Dog

We got a dog. I am not sure how it happened, but we went out for lunch on Saturday and came home with a dog (We adopted a rescue - we didn't steal one). We couldn't just start with a little cute puppy - we got us a DOG. It's a 3 year old, 60 pound Australian Shepherd. If you need something herded, give us a call. We put a gate on a doorway to keep the dog out of a room, and it jumped over it with no run up. Somebody told us that they will jump on the back of sheep to get to the other side of a herd.

Yeah...we got a DOG.

Would You Be My Neighbor?

I have noticed a few pastor-type blogs lately talking about similar churches that are basically locating right next to each other. Tim has a post about a church that is planting a campus very near Granger. Michael talks about a church that is relocating to the same area that they are in. Greg pointed out that his church is directly across from Prestonwood Baptist, another mega-church in Dallas. I was visiting my friend Rich Butler's church a few weeks ago and was shocked at how close they are to Brookwood Church here in Greenville. They could almost share a parking lot! We are experiencing this at Seacoast Greenville with Newspring Church planting their first campus less than a mile from where we are.

I am not sure what to think about this phenomena yet. I know that this is quite common in the retail world. There is usually a Home Depot directly across the street from a Lowe's. Grocery stores that sell the exact same products are almost always clumped together. I am just not sure if this is the best strategy for life-giving churches that have the same mission and strategy.

Then again, maybe it's a good thing and each church feeds off of the spiritual momentum of the other.

Just something that I am pondering right now. I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts on this.

Home

• Possible ticket from speeding to DFW airport to catch the early flight = $100
• Bad airport sandwich and coke for lunch = $11.23
• Home 6 hours early for family movie night = Priceless :)

Chris Sligh's New Single

My friend and our former worship leader at Seacoast Greenville, Chris Sligh, has just released his first single, "Empty Me", from his upcoming album, "Running Back To You". It is really, really, really good, and you can download it from iTunes here. It was also released to Christian radio this past week.

Chris has been in Nashville for the past 6 months working with famed CCM producer, Brown Bannister, on his debut release with Brash Records. I think people are going to be blown away when they hear the final product on May 6th. On top of being an amazing singer, Chris is a fantastic writer and musician.

Chris is also writing reviews of this year's American Idol at www.ew.com. As you know, Chris does not hold anything back!

Like Me Some Foo

I just caught the Foo Fighters on Letterman tonight. For my money, Dave Grohl is the coolest dude on the planet. NO ONE rocks harder than the Foo.

Numbers

15 - that is how many people we baptized this morning at Seacoast Greenville.
2 - that's how many people were signed up to be baptized.

I really don't have any words for what we experienced this morning. After a great message on why you should be baptized, we opened it up during our response time for anyone who wanted to take that extra step of faith.
We did not have any idea of what to expect.
We thought we were ready with plenty of clothes and towels...we were not.
The last few people had to wear recycled shorts and use already wet towels.
We were still baptizing people after the second service was over.
The sight and sound of people worshiping and cheering at the same time was overwhelming.
I cried - a lot.

Sunday Thoughts

• Not that I ever considered it, but...really glad that we did not cancel church today. We filled up 2 services with people that didn't seem to mind the cold!
• I don't think I saw single piece of ice on the road this morning.
• We kicked off our winter small groups this morning. 19 groups! Every group made cookies to entice/bribe people into their group. Hey, whatever it takes!
• The band was laying down some serious rock today! I had someone ask me after church if the guys in the band came out of our church. Yes, they did. I love that the people on the stage believe in the mission of the church. And they seriously rock my face off every Sunday!
• I'm rooting hard for the Packs to make the Superbowl. That would at least make it an interesting game.
• Jenny's birthday is Tuesday, and she has asked me and the girls to make her cake. I told her that it will not probably be edible, but we'll give it a shot!
  

Church Tomorrow

In case anyone is wondering, we are having church tomorrow. The snow is over and everything should be clear by tomorrow morning. We will have our normal services at 9:30 & 11:15. We are also kicking off our new series "Behind The Man - The Early Years", as well as our winter small groups tomorrow!!!

My First Series

I get a pretty good amount of phone calls and emails from pastor's who would like to know what our experience has been like as a multi-site church plant. What has worked? What would you never do again? What are the differences from a normal church plant? I thought that it might be fun (and potentially time saving) to do a series of posts on this subject. I love blog series now because I have the attention span of a gnat.

So gather up the kids and neighbors for some serious blog fun!

Snow Day!

We woke up this morning to find this white stuff all over our yard. I am not sure what it is, but apparently it is quite dangerous. All of the schools are closed and no one is going anywhere!

Growing Up In The Digital Age

My 4 year old daughter interrupted the bedtime story reading tonight with, "Daddy, can you put it on pause please?"

YouVersion

I posted awhile back about how my daily Bible reading has transitioned to the computer. I hardly ever, except for Sundays, pick up an actual Bible. I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing until the guys at LifeChurch.tv came out with YouVersion.com. This is a great, great tool for online Bible study.

I have never actually read through the Bible in a year. I have started a couple of times and lost it somewhere on the path. This year I am doing it through YouVersion's yearly plan. It also allows you to journal your thoughts as you are reading. That was the one thing that I felt like I was missing with electronic reading. You can also upload videos, pictures, mp3's...all to enhance the passage you just read. That's pretty sweet.

You can start your yearly plan by clicking here.

David Crowder Band

I just got back from my first David Crowder Band concert. A few observations of the show:

• I haven't sat on a pew in church in a LONG time. Luckily, we stood most of the time. :)
• The opening band was not very good. I guess that can be a good thing?
• We are getting old. Jenny and I used to be cool (at least we thought so).
• David Crowder was great! Anyone that can play a lime green keytar and a Guitar Hero guitar in one set, is my hero.
• The lighting was fantastic. They used the moving lights to enhance the worship, not distract from it.
• Video consisted of one screen with white letters over a black background. Surprisingly minimalist compared to the lighting. The projector didn't even fill the whole screen.
• The guy is a great performer, as well as a worshiper. He proves that you can do both in the right setting.
• We snuck out during the youth pastor's talk for some "Shrimp On The Barbie" at Outback. Totally worth it. :)
  

Christian Radio

One thing that I will never get is: churches that advertise on Christian radio. Who are you going after?!? I have yet to meet a seeker who's first step was to turn on some Christian rock. Just a thought...

On a positive note, Greenville has a great new Christian radio station at 96.7. I think it was formerly The Buzzard? I am not a huge Christian radio fan, but these guys are playing some good music (Switchfoot, Lifehouse, Reliant K...). Check 'em out if you're in your car today.

Thoughts

• The energy in the room today was amazing at both services. It feels great to back to the normal schedule!
• Our special guest this weekend was Jim Caviezel, the guy who was Jesus in The Passion Of The Christ. This guy is the real deal. He doesn't hide from his convictions and faith.
• It takes a big man to take a part that will absolutely kill your career in Hollywood, and count it as gain for the cause of Christ. Wow.
• Great, great crowd today, and most of the college students come back next Sunday!
• We are going to spend the next year in the book of Luke. I love that we are going to dig in like that.
• We got a Wii for Christmas. My 4 year old slaughters me in bowling. She now wants to be a professional bowler when she grows up. I think that she has a real chance.
• I can't stop playing the Wii.
• No seriously, I am playing tennis with one hand while typing with the other.
• We're going to lay out the vision for Seacoast this Sunday. My favorite Sunday of the year.
• Jim Caviezel is tall. Or maybe my brother Greg is really short...
• Love the holidays, but I am glad they are over. Christmas tree is still up though. My daughter thinks that we should leave it up and just change the decorations for the different holidays...hearts for Valentine's day, flags on July 4th, overdue books for National Library Week...I like it.
• I have a need, a need for more Wii.