KISS / OZZY

Against my parents' wishes, I grew up listening to some great Rock music. 2 of my favorites from back in the day (and I still love these rock tones) were KISS and OZZY.





Being a guitar player, I was totally drawn to the sounds of Ace Frehley and Randy Rhoads. During high school and early adulthood, I limited my music intake primarily to Christian artists. Today I drink in quite a variety of musical flavors. I try to stay conscious about what I'm filling my mind with, so the majority of what I listen to is either praising/promoting Jesus, or at least clean positive messages. There are a bunch of great artists that I feel are appropriate... maybe I'll blog some soon.

Back to the KISS / OZZY stuff. Some of the best ear candy I've ever heard are songs from back then:
KISS: I Want You, Detroit Rock City, Shout It Out Loud
OZZY: I Don't Know, Crazy Train, Flyin' High Again

What did you grow up listening to?

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action.

Shootin

What should the guys do when the girls are gone shopping? Shoot stuff! I've been having a lot of fun the past few days with Dawson and Griffin and the Crossman Powermaster 760. We've been talking about how to safely handle a gun, and some basics about shooting. One of these days, I'm going to take the guys to the gun range with one of my police buddies.... They'll love shooting the "big" guns....









Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Read Your Own Blog

I wonder how many who blog go back and read some of what they have posted. I went on a trip through some of my old posts in my blog and was reminded of some good times, some tough times, some promises I've made, and some great stories/experiences.

On another note, Twitter has become my friend. I'm amazed sometimes at some of the people who start following me.... and I wonder how they came in contact with me to start following..... A pastor from out west started following me recently. As I looked through some of the people he follows, I had to laugh... some of these people have twitter names that are "Christianese." Here are a few just for fun:

godsgeneration
Christs_punk
pressingin
diazministry
Romans8vs32
Eph2eighttoten
gotgodsgrace
JesusLantern
Acts29News

I'm sure these people are wonderful people.... and they probably have great life stories... Just my thought... Jesus was a real dude, a man's man... he hung out with some rough characters (on purpose) and impacted lives everywhere He went. I want to be like that.... I'm not interested in being part of a Christian-only social club (some churches are designed to be just that).

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

You Want To Date My Daughter?

Bob read this list Sunday and I was ROFL!!

10 Simple Rules For Dating My Daughter

Rule 1: If you pull into my driveway and honk you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure not picking anything up.

Rule 2: You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will remove them.

Rule 3: I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don't take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots. Still, I want to be fair and open minded about this issue, so I propose this compromise: You may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes too big, and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact, come off during the course of your date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten your trousers securely in place to your waist.

Rule 4: I'm sure you've been told that in today's world, sex without utilizing a "barrier method" of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate, when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.

Rule 5: It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is "early."

Rule 6: I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry.

Rule 7: As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process that can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don't you do something useful, like changing the oil in my car?

Rule 8:The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there are no parents, policemen, or nuns within eyesight. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka - zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided; movies which features chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay. Old folks homes are better.

Rule 9: Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a potbellied, balding, middle-aged, dimwitted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the house. Do not trifle with me.

Rule 10: Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper coming in over a rice paddy near Hanoi. When my Agent Orange starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit your car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car - there is no need for you to come inside. The camouflaged face at the window is mine.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action

Dreamin

I have some really nice guitars... But, I would love to have a Paul Reed Smith some day.



I currently have:

G&L ASAT

G&L Skyhawk

Yamaha AEX Semi Hollowbody

Gibson Les Paul Studio

Taylor 314 CE



This is a great arsenal... but I'm still dreamin.....




Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Driven Leaders

Uhhhh.... Not sure what to say about this..... These are the people who LEAD the youth at LifePoint Church......

OK, actually, they have been doing the What Not To Wear series and goin' Whole Nutha Level! These people freakin' ROCK and they love God and our kids so much that they'll do whatever it takes to connect the kids with God! I Love it!!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Doin' Life Big!

Hey... Let me admit that I suck at Blogging! It's pretty sad when I can't find time to blog.... and then, Bob preaches a whole sermon to the LifePoint gang just to beat me up for being too busy! OK, I can't back that up. I think Bob simply realizes that people stretch themselves too thin and don't leave any margin between their load and their limits.... and he is trying to steer us to a happier, healthier life. Thanks Bob!

OK, other stuff: Ashli is playing volleyball for GCHS now... Sweet! (Although she injured her elbow in a soccer game and is out of sports for 3 weeks...) Haley is totally in Heaven because football, baseball, and NASCAR are ALL in season right now. Vange is happy because all of her shows are starting back up... gotta admit, I dig Criminal Minds and House! My boys are both bike riding / football throwing / baseball hitting fools! Also, they are totally into reading Bible stories every night... and Dawson has to read the verses that backup the story from HIS Bible... Cool! Daisy, well, she is one of the best dogs in the world (Golden Retriever... go figure) and her new place to chill is the loveseat... Vange is thrilled (NOT). LifePoint.... look, if you can't connect with God at LifePoint, please have someone take you to the ER to check your pulse!!!! That place is freakin amazing! (not perfect, but amazing)

Last note, some LifePoint "Wild Hogs" took an all day motorcycle ride to Union City, TN and back on Saturday.... very cool!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

LifePoint Bash

I'm AMAZED! Yesterday Lifepoint had a End Of Summer Bash at a local park. About the time it was supposed to start, the heavens OPENED UP! It was raining cats, dogs, and various small farm animals! Too late.... Steve, Scott, and John already had the grill rockin'..... and Dan was DELEGATING! Listen, LifePoint people were looking to party.... and we did. About 110 people came out and ate some GREAT food, played in the rain, and just hung out as a big family! I met a couple of people.... Randy was hangin' with Michelle, Brittany was hangin' with Dan, and Vange was the HOT chick I sweet talked into going home with me!!!! (She happens to be my wife and the mother of my 4 amazing kids... muddy, but amazing kids!) Kyle proved that he was workin' hard early... he was the wetest from carrying stuff in the rain (is 'wetest' a word?) Hey LifePointers... you people are my BIG O Family..... and I love hanging out with you.

Short sports update... the Aaron Meyer/Doug James Kickball Team OWNED the Steve Walton/Whitney Klee kickball team.... Just sayin!

A quick serious note: I have some friends that I have not seen in a while who could use a Big God Hug in life... please keep them in prayer.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Not Dead

For the 9 people who actually check this blog.... I am not dead.... I have simply overextended my time commitments and I'm having a hard time getting to the blog world..... I'm trying to dump some pictures of Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard... Haley and I went - it was AWESOME! We were there proudly wearing our Jimmie Johnson shirts and hats... And Jimmie took the checkered flag... what a day!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Lessons from Country Music

Hey listen... Life is swinging a mean bat these days... A LOT of people, some I'm close to some I barely know, are struggling with real life stuff. I'm watching Revolution Church pick up, dust off, and move forward.... I see comments in the LifePoint Youth blog about our kids realizing that other kids in the world have NOTHING!.. and how our kids plan to react and change the world.... I'm seeing friends of mine going through tough career decisions after losing their jobs.... I'm watching my mom's body wither away from Parkinson's MSA as she sits unable to do ANYTHING for herself... including talk... I get to serve with some incredible people at LifePoint Church as we try to balance our time between family, work, God stuff, fun, etc....

Ahhh yes..... TIME! I heard a song by Tim McGraw the other day... I've heard it a few time before... but this time it GRABBED me! Let me set the stage.... My wife and girls were gone this week, so it was just me and my boys - Dawson (6) and Griffin (5). I not only had to try to keep up with my normal schedule, but I needed to pay some extra attention to the boys this week. So, I made a few decisions... I mowed some lawn clients a couple days early, I took 2 days off from AT&T to hang out with them, I handed the worship set responsibility for this week to Brandon, and I let some of the other needed things wait. OK, back to the song... here is verse 2 from Tim McGraw's Grown Men Don't Cry:

Keep having this dream about my old man
I'm 10 years old, and he's holding my hand
We're talkin' on the front porch watchin' the sun go down
But it was just a dream
He was a slave to his job and he couldn't be around
So many things I wanna say to him
But I just placed a rose on his grave, and I talk to the wind

Bob has preached several times about time and having balance and priorities lined up. Here is the deal... I am AT the tipping point now... I stand in the ring with my gloves on in the fight of my life... and time just took the gloves off... Oh SNAP! So what is the next step? Tonight I will do what needs to done (for church, for work, for pleasure...) AFTER I spend some QUALITY time with my boys.


Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not make your children angry, but raise them with the training and teaching of the Lord.

To raise them I must spend time with them.... to teach and train them I must be REAL and ACCESSIBLE. Come hell or high water, I'm going to do it right!!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Guys week

Today we kicked the girls out of the house for a week... Actually they went to camp... Me and the boys went to the pool. Dawson is Diving and flipping off the diving board. Griffin was a mad man going down the slide and off the diving board... AND he gave up his arm floaties!!! Here are a few pics...





Had a blast today... tomorrow we are getting TATOOS! Even Daisy (our Golden Retriever) is getting a tatoo... she wants a CAT!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Darn It Crap!

When my 5 year old son, Griffin, gets mad or hurt, his favorite phrase is Darn It Crap! Today, I'm having one of those Darn It Crap moments. A pastor in Canton, GA resigned from leading Revolution Church Sunday. Gary Lamb stepped down because of an affair he had with his assistant. That SUCKS! While I'm still very fond of Gary and how God has used him to challenge me, my attention and prayer right now is leaning toward DeAnna, his wife, and their kids. There is a LOT of hurt and betrayal they are dealing with.

Let's be honest, we all sin, and in marriage we sometimes treat our spouse inappropriately. My prayer is that God does a beautiful healing in the Lamb family and that they once again are a potent force in causing people to turn toward Christ!

Live loud, live intentional, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Driving

I recently took my 14 year old daughter, Ashli, out for her 2nd driving lesson. Her 1st lesson was in a large empty parking lot with me sitting on the center console of the Suburban ready to take control if needed.... after all, she was brand new to this experience. She did so well the 1st time, that I decided to give her a bit more freedom and responsibility during round 2. This time, I sat in the passenger seat and we actually went on a back road... She had to navigate actual road signs and a few other cars. She did really well! I was very proud. Here is Ashli' Twitter following her drive:

went for a driving lesson with my dad. there is just something cool about controling a suburban:)

So, is she ready to jump in the Suburban and drive up to the church? No. She will need much more guidance and practice... more understanding of the rules of the road.... and more chances to apply them. She has started her journey, and it's a journey that never ends. Driving is a living, breathing animal. There is always something new to learn, road construction / detours and potholes to deal with, newly discovered roads, different passengers to share the ride with.... It goes on and on...

So let me ask you something.... When a person decides to cross the line of faith and say yes to Jesus for the first time, how quickly do we expect them to "drive" all by themselves? I grew up in a church culture that believed once you say yes to Jesus and show up at church a time or two, all of your external behaviors need to have changed to align with God principles. In fact, if you still were dealing with a habit or some element of your lifestyle that was not very "Christian" then you must have been faking it and did not really give your heart to Jesus. That's a bunch of... um, let's see..... how can I put this... CRAP!

Listen, the very 1st message that Bob spoke as the Lead Pastor at LifePoint dealt with the idea we are not really concerned with how close to or far away you are from Jesus you are... what is important is your direction of travel... be moving TOWARD Jesus, not away from Him. When you decide to say yes to Jesus, don't get in a hurry to "drive" all alone too far too fast. Be a "passenger" some, learn the "roads" from others and from checking out God's "Rules Of The Road" (yes, I'm talking about the Bible), "drive" with someone else for a while.... and be excited about this new stage in life cuz it is very cool!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Now

One of the smartest people I know is my Dad. I've learned a LOT from him over the years... and have watched him model integrity like nobody else. Something we talked about a lot as I was growing up was how people wait until a funeral to give someone flowers....




So, we spend time "rubbing elbows" with people and just going on with our happy lives, all the while we selfishly CHOOSE to refrain from INVESTING in the relationship with some simple effort. My Dad's phrase was "Give people flowers while they are still living." Say what? Look, it's this simple.... Take time NOW to tell/show the special people in your life what they mean to you... while it will still make them smile. Hey LifePointers, does that sound something like LOVE GOD - LOVE PEOPLE?

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Freakin Hero

Doing the right thing when people spit in your face for it is tough! So many of our military people do it so often... they deserve so much more respect (and pay) than they get. Check out this story...

This is an Airman's response to Cindy Williams' editorial piece in the Washington Times about MILITARY PAY, it should be printed in all newspapers across America.

On Nov. 12, Ms Cindy Williams (from Laverne and Shirley TV show) wrote a piece for the Washington Times, denouncing the pay raise(s) coming service members' way this year -- citing that the stated 13% wage was more than they deserve.

A young airman from Hill AFB responds to her article.

He ought to get a bonus for this.

"Ms Williams:

I just had the pleasure of reading your column, "Our GIs earn enough" and I am a bit confused. Frankly, I'm wondering where this vaunted overpayment is going, because as far as I can tell, it disappears every month between DFAS (The Defense Finance and Accounting Service)and my bank account.

Checking my latest earnings statement I see that I make $1,117.80 before taxes. After taxes, I take home $874.20. When I run that through the calculator, I come up with an annual salary of $13,413.60 before taxes, and $10,490.40, after.

I work in the Air Force Network Control Center where I am part of the team responsible for a 5,000 host computer network I am involved with infrastructure segments, specifically with Cisco Systems equipment. A quick check under jobs for Network Technicians in the Washington D.C. area reveals a position in my career field, requiring three years experience with my job. Amazingly, this job does NOT pay $13,413.60 a year. No, this job is being offered at $70,000 to $80,000 per annum...

I'm sure you can draw the obvious conclusions.

Given the tenor of your column, I would assume that you NEVER had the pleasure of serving your country in her armed forces.

Before you take it upon yourself to once more castigate congressional and DOD leadership for attempting to get the families in the military's lowest pay brackets off of WIC and food stamps, I suggest that you join a group of deploying soldiers headed for AFGHANISTAN ; I leave the choice of service branch up to you.

Whatever choice you make, though, opt for the SIX month rotation, it will guarantee you the longest possible time away from your family and friends, thus giving you full "deployment experience."

As your group prepares to board the plane, make sure to note the spouses and children who are saying good-bye to their loved ones. Also take care to note that several families are still unsure of how they'll be able to make ends meet while the primary breadwinner is gone obviously they've been squandering the "vast" piles of cash the government has been giving them.

Try to deploy over a major holiday; Christmas and Thanksgiving are perennial
favorites. And when you're actually over there, sitting in a foxhole, shivering against the cold desert night; and the flight sergeant tells you that there aren't enough people on shift to relieve you for chow, remember this:

Trade whatever MRE (meal-ready- to-eat) you manage to get for the tuna noodle casserole or cheese tortellini, and add Tabasco to everything. This gives some flavor.

Talk to your loved ones as often as you are permitted; it won't nearly be long enough or often enough, but take what you can get and be thankful for it. You may have picked up on the fact that I disagree with most of the points you present in your opened piece.

But, tomorrow from KABUL , I will defend to the death your right to say it.



You see, I am an American fighting man, a guarantor of your First Amendment rights and every other right you cherish. On a daily basis, my brother and sister soldiers worldwide ensure that you and people like you can thumb your collective nose at us, all on a salary that is nothing short of pitiful and under conditions that would make most people cringe. We hemorrhage our best and brightest into the private sector because we can't offer the stability and pay of civilian companies.

And you, Ms. Williams, have the gall to say that we make more than we deserve?

Rubbish!

A1C Michael Bragg Hill AFB AFNCC

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Invention

When I grow up, I want to invent something cool. I saw this poster as an advertisement at a bus stop... It was promoting a young inventors workshop. A 14 year old kid came up with the LOST CAT MAGNET....


Does it work? Probably not.... Is that photo doctored? Ya think??? Anyway, I though it was funny. If you could invent something (even something crazy) what would it be? I'd invent a portable lake so I could take my boat everywhere with me and sneak in a little water fun whenever I wanted. Of course, I'd also have to invent a way for my HARLEY (OK I don't have a Harley yet...) to tow the boat....

By the way, I hate cats!! That's why we have a Golden Retreiver... Dogs are Godly pets! (Maybe that's a stretch...)

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Technology Is Great

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action. (Can you punch in love??)

Whatever it Takes

Look out St Louis and the Metro East.... There is a group of people that are quickly getting to the place that we will do WHATEVER it takes to help people get back to Christ... many for the first time. You may be thinking "so what..." It may go against what you think is the "norm" for compelling people to pursue Christ.... and you will need to get on board the train or the freakin train will run you over.... Just sayin.... By the way, "pretty soon" is not a good time to start.... RIGHT NOW is a good time to start! Hey Kyle... take those Driven students to the edge tonight!!! We've got a freakin world to change!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Soaking

I remember as a kid hearing my Mom tell people "Go soak your head!" when she was mad about something. How about soaking your mind? That's what we are talking about this Sunday at LifePoint. Try this simple little activity this weekend and see if it helps....

... think about the things that are good and worthy of praise. Think about the things that are true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected. (Philippians 4:8)

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and every action.

Loving People

My wife, Vange, is bent on loving people. The more we hang at LifePoint, the more we are transitioning our effort to care more about PEOPLE.... and less about the perceived normal "rules" of doing church.

Monday, a good friend of ours lost her mother. (Our friend's daughter plays soccer with my girls and hangs at our house a lot.) We have come to realize that there are no magic words or anything we can do to take away the sting of losing someone. A few weeks ago, Bob addressed the Biblical principle of "shiva"... just BEING WITH someone during a trying time. Responding with a "loving people" attitude, Vange, Ashli, and Haley went and bought a cooler and filled it with ice and soda, and grabbed a few snacks and delivered them to our friend's house. They spent a few minutes just letting this family know that we love them and are with them through this time. This is a BEAUTIFUL picture of loving God and loving people.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love and people with every word and every action.

Moving pictures

I'm really aggravated about not being able to move pictures around on my posts.... My buddy Emily (gimme back that filet-o-fish) is sitting here watching Idol with us... I'm gonna con her into helping me... :-)


Add pic... cut and paste it elsewhere.... seems to work...


Thanks EP!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Old Bitter Lady

I have a lawn client who is a young, single mom. I'll call her Jill. Let's just say she doesn't put much effort into taking care of anything..... house, car, job, kid...... She has a neighbor. I'll call her Bertha. Bertha is one of those people who is in every one's business. Here are a couple of highlights of my experiences with Bertha:

• She badgered me repeatedly to try to find out what Jill pays me to maintain the lawn - she still does not know
• She gave me an earful about calling the police on the guy who owns the house (Jill's stepfather) because there were some leaves piles in the corner of the house and back yard fence. She wanted him put in jail for that....
• She came into my enclosed trailer, grabbed my arm and threatened to put me in jail for allowing dust to be blown on a car in her driveway. (I was mowing on a windy day and even though I always keep the discharge going away from her driveway, the wind blew dust everywhere.)
• I've seen her sweeping twigs and leaves from her driveway and lawn onto Jill's yard... Jill doesn't have any trees in front....

Here is where the story gets sweet.... Yesterday, I was at Jill's house mowing. I could not get into the back yard because there were so many toys and so much trash all over the back yard. Bertha had been edging her walks and driveway. I got done with Jill's front yard and was blowing off her walks. I stopped and approached Bertha and asked her if she'd like me to blow off her driveway and walks for her. She preferred to sweep them herself. Her reply was soft and thankful. Instead of threatening me or bullying me about the leaf pile (the leaves had gathered again just like last year), she asked very politely what we could work out to take care of the leaves. I had already decided to haul them off.... since I could not mow the back, I had time allocated for her property and the leaves needed to be handled.

I got the leaves all cleaned up. Then, Bertha and I had a very cool 20 minute discussion about her life story and teaching her kids right from wrong..... and how she lost her husband when her 3 kids were very young..... and what she did to survive. She totally opened up her soul to me. We touched on how wonderful God is in the midst of adversity (Broken Pieces). It was a beautiful conversation and time well spent. As I walked away she stopped me one more time and said "Jim, I'm sorry I've been mean to you." (She called me Jim because my mowing trailer has JAMES LAWN CARE on it.)

I just wonder what God was doing in her heart during and after our chat. I know for me, it was simply loving God and loving people by how I acted.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

God and Eye Drops

This morning I got some disturbing news about my job.... could be a major bump in the road... I'll come back to this idea in a minute...

Griffin is getting over Pink Eye. We got the eye drops a few days ago and knew exactly what we needed to do to get Griffin healthy again. Here is the problem: Griffin was TERRIFIED of having something dripped into his eyes! Vange tried everything to prove to him that it would be OK. She even dropped some wetting solution drops in all the other kids' eyes and let Griffin watch so he could see that it was no big deal. Didn't work..... The whole family tried to convince Griffin that any minor discomfort he would feel would be just that, MINOR, and it would be over super quick. He could not see that the medicine was needed to get him to a better, healthy place. Finally, I had to hold him down and hold his head still while Vange pried his eyes open and applied the drops.... it was NOT pretty. He has survived the drop applications, and last night, he was a big boy and didn't fight it at all..... he was very proud of his accomplishment.

Back to the job story.... I never want to over analyze or over spiritualize anything. But, here's the deal.... I really feel like God is speaking to me (not audibly...). Imagine God's voice:

Doug, trust Me... it's not that bad. It'll be over before you know it. This is going to help you. Look around at your family and friends, haven't I steered them through similar situations to get them to a better place? Don't make me hold you down....

The very same process that we were trying with Griffin, God is using for me. Calm fears, apply the medicine/change, and get to a better/healthy place. Look, I can't prove that this is a step toward something better... Just like I hope that Griffin TRUSTS me enough that he knows I'm doing what is BEST for him, I'm trusting God that he is looking out for me.

Romans 8:28
We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. They are the people he called, because that was his plan.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Snacks

I've been called a lot of names over the years..... some good, some bad. Some of the names that are most fitting pertain to my snacking habits.

Count Snackula

Dr. Snackenstein

Snack Disposal

All are fitting.... I've included a pic of the snacks currently stashed at my desk.... they won't last long. What are your favorites?

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Hands To Heaven

With our hands to Heaven we worship You

And when we do, may it be in spirit and in truth

The image of raised hands brings 3 thoughts to my mind:

1) A posture of surrender (giving control to someone in power)

2) A desire to be held or rescued (like a child lifting hands to his/her parent)

3) Celebration

This weekend, we are using a song that simply talks about raising our hands to God. Whatever we do, make sure it is an honest means to step closer to God. Check out these few Bible verses:

1 Timothy 2:8 - I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

Psalms 28:2 - Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.

Psalms 63:4 - I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

Psalms 77:2 - When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted.

Psalms 141:2 - May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Mowing Season is Here

Besides working in IT for AT&T, I also own a small lawn care business. Yesterday, I fired up the mowers and started the dance for this season..... I actually enjoy mowing. I have a simple goal this year to balance my time between work, church, and family. My relationship with Jesus is first! Then I need to cultivate the relationship with my wife, Vange. Next is pouring myself into my kids' lives (Ashli, Haley, Dawson, Griffin). THEN there is LifePoint and AT&T and the lawn business and the.... bla bla bla.....

Side Note Confession... at this point I'm ticked because I can't get pictures to land where I want them to on my blog..... Oh Well.....

So, this week is going to be a busy week...... lots of fertilizer to apply, weeds to control, and landscaping to clean up. Here we go...

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Griffy Grif

My baby is my 5 year old son, Griffin. He is hilarious. He's not a big eater, but he can drink enough Carnation to float a boat. He is VERY SNUGGLY. Grif loves to ride on my shoulders everywhere we go. He wants to be as big as his brother, Dawson. He is very smart. I'm not sure I've ever met a 5 year old that is as polite as Griffin - he is great with his manners. He has a new bike and has been riding it faster than an airplane! We are going to lose the training wheels this summer. One of our friends, Vince, is pretty tall.... Griffin always tells him that he is bigger than Jesus. Now when I see Vince, I call him BTJ for short. Griffin loves to play Wii, and he's really good. He makes me laugh... a lot! Emily has some great Griffin stories / sayings on her blog. He loves to have his back scratched at night before he goes to sleep. I am a blessed man!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Fireproof

I watched Fireproof last night with Vange and Haley. There was a line in the movie that screamed out to me and got my attention... "Being fireproof doesn't keep the fire from coming, it just enables you to handle it." (it was something along those lines...) How many times in life do we try to keep the fire from coming (a futile effort...) when we should put more effort into being able to handle it when it DOES COME....

In the last couple of weeks, I've listed the "Bringing Sexy Back" message series from Gary Lamb, the lead pastor at Revolution church in Canton, GA. (Actually, I've listened to it multiple times...) For me, it was Biblically solid, timely, and quite a catalyst for positive change in my marriage.

**WARNING: Uncomfortably Honest and Open Moment Ahead** If I can be brutally transparent, Vange and I are approaching our 18 year anniversary. Overall, we have a wonderful marriage. But God has used Gary Lamb and the movie Fireproof to thump my noggin! I have allowed my wife to be burdened by responsibility that should be mine. Last night, I had to apologize to her her for being mediocre in my effort to love her.... that makes God sick! On March 3rd, I made a decision to think about her differently (better) and to put her needs before mine. This is a process...... and I'm stepping forward.

I just started following a blog of a guy named Rob. First of all, Rob has really cool, layered pictures on his blog... I've got to find out how to do that. I don't know Rob well (yet), but as I read his stories and looked at his pictures I got a sense that he is HEAVILY invested in his wife and kids' lives. It was an encouragement to me to step up and increase my DEVOTION to my family (a good and perfect gift to me from God.)

We are spinning a lot of plates right now; multiple jobs, a bunch of kids' activities, church (after all, we have a freakin world to change), etc... Here is the deal - I'm praying that I get out of the way so that God can teach me the best way to spin my many plates without dropping any. That may mean I have to set some plates down... (Bob speaks the truth at LifePoint!) I want to handle WELL the fires that I'm faced with.

God, thanks for placing people in my path to steer me back on course. You do really cool stuff like that all the time.... Talk to You later.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Games

One of our family's favorite things to do is play games. It's always more fun when Kyle and Emily hang out with us and play a game called Joker (Marble Pursuit). Last night, Kyle, Ashli, and I had to put a whoopin' on Emily, Haley, and Vange. Victory is sweet!

Today when I got to work, Christy was telling me about taking her dogs to a dog park and just playing with them. That sounds like a lot of fun. I'm sure Daisy (our Golden Retriever) would enjoy that.

Dawson played soccer Saturday. He is usually defense... he really likes defense.... trying to be like his big sister, Haley. The coaches had him play forward and he scored a goal. Very cool.

Our Lifegroup went to an indoor water park yesterday. I loved watching Griffin play and interact with so many other kids. Vange and I had several opportunities to laugh and say "Say no to crack" as Griff's suit kept falling down a bit; exposing his... umm.... well..... uhhhhh... his crack. :-)

Play some games this week - have some fun.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Church Bulletin Bloopers

Christy, one of my coworkers, and I were laughing so hard at these that we caused a bit of a ruckus in the office.... Oh well.....

• Church Bulletin Bloopers
• Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
• The outreach committee has enlisted 25 visitors to make calls on people who are not afflicted with any church.
• Evening massage - 6 p.m.
• The Pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday morning.
• The audience is asked to remain seated until the end of the recession.
• Low Self-Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 to 8:30 p.m. Please use the back door.
• Ushers will eat latecomers.
• The third verse of Blessed Assurance will be sung without musical accomplishment.
• For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
• The Rev. Merriwether spoke briefly, much to the delight of the audience.
• The pastor will preach his farewell message, after which the choir will sing, "Break Forth Into Joy."
• During the absence of our pastor, we enjoyed the rare privilege of hearing a good sermon when J.F. Stubbs supplied our pulpit.
• Next Sunday Mrs. Vinson will be soloist for the morning service. The pastor will then speak on "It's a Terrible Experience."
• Due to the Rector's illness, Wednesday's healing services will be discontinued until further notice.
• Stewardship Offertory: "Jesus Paid It All"
• The music for today's service was all composed by George Friedrich Handel in celebration of the 300th anniversary of his birth.
• Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.
• The concert held in Fellowship Hall was a great success. Special thanks are due to the minister's daughter, who labored the whole evening at the piano, which as usual fell upon her.
• 22 members were present at the church meeting held at the home of Mrs. Marsha Crutchfield last evening. Mrs. Crutchfield and Mrs. Rankin sang a duet, The Lord Knows Why.
• A song fest was hell at the Methodist church Wednesday.
• Hymn 47: "Hark! an awful voice is sounding"
• On a church bulletin during the minister's illness: GOD IS GOOD Dr. Hargreaves is better.
• Potluck supper: prayer and medication to follow.
• Don't let worry kill you off - let the church help.
• The 1997 Spring Council Retreat will be hell May 10 and 11.
• Pastor is on vacation. Massages can be given to church secretary.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

The Hog

Dawson, my 6 year old son, (also known as Daws Hog, Hoggalicious, The Hog) is creating some very cool stuff on his computer.



Dawson is such a great son... He is so energetic, smart, and very polite (most of the time). He is really good about stopping and looking both ways before we cross the street.... He always watches for cars in parking lots.... He gets straight As in school.... He is a really good soccer player..... He prays like a big guy.... He loves Bible stories..... He is a bike riding machine... He water skis - 75 foot behind the boat like the big guys.... He is the tubing King! He is super snuggly at night when I lay down with him.... What a blessing! God, thanks for letting me borrow the Hog... I'm crazy about that kid!!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Joker

Vange and Emily are taking on Haley and Kyle in Joker. I think I'll grab my Journey cd and play Who's Cryin Now..... Cuz someone is goin down!



Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

That's my Koolaid

Thanks to Gary Lamb for getting all up in my Koolaid and punching me in the throat today (not physically). I was listening to a series he is doing called Bringing Sexy Back. He stepped through the idea that great sex starts long before you enter the bedroom. As I listened to his story about how he and DeAnna almost did not make it, and what they did to realign with God's plan, I began to wipe the fluids leaking from my eyes (since I'm not on stage at LifePoint I don't have to add a $1 to the cry jar). Guys, it is this simple, I better treat Vange as my BEST friend and actively put her needs before mine. Ephesians 5 says that men are to love their wives as Christ loved the church... that is a whole nutha level of love! Communication is HUGE!!! and I'm not as good at it as I want to be. Life happens (jobs, kids, projects, etc...) and we drift apart. Today starts a renewed love (not lust) for her... and there is no way in hell I will allow anything to become a wedge between us!

While Gary happened to be the guy God used to get my attention today, (serious flag) I'm privileged to sit under the teaching of Bob Robbins every week. Bob did a series about fighting for relationships... tonight, I'm going to grab the notes from those talks and determine to love my family like I never have..... BETTER than I ever have.

Here is my challenge for you... If you are in a relationship that is falling apart, or has already busted, I dare you to ask God what you can do to repair it and give you a relationship high like you've never felt..... I dare you.......

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Anyone see the target?

Preparation is a big deal for me... most of the time. What I do at LifePoint (lead the band) I take very seriously.... and I pour everything I've got into it. In fact, I pour more than me into it... I borrow some others people's stuff to pour into it. Most Sundays I leave the church feeling like what we did was pleasing to God. Yesterday, I was just ticked! At who? Me! I prepared harder for this Sunday than several others, and I still feel like I missed the target... In fact, I could not even find the target. It just did not seem to me that the musical piece of the day connected anyone with God.... maybe it seems that way to me because I didn't connect.....

Here is the beautiful grace of God.... It has nothing to do with me, or the band, or Bob, or Kyle, or Dan, or the Tech team, or the LifeKids volunteers, or the Nursery volunteers, or the hospitality team, or the bla bla bla..... God is huge and meets people where they are!

God, thanks for being YOU! I love you and will talk to You later.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action.

The Round

A couple weeks ago we created a different, intimate environment at LifePoint. We set the band and Bob in the middle of the floor with the chairs arranged in a circle. We used a coffee house type worship set, an "unplugged" set. It was very cool! Bob talked about what we can do to extravagantly love Jesus.... here's the deal - go all in for your relationship with God. We did a new song by Fighting Instinct called Back To You. Everything we are doing is designed to create an opportunity to help people to find their way to Jesus.... and equally importantly, take steps toward Jesus. Listen...... Bob, the bands, Kyle, Dan, Lifekids leaders, Nursery workers, and all the people who lead different areas are not the people who will best impact the 65000 people in our communities that do not attend church at all (and probably do not engage God)..... YOU are the one who can get your coworker to think about giving God a shot.... YOU are the one who can get other students to think about God.... YOU are the one who can find creative ways to point people to Jesus at the store, the movies, the golf course, the mall..... The round was an intentional step to create an environment that helps people feel CONNECTED! Find ways to create an environment and opportunity to help people step toward God.

Live loud, live intentional, and love God and people with every word and every action.

Priorities

I'm sure I'll never be too old to learn..... Something has hit me VERY HARD in the last week or so... I need to balance priorities. Tonight, right now, I'm doing what I should be doing.... Hanging out with Vange, Ashli, and Haley watching American Idol. So, I'm done blogging and will start snuggling!

Live loud, live intentional, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Freshman

Ashli, my oldest daughter, is going into high school next year - YIKES! Vange and I had the pleasure of taking her to Freshman registration a couple nights ago. It was a pleasure because she has been invited into the Honors program. This registration was specifically for all the Honors program kids.... One thing that is very cool is that her circle of friends are all in the program. This is a beautiful and wonderful group of girls. Ashli has picked friends wisely, and these girls have great parents. During the registration part, the Vice Prinicpal was the person working with us. She began talking about college plans..... Ashli's not even in high school yet.... It was a very positive night and we are all excited to see where God steers us in life... Let the fun begin...

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Sunday Morning

I took a day off from leading worship a couple weeks ago. It was very cool to participate in the day and soak it all in! I went to church armed with 2 things: determination to take a step toward Jesus, and my camera. Here are some pics of what a Sunday morning at LifePoint looks like... (Next is a visit to Driven student ministries with a camera to capture Kyle's gang...)



























Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and People with every word and action!

Griffin's Eyes

Griffin gets to go to Kindergarten later this year. The school district requires an eye exam before enrollment.... So, a couple weeks ago, I got to take Grif to the Optometrist. He actually did great.

The doctor did a great job of keeping the exam playful. Griffin just turned 5, and he knows his letters already (most of the time). I was not sure how he would handle the visit. He got to "play" with all the cool equipment... so it was a good experience.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Wii Stinks

I'm fairly athletic, fairly tech savvy, and have pretty good hand-eye coordination. So, the question is "Why can all 4 of my kids kick my butt in Wii games?" I have no answer..... Here is how game night with kids went last night...

Ashli (14) kicked my butt in Wii basketball (that was actually a few nights ago)
Haley (12) smoked me in Wii baseball
Dawson (6) beat me in Wii bowling
Griffin (5) killed me in Wii tennis

I did manage to win at Wii golf.... Even though I did a lot of losing, it was time well spent. My Dad always tells me "Son, look at your wife and children.... You're a millionaire my boy!" He is right... I'm so blessed!!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!

Very Personal

Quick background.... The last few weeks of 2008 were a pain in the butt! I've been very agitated for several small reasons... my beautiful wife who I'm crazy about has mentioned several times how crabby I've been.....

Yesterday, we started a new series titled "You Don't Have What It Takes." Dan spoke about how we are not good enough on our own - but through our faith in Jesus we are able to have the "approval" of God. Part of my role at LifePoint is to design and lead the musical part of every Sunday, which I love doing. There were a couple of moments that became very personal for me during the music yesterday - While we were singing, there were several places that God got my attention:

As Long As I Have You - ... Let the walls around me crumble, let the wind and rain come through, I can face it all as long as I have You...

Blessed Be Your Name - ... Blessed be Your name when I'm found in the desert place, though I walk through the wilderness blessed be Your name...

Remedy - ... Here we are, the broken and used...... Here we are, the bandaged and bruised.... Here You are, our beautiful King, bringing relief....

Amazing Grace - ...Through many dangers toils and snares I have already come, twas grace that brought me safe this far, and grace will lead me home...

Several guys that I hang out with like to harass me if I tear up while on stage. You guessed it... the ole eyes were a bit watery yesterday.... Here is the neat part of that.... By design, the music that we do on Sundays should MOVE us in some way. It is not just warm up time before Bob, Dan, or Kyle step up to speak. I was glad that God's Spirit wrapped His arms around me yesterday, hugged me, and let me know to keep plugging away because He is in control and He loves me DEEPLY!

My friend, Emily, told me how much she identified with the Sanctus Real song, Whatever You're Doing. I'm finding that song more and more meaningful to me as days go by.....

(Verse)
It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
All I can do is surrender

(Chorus)
Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something heavenly

I'm so glad that the songs were very personal to me this week! Sunday morning music is never just a show, but I do find myself having my performance "game face" on to be able to effectively lead...... I gotta tell you though, it was refreshing to just melt is the presence of God!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God and people with every word and every action!