying... WE HAD A BLAST!!! Can't wait for next year.

www.34 days.com

Thirty four days without the world wide web. I will admit that the last few days have been so busy that my Bible reading is down, I still got into it every day but not nearly enough. I am left hungry. Have you ever went too long without food then bedtime comes and you just go to bed without eatting. Well thats how I felt Friday and Saturday.

We had a youth lock in (pictures coming) and we had so much stuff to do, I didn't get enough vitamin G (G=God). I got some, just not enough. I don't like being under nourished. It's time to visit the buffet.

For those who don't know, I feel I should continue my fast for (at least) 40 days. The number 40 seems to work pretty well in the Bible so who am I to oppose. So Pray for me because I W A N T M O R E of God, I want more of His word, I want more of His nourishment. I got some... But I W A N T M O R E. And thats a gluttony I am ok with.

Ella's B-day

Our Worship pastor will be celebrating his little girls 1st b-day really soon. I have the honor of housing the grandparents. So all year long people have been saying Ella looks like dad, I thought she looked like mom but now that she is one year old, I am starting to see more of Randy in her. Tell me if you can see it too?

www.29 days.com (stop going there, it's not a site)

So I am still rolling with this net fast. 29 days and I am loving it. I feel guilty about it because I should be "hungry" or have some great feeling of sacrifice. But I don't, I have spent time with God and that has been fulfilling for me. Sure I miss my sites and the power of a good google search but I am not at all miserable.

I think that we are kinda like a jar or container that holds a certain amount. We chose to fill ourselves with junk. When we remove that junk, it is important to fill that new found space with something good. Jesus tells the story of the demon driven out and the house left empty, then 7 more demons came into it. We need to be full but of what? certainly not demons or sin or wasteful junk but of God and his word.

Daily alarm

A week or so ago I set a 12:00 pm alarm to go off on my cell phone. When it goes off (everyday) I use it as a reminder of God, that He loves me, He sent Jesus and Jesus died for me.
Does this sound silly? weak? Well I to often forget God and His love for me. I get caught up in my own world and need an alarm to sound because when I take control, I mess up!

Well today at 11:30 I got a little to much Claude going on and got upset. When I felt my phone buzz, I knew what it was... My alarm. reaching for it I had every intention of "dismissing" it. When I was about to push the button I thought about what the alarm was for and hit "snooze for 5 minutes" instead. I thought about God and how he felt about my anger. I thought about Jesus on the cross for sins like my selfishness. It took 3 more snoozes to calm me down but on each one, I fell a little more in love with God and a little less in love with me (after all, I'm not that great)

So set an alarm or get some kind of reminder that you should never forget what our creator did/does for us!!!

www.24 days.com (still not a link)

Today will be 24 days of my net fast. Other than a few seconds to accept a facebook person I haven't done anything on the world wide web. Remember: I am allowed to blog, read your blogs, email and chat. My fast is to avoid "browsing" and to use that new found time to reflect on God, Jesus and His word. I am lovin' it. I will admit to being a little out of the loop, here let me explain: I don't know what's new in the tech world, I don't know what's up with the iPhone 2, I don't know what my favorite Ebay sellers are selling, I have no idea what up for sale on craigslist in our area (or any area for that matter), I have not idea why people are talking about Charlie being bit on youtube and I don't know what all those links are in your group emails to me.

I do know a little more about God through His word. I do think about him a ton more than I used to. I have been praying a lot (not longer but more often). I know that I am not burning to spend money on some new "must have" tech toy or car part. You all following me on youversion see that I am in 1 peter, well at the beginning of this fast I started in Acts! I don't think I have missed a day of reading yet. I crave it. I pray this desire NEVER stops but GROWS.

I AM NOT boasting in myself but the POWER of GOD to sustain me. I am nothing without Him. God is enough! I pray He stays that way with me and gets that way for you!


I will end this now because you guys don't comment on LONG blogs and I need your comments!