My office

Here’s the place where I spent a good majority of my time at Bluffton Nazarene; my office.  I did a lot of plotting and planning in here over the years.  I also had a good number of you come and sit in here with me for conversation.  

Well, here are a couple of pics for your viewing pleasure.      

Change

A change is coming!
   

This past Tuesday I tendered my resignation to the Bluffton First Church of the Nazarene.  It was bittersweet.  The Elkhart Northside Church of the Nazarene in Elkhart, IN has extended to us the invitation to come and be their lead pastor and we have accepted it.  You can be sure that much prayer was involved in this decision.  I have been sensing the call to preach for a little over a year now.      

I have been a part of the Bluffton Nazarene family for a little over 10 years.  I have been on staff full-time for a little over 7 years.  It has been a wonderful experience.  I started as youth pastor and 4 ½ years later made the move to discipleship/sr. adult pastor.  Kind of an interesting transition of going from teens to sr. adults.  I did discover that most of the things you can do with teens you can do with sr. adults (dodgeball not being one of them!).  It has been such a fun journey and the Bluffton Church is made up of incredible people!  We have so many good friends that we have made over these years at Bluffton.  We are very excited about their future as a church.  They are a mature bunch and will handle this transition very well.  I feel towards Bluffton the very words Paul penned in his letter to the Thessalonians,

“Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” 

We have shared our lives with Bluffton and it was a great joy.  I want to thank the Bluffton Nazarene Church for their kindness and love over these years.  You have a special place in my heart and will be greatly missed.  

Sermon Prep

I'm going to be preaching the next two weeks.  So, thought I would share a pic of my notes and let you see how I prepare my messages for the delivery.  I've developed a system where I use an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper folded in half with notes on both sides.  Amounts to 4 pages.  I have it formated so I can print both sides and just fold in half like a small booklet.  I can usually fit a whole sermon on the 1 sheet.  I've had a couple of messages that I had to add extra pages to, but try to just have the 1 sheet folded in half.  Most of what I say is on this sheet, but some things like illustrations are just mentioned (they take up a little less space if I just title them and don't write them out).  Anyways, here's a look:

Help With Waiting

I think I might have figured out my blogger troubles.  Anyways, had a post ready to go last week and had trouble getting it to show up.  Well, wanted to share a few things to help you cope with the waiting as you wait.  

1. Prayer

Prayer is a huge help in a time of waiting.  Each time I find myself in a time of waiting I find myself praying.  Waiting has a way of forcing you to call upon the Lord.  Those times can enhance your prayer life if you let them too.  One of the things I’ve learned about myself during times of waiting when I’m praying is that I’m not a good prayer.  I admit I have much to learn.  So, what has helped me learn and grow as a prayer?  The Psalms.  I’ve come to really enjoy praying the psalms.  Psalm 27 is a great psalm to pray.  When you pray the psalms they teach you how to pray.  Their language is rich.  As Jesus was hanging on the cross waiting to die he prayed/called out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  That is a direct quote of Psalm 22.  Jesus prayed the psalms.  Jesus used the psalms as a tool of prayer while He waited.  Use the psalms as prayers.  Commit them to memory.    

2. Stay involved in ministry

We have been commissioned by Jesus to make disciples.  We have something we can be doing right now for the Lord.  I have a sister waiting to adopt a baby.  It’s a difficult time for her and her husband.  They are just waiting and hoping for a phone call.  In the meantime they are staying involved in ministry.  They are staying connected at their church and both have sa ervant’s hearts.  Many times waiting paralyzes us.  All we can do is wait and nothing else.  Have you ever felt like that?  Do you know someone in that type of situation?  I’m glad Paul didn’t allow times of waiting to paralyze him.  While Paul was in prison he wrote and gave us Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.    

3. Know the Holy Spirit is helping you

A part of the fruit of the Spirit is patience.  God knew we would need patience and find ourselves waiting.  Since this is a fruit of the Spirit it means we don’t have to produce it in our lives.  God does!

Blogger will not let me post anymore...thoughts?

Help As You Wait Upon The Lord

The Waiting Game (part 3)

What I meant to say in the last post is that God can use waiting to build character. This is just another example of how God can work good out of a bad situation.I don't think the waiting itself does this and felt I might have miscommunicated that. Sorry! Another way God uses waiting for good is…

2. As a testimony to others of hope in Him

Word Study
The word “wait” used in our psalm can mean to:

- Put hope in, Expect, To be eager, To put trust in

This word “wait” is sometimes used synonymously with the words “trust” and “hope.” To wait is to trust. To wait is to hope. An author I recently read said, “To wait for God is the ultimate expression of trust and hope.”

Example of This
The best example of someone who believed and lived this out is found in the life of our Savior Jesus Christ.

I was thinking of His temptation in the wilderness. He was fasting and Satan came to Him and tempted Him with food. He waited. After seeing that that didn’t work he tempted Him in regards to trust in God. "Throw yourself down" and God will save you. He waited. After that didn’t work he tried offering Him all the kingdoms of the world. What does Jesus do? Jesus waits and places His hope and trust in the Lord.

There was a lady I became close friends with several years ago. She has since gone to be with the Lord after losing her battle with cancer. She was a special and awesome lady! She was a great friend to many. She was so full of hope and trust in the Lord. Even to her last minutes on her deathbed she remained hopeful in the Lord. She had to wait upon the Lord and she did it with happiness and joy. Can you wait upon the Lord like that?

I was also thinking about Jesus in the garden the night before His death. Remember that story? Do you remember Him as He was anxiously waiting? He was in prayer and he was deeply disturbed, but He found strength to pray, “Not my will, but Thine.” Reminds me of the of the song:

Not my will, but Thine; not my will, but Thine;
Not my will, but Thy will be done, Lord, in me.
May Thy Spirit divine fill this being of mine.
Not my will, but Thy will be done, Lord, in me.

That is the testimony of someone waiting upon the Lord. Through all of this Jesus testified to trust in the Father. His disciples saw this just by His waiting upon the Lord in different situations. They learned that God is faithful and can help us in the wait.

So, reminder of 2 ways God uses waiting for good in our lives.

1. God uses waiting to build character

2. God uses waiting as a testimony to others of our hope in Him

The Waiting Game (Part 2)

Hey, it's not Thursday, but I just couldn't wait to post a blog on waiting. ;-)

Despite what you might think, or hear others say, there are good things that happen while we wait. Waiting does a couple of good things in our lives and I want to share with you one of those things to encourage you in the Lord.

First…Waiting Builds Character

David was familiar with waiting. He had to wait on God to sort out all the mishaps and confusion with his rise to kingship. Do you remember his story? A lot of tension existed between him and King Saul. There were times when David had to literally get out of dodge, leave Jerusalem, because his life was in trouble. He had Saul’s men looking for him to kill him. During that very difficult time David learned to wait upon the Lord. David also had opportunity to speed up the waiting process. David could have ended the waiting. In 1 Samuel 24 we read that David, while hidden deep within a cave, had a perfect opportunity to kill King Saul.

Read 1 Samuel 24:1-4

David chose to wait upon the Lord. The waiting process for David built character in his life. It made him a better person. David’s men saw this opportunity as a God-given moment. Remember they said,“This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” But David said to them in verse 6,“The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the LORD.”

Think of the respect David’s men gave him that day because he chose to wait upon the Lord. Would you have been able to do that?

You see I didn’t understand waiting when God first called me into ministry. I was on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic when I answered God’s call to ministry. I didn’t think waiting would be a part of that call. I guess I thought I would answer the call to ministry and have a job preaching the next day. Little did I know that it would be 6 long years before I entered the ministry fulltime. You see God needed to build character in me because I was a character. God used that time to shape and mold me into the man He wanted me to be. He's not done either. I had to wait and I like to think that something good happened because of it.

I believe David became the greatest king Israel ever had because he was described as a man, “after God’s own heart,” but he was also a man who knew how to wait upon the Lord.

I know this is a bit of a re-hash of what I said last week, but I'm stuck on it.

The Waiting Game

Psalm 27:14 reads,

Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

Background
The Psalms in general deal a lot with waiting. Have you caught that as you are reading them? They deal a lot with waiting. Waiting is a theme for a lot of the Psalms. More so than any other book in the Bible. In the NIV you find these verses in the Psalms that talk about waiting on the Lord:

- Psalm 5:3
- Psalm 27:14
- Psalm 33:20
- Psalm 37:7
- Psalm 37:34
- Psalm 40:1
- Psalm 38:15
- Psalm 119:66
- Psalm 130:5
- Psalm 130:6

This is the case with the ones written by David; Israel’s shepherd-king. David was familiar with waiting. He had to wait on God to sort out all the mishaps with his rise to kingship. There was a lot of tension between him and King Saul. There were times when David had to literally get out of dodge, leave Jerusalem, because his life was in trouble. He had Saul’s men looking for him to kill him.

During that very difficult time David learned to wait upon the Lord.

David also had opportunity to speed up the waiting process. David could have ended the waiting. He had a chance, while hidden deep within a cave, to kill King Saul, but he chose to wait upon the Lord.

- Would you have been able to do that?
- How do you feel about waiting upon the Lord?
- How do you handle it?

Another great morning prayer

Another great prayer from the Psalms. This one is Psalm 27 from the ESV translation.

Psalm 27
The LORD Is My Light and My Salvation
Of David.

1The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh,my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.

3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.

4 One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to inquire in his temple.

5For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.

6And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;I will sing and make melody to the LORD.

7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!

8You have said, "Seek my face."My heart says to you,
"Your face, LORD, do I seek."

9 Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!

10For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the LORD will take me in.

11 Teach me your way, O LORD,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.

12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.

13I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living!

14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!

Prayer for Today

A great prayer here.

Psalm 13
For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 How long, LORD?
Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

3 Look on me and answer, LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,

4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6 I will sing the LORD’s praise,
for he has been good to me.

Book Review: A Walk Through The Bible

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Leslie Newbigin’s little book A Walk Through The Bible. This very easy to read book is only 79 pages and can be purchased at The House Studio or other book distributors. I strongly recommend it. I was able to sit down and read through it so quickly that I didn't even have time to add it to my shelfari bookshelf.

This book basically sums up the entire message of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. You are swept through each book of the Bible quickly (some are just mentioned) and given the big idea of each book and how it fits into the rest of the Bible. You get to see the big picture of the Bible. Here are the 8 chapters and what books of the Bible they cover:

1. A Unique Account (Genesis)
2. Chosen By God (Genesis through Deuteronomy)
3. Judges, kings, and prophets (Joshua through 2 Chronicles)
4. Return and Renewal (Ezra through Malachi)
5. God’s Kingdom and Jesus (Gospels and Jesus’ life)
6. Sacrifice (Gospels and death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus)
7. New life, new communities (Acts through Jude)
8. Future revelation (Revelation)

Sometimes we miss the big picture because we focus in on one book or one verse. I thought this book would be excellent Sunday School/Small group material. Every Christian should know the big picture of what the Bible is all about and the story of the Israelites. Why? Because this is our story too. We have been grafted in to this God chosen people and share their history through our faith in Jesus. So, if you want an easy to read big picture of what the Bible is all about read A Walk Through The Bible.

The Great Banquet; Are You Coming?

Just to let you know that all scriptures used on this blog from this point forward unless otherwise noted come from the NIV 2011 (Which is a great revision!).

Luke 14:15-24 is an interesting passage of scripture. Here Jesus tells a parable about a man throwing a huge banquet and inviting many guests who later turn the invitation down due to other important things.

Luke 14:15
After telling those gathered around the dinner table (see 14:1 for context) to invite those to dinner who cannot pay you back, one of the guests says, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” This line allows Jesus to throw out a parable about the feast in the kingdom of God.

Luke 14:16-17
A great banquet is set and guests, it seems, have already been invited. When it comes time for the banquet the host sends out his servant to announce that the banquet is ready.

Luke 14:18-20
At the time of the banquet several of the invited guests find excuses for why they cannot come to the banquet. You could argue that these guests are somewhat wealthy by what they are buying (land and oxen). One has bought land and needs to go and see it. One has bought five yoke of oxen and needs to inspect them. Another has just gotten married. They seem like legitimate excuses, right? Some scholars have said that only the last excuse is legitimate. They say no one would buy a field without first seeing it. No one would buy oxen without first trying them out. So, what’s going on here? Do the guests not want to attend the banquet? Even the marriage excuse is still just an excuse. Marriage could only exempt you from war, not dinner parties.

Luke 14:21-24
The servant returns to tell the master what has happened with his guests. In response the master opens up his fancy dinner party to those who were not originally invited. The master says, “Go out quickly and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” After hearing that there is still more room the master sends his servant out again to the “roads” and “country lanes” to compel more guests to come. A final statement from the master closes this parable, “I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.”

Application
The idea behind this parable is that the salvation Jesus’ coming brings, along with the kingdom of God He is preaching, is a lot like the master who has thrown the great banquet. Isaiah himself describes God’s salvation as a great banquet when he says, “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.” (Is. 25:6)

Unfortunately the leaders of Israel who the banquet was prepared for and who were invited to the banquet have come up with excuses for why they cannot attend. They are going to miss out on God’s salvation because, you could say, they are too busy with life to notice the importance of what is taking place around them.

Ever find yourself guilty of that? Ever wonder what kind of things in our day and age keep us from attending the banquet? What kind of things today so preoccupy us that we miss getting involved in what God is up to? What kind of ministry opportunities at your local church are you turning down week after week because you are too busy with those things? Is it worth it to live in such a way? In the end will you eat at the feast in the kingdom of God or will you be too busy to attend?

Loving our enemies

Just curious as to what you think of Luke 6:27-36 in lieu of this week's events?

Luke 6:27-36 (TNIV)
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Any thoughts?

The Great 50 Days

Finishing a project makes you feel good! I had the responsibility this year of coming up with, writing, and designing a 50 day devotional guide for the Easter season for our local church. I love doing this kind of thing! This is where my heart is. The title, The Great 50 Days, is a name given to the period of time starting Easter Sunday lasting until Pentecost Sunday (50 Days).

This isn’t as much of a devotional book as it is a devotional guide. A devotional book would have more reading and would have taken me way longer to complete. No, this is a devotional guide to direct a person along a certain path. Each day you are asked/directed to read a scripture, to pray in a certain way, and/or fast something. We are attempting to prepare our people’s hearts and minds for Pentecost Sunday.

Well, here’s some pics of my work.

The Guest Room

Well, today is the day the disciples and Jesus celebrated Passover. It also marks the first communion. If you follow Mark’s account (14:12-26) it seems Jesus and His disciples are celebrating an early Passover. Scholars tell us Jews would have observed Passover on Friday. Ben Witherington III suggests the idea of the disciples and Jesus sneaking into the city under the cloak of darkness to celebrate the Passover early. They would have to be somewhat quiet about things if they were doing this meal early. I was also thinking of all the commotion Jesus stirred up by entering Jerusalem and clearing the temple. The religious leaders are chomping at the bit to get at Him. So, if they are celebrating an early Passover they probably don’t want to draw a lot of attention to themselves.

It seems Jesus has set up a place, a “guest room,” (TNIV) to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. To me it seems obvious He has made some pre-arrangements for it (14:13-15). If they are trying to be sneaky about this whole thing, because they are doing it a day early, then the signal Jesus gives to the disciples; “A man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.” makes a bit more sense. This is going to be a very special meal. Passover is a meal about freedom. It was the last meal the Israelites ate before leaving Egypt. It meant God had acted on their behalf and was rescuing them from bondage in Egypt. Their God was showing that He alone is the only true God.

While eating Jesus predicts He’s going to be betrayed by one of the disciples (14:17). Jesus had spent 3 years of His life with Judas and I’m sure He was on to his crooked ways. What’s surprising is that none of the other disciples know its Judas. Their response in verse 19, “Surely not I?” indicates they are more worried about it being themselves than someone else. Judas fooled the disciples but not Jesus.

Somewhere towards the end of the meal, Jesus asks His disciples to eat bread that symbolizes His body and drink wine that symbolizes His blood which will be “poured out for many.” They then top off this new meal by singing a hymn.


Some questions I was thinking about with this passage:

- I wonder what the disciples were thinking as they listened to their teacher talk about what each of the elements meant?

- Did they really understand that Jesus was going to die and give up His life?

- Did they think He would die a heroic death by the sword?

- What were they thinking?

- What do you think they were thinking?

Lenten Prayers

Thought I would share something near and dear to me with you today. For Lent this year I've been using the prayers offered in 3 Simple Rules by Rueben P. Job. At the end of the book they have morning prayers, afternoon prayers, and evening prayers. This has been a great guide for me in prayer. I have found that I need and benefit in my prayer time from structure. The book itslef is a great little book by the way too! A very easy read. This morning I want to share the prayer of invitation from the morning prayers. I encourage you to make it your prayer today. Prayer of Invitation Loving Teacher, come and make your home in our hearts this day. Dwell within us all day long and save us from error or foolish ways. Teach us today to do no harm, to do good, and assist us so that we may stay in loving relationship with You and our neighbor. Help us today to be an answer to another's prayer so that we may be one of Your signs of hope in the world You love. What a great prayer! I've been trying to pray it every morning and really like the part about God saving us from error or foolish ways. I need that! If you think you would benefit from a structured prayer guide this book offers some wonderful guidance.

Rob Bell's Love Wins (Part 2)

Problems

There’s a fog that has descended on our small town this morning. It seems this fog might be a good metaphor for the book I just read called Love Wins by Rob Bell. What’s normally seen clearly by many has been enveloped in a fog. There’s uncertainty all around. The big idea of this book is that God may actually give individuals who reject Him on earth a chance in hell to choose Him. God loves us and wants all people to love Him and this book explores the idea or speculation that God may extend His love to those in hell so that in the end love can win.

One of the problems with this book is that its theory of love winning is based on theological speculation about certain passages in God’s word. One thing to keep in mind is that Rob believes in a hell and never really says he holds to the position he presents in this book, but he still presents it and tries really hard to back it up with scripture and reason.

I thought some of the exegesis done in this book was weak and left much to be desired. It seems Rob breaks down a Greek word that is not the correct Greek word in Matthew 25:46. He says this word can mean a period of time or a time of pruning, but the definitions given for the specific adjective used by Matthew clearly carries with it the idea of something that goes on forever or from everlasting to everlasting. This is how every translation translates this word. So, the question is did the many translators translate it wrong or did Rob translate it wrong? There is no direct evidence in scripture to support the idea of those who didn’t believe in Jesus while on earth getting a second chance in the afterlife or hell. Actually, the evidence seems to point in quite the opposite direction. 2 Peter 3:9 actually says God is patient with us so none will perish. Perish? Perish from what? This doesn’t mean none will perish, but that some will perish and God is doing everything possible to prevent that and He is “not wanting” (the word used in the NRSV) and hoping none will perish. What does that mean? Does it mean some will perish? God couldn’t say that if people didn’t really perish could He?

I have several good friends I meet with on occasion and we dream, speculate would be a better word, about certain things in God’s word and what’s to come. It’s fun and makes for great conversation. We ask things like; did angels really have sex with humans and create a superhuman race (see Gen 6)? Will God allow us to rule over planets in the life to come? How will we travel back and forth from those planets? Could Jesus have gone and died for life on other planets? Will we talk to animals in the New Jerusalem? These are things we talk and wonder about amongst ourselves. While it may make for interesting conversation, it’s not something we go out teaching to others. It’s just theory and guessing. What could we base it upon?

I feel as a pastor I have to be careful not to teach speculation, but truth. I felt as if Rob was trying to teach something based upon speculation. While the idea of everyone eventually coming to Christ is appealing, you just can’t find much scriptural evidence to back up such a thing. You get one life to live and amidst that one life you have to make a decision: will you follow Jesus or reject Him? There's no fog about it.

Any thoughts from those of you who have read the book?

Rob Bell's Love Wins

There are a plethora of good reviews on this book available. I highly recommend Ben Witherington’s reviews here. He’s da bomb when it comes to things like this. However, some of you wanted to know my thoughts on this book and so here they are (part 1 of 2).

I enjoyed reading and thinking about Love Wins by Rob Bell. There’s been so much controversy (I’m sure more is to come too!) swirling around this book that I felt a little naughty just carrying it around. I enjoyed it for several reasons. First, it left the impression on me that God has done something really big in our world through Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead. This was one of the big positives going for this book. Do we truly understand the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection? Individual salvation through Christ is just the beginning of what God has done through Christ for us. There is so much more! Anyways, Rob sees and presents the big picture of what God has done through Christ and it’s great to be reminded of that every once in awhile. Christus Victor!

Second reason I enjoyed reading this book is that it’s good every so often to read a book you may disagree with. I don’t do this nearly as much as I should. If you’ve ever found yourself in a debate, you know that such a challenging time can help solidify and develop your beliefs more fully. You have to really think about what you believe and lay it on the line. If you’re challenged on it, you have to think of why you were challenged on it and why such a challenge is even a challenge in the first place and how to combat such challenges. Jail ministry has really helped develop my faith and solidify what I believe for just such reasons. Those we visit in jail aren’t afraid to ask tough questions that might normally seem off limits in a Sunday School class. That has forced me to be ready in season and out of season to explain what I believe using more than just my personal experiences.

This book has caused me to think about and examine what I really believe about heaven, hell, and the afterlife. Reading it is helping me fully develop and build a foundation for my thoughts about end things (eschatology is the big theological word for this). Another good thing about reading a book like this (a friend just reminded me of this in a recent discussion) is that you find yourself searching and studying the scriptures. So, find a book you know you won’t agree every once in awhile and read it. It will bring growth to your life.

Next week I'll discuss some problems in this book.

Sloth

Well, I've been slothful in my blogging the last couple of weeks. Sorry to the 5 of you who read this weekly. Here's what I've been up to:

- Writing a devotional that starts on Easter Sunday and ends on Pentecost. It's called the Great 50 Days. Don't hope to find it in any bookstores, it's just for our church. It has been a great learning process and a lot of fun. The most time consuming part of it has been the page layout and organization. Too bad I can't just type the thing and send it off to an editor and have them organize it.

- There's some other discipleship things I'm putting together for something our church will be doing down the road. Exciting stuff!

- I just bought Rob Bell's new book Love Wins. Reading it now. I've had several ask me about it and I feel I cannot honestly say much without reading it. So, I ordered it and have begun reading and hope to post on it in the next couple of weeks or so.

- Preaching. Several opportunities have come up recently giving me a chance to preach. As an associate pastor I do not get to do this too often, so I'm really enjoying it.

Well, just an excuse, or update on my slothful blogging habits. Be back next week!