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Surf Story

There was a good story in the Los Angeles Times this morning titled "Onward Christian Surfers." It's about a Christian mission on the beaches of Hawai'i. You can read it on the Times site by clicking here.

5 in 37,000,000

I heard a report that the AAA estimates that 37 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles this holiday weekend. We're among that number because on Sunday we're heading up to Thousand Oaks to be with Joy's family. Wow! That's lot of people on the highway. Hope they're all in Texas. We're heading out after church on Sunday. Hopefully, we won't be the only ones delaying our holiday travel. Blessings to you on this Memorial Day weekend!

Church Shopping

Testing to see if this works...I came across this video on Bumbling Forward. It's a good thing we don't have to worry about any mega-churches around here! Seriously, I'm sometimes tempted to think we're in competition but we're not. The Lord has plenty of blessing to send through churches large and small! I'm not a "King of the Hill" fan but I do wonder if Hank grew closer to the Lord as a result of his choice.

What's Next

It feels good to have finished the long chapter of formal education but over the past few days I've been thinking about what's next. As a newly forming congregation, there is still much work ahead of us. I'm looking forward to all the activity of summer, to spending time with other families at the pool or over backyard barbecues. I'm excited about VBS and especially about finding the right person to fill our Worship Team Leader position (please keep this issue in your prayers). I'm eager for us to invite our neighbors to gather with us as we seek to establish a congregation unique to this community.

It seems to me that there is a lot of "what's next" already. I'm glad to be able to keep doing what I've been doing, only now the season of coursework is over. Someone asked the other day about what I'm going to do now that I'm done with school. The question caught me by surprise because I'm going to keep on doing this, serving as the Organizing Pastor of Village Presbyterian Church. There is no higher calling in my life. This is it! This is what I love to do. So you can be sure, I'm going to stay on task to discover what's next.

On Sunday, we'll be examining Nehemiah 2:9-20. We will be considering the reality Nehemiah faced in the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem...a big task. Please make a point of arriving at 9:55, if you are able. The extra effort makes a difference in the energy level of our congregation. The Lord is delighted when people are eager to worship!

Atlanta in Review

Click this link if you want to see a slide show of our trip to Georgia. It was really fun sharing the tastes, sights and sounds of Atlanta with Joy. The slide show is 6:17...got a little carried away trying to fit in all the pictures. I hope you enjoy it.

A few items to note: the Varsity is a famous hot dog stand near Georgia Tech; the Braves beat the Marlins 9 to 1 with the Braves hitting three home runs; the hot dog I ate at the game was as big as my arm; the four other guys in the group shot are from the original core seminar I took in June of 2001 (left to right, they are Erwin Goedicke from North Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, me, Calvin Gittner from Melbourne Florida, Wayne Darbonne from College Hill Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, and Lee Corder, a Young Life Executive from Virginia); pictures with professors include my advisor, Dr. Stephen A. Hayner and my second reader, Dr. Stanley P. Saunders; we visited the King Center after worshipping at Ebenezer Baptist Church (a two hour service); the wagon with the flowers in front was used to carry the casket of Dr. King in 1968 (first time on display after many years in storage); we walked through MLK's boyhood home (yellow with brown trim); and we visited the grave of Coretta Scott King (may God grant us the same courage and strength); and then it was time to come home again...always the best part of every journey. Music by Ray Charles, John Mayer and Matt Costa.

Waffle House and More

Joy and I have been here in Atlanta since Wednesday. Tonight is the baccalaureate service at Columbia Presbyterian Church and tomorrow morning we gather at Peachtree Presbyterian Church for the graduation ceremony. It's been fun to get reconnected with old friends. There are five of us graduating from my original class that started in June 2001. A few finished last year and a few more will finish next year.

So much for the school stuff. We been on a whirlwind tour of the city. Since this will be my final trip, I'm trying to see things I wasn't able to squeeze in my other eight trips. So far we've seen the downtown, the Underground, the Varsity (hot dog place near Georgia Tech), the Cyclorama, Grant Park, a Braves game, the Brickstore, Little 5 Points, downtown Decatur, a quick look at Stone Mountain, and breakfast at the Waffle House (see picture). I can't get the pictures off the camera but when I do, more fun will be had by all. We're planning on going to worship Ebenezer Baptist Church on Sunday and then we'll tour the MLKing Memorial. Tomorrow we'll be in the Buckhead area so we'll be sure to find a fancy restaurant. Check back next week to see the photo album (I've even taken a few artsy-kind-of pictures with shapes and colors).

Reading the Whole Book

On Sunday, I spoke about the need for Christians to spend time reading the Old Testament. It seems like the New Testament is the default mode for most of us. And yet there are great riches if we are willing to make the extra effort. I might sound like a broken record in relation to the need to commit to a Bible reading plan (someone once said, "Pastoring is pestering" and so this is my constant pester). I've been committed to a Two-Year plan since last October. That means at the end of September in 2007, I will have completed the Old and the New Testament. The pace is moderate and I've found it very beneficial. If you'd like to get started you can download the resource here. It's set up with readings for 25 days each month so if you do fall behind you have the final days of each month to catch up again. There are four columns of readings so you could make it a 4 year reading plan. Do whatever works for you. But...Just do it!

Happy Anniversary

Today we are celebrating Mother's Day and our 18th wedding anniversary. Joy and I were married on May 14, 1988. Plenty of Lionel Richie songs were played at our reception to go along with the teal green centerpieces. I always thought we had a cool wedding (and we did) but now the styles are way dated (note the mustache and long hair).

Happy Anniversary Joy! I love you more and more as we share the years together.

Village Pres Mail List

We're testing out a new email service that might be helpful for the church. I think it would be cool to be able to send something out with minor hassle and always with the option that people can opt out. Well, here's the cool link they provided. If you like to add your name to our list, go for it!

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New Photo Album

I just published a new photo album with pictures taken by Rick Brotherton. These pictures were taken at Village during the Easter season (including Palm Sunday). You can find it here.