Thinking Back

This weekend our students will participate in the D-Now weekend. This should be an inspiring and convicting weekend for our students. Tonight, they have the Big Daddy Weave concert at FBC Douglasville. It should be great. The D-Now weekend will end with our worship service on Sunday morning at Summit. I am praying that God will speak to the hearts of our teenagers. Teenagers have such potential. They have so much of their lives ahead of them. They can avoid so many pitfalls in life if they just walk closely with God.

Sometimes, I wish I could go back and do some things different, but I can’t. However, I do have today. I can make the rest of my life count. The Apostle Paul said that he was going to forget the things that were behind him, and he was reaching forward just like a runner running a race. He wanted to run the rest of the race with all he had. He wanted his life to count for God. What about you?

False Alarm?

My alarm clock is set for 6:00 am. Recently, the weather has been waking me up. Tuesday morning it was the storm. Wednesday morning it was the wind. This morning it was the Douglas County Civil Defense Siren. It sounds like the end of the world. It went off before 6:00. I knew there was no way it could be severe weather. It’s 22 degrees. Stephanie asked me if we needed to get in the basement. All I could I think was that somebody mashed the wrong button. No way this was an emergency. Suddenly, the loud voice comes over the speaker, “All’s Clear.”

Nothing is worse than to be awakened from a dead sleep by a siren. A siren gives you a warning. However, I have been conditioned to ignore such warnings. Our fire alarm in the kitchen goes off just about every time you open the oven door. Nobody thinks the house is burning down. I jokingly tell the kids to go outside to the big tree. Nobody listens. They have also learned to ignore the warning. This failure to take alarms and sirens serious can be deadly. Although the vast majority of the alarms and sirens are false, it only takes one real one to kill you. Maybe there is an alarm or siren going off in your life today. You have been conditioned to ignore it. The danger may be closer than you think.

Crazy Weather

This morning I was awakened by a combination of my alarm clock and the storm. I wanted to get up and see what was happening. I looked at the Weather Channel and they had the advisory at the bottom of the screen. The local stations also had the warnings and the satellite images of the storm. It almost seemed that as soon as it started it was over. Bam! Then the storm moved on.

Isn’t that how life is sometimes? Bam! A storm hits out of no where, and just as suddenly as it hits it moves on. However, we are left to pick up the debris. We have to try to recover from something that we were not expecting and we were unprepared to deal with. Life is so unpredictable sometimes. However, for those who have attached themselves to Jesus by faith, we have a Strong Tower that we can run to. We have a place of recovery and rest. Isn’t it great to know that we have the help of Heaven as we try to recover from the unpredictable storms of life?

Reflecting on Sunday

Yesterday was a great day. Attendance was just below 150. We had the most ever in our Kids’ Worship (19). Also, there were eight 2&3 year olds in our Toddler Zone. The band played great. Set up and tear down went extremely well. We unveiled our new logo. Wow! What a great day.

Washing Machine III: The Return of the Chef

Yesterday, the guys from Colortime came and got their washing machine. They have been great to work with. I could probably do a Colortime commerical along with a professional actor. Not only did the Colortime guys take their washing machine out of our laundry room, they also were nice enough to move our newly repaired washing machine out of the garage and hook it back up.

This whole episode has taught me a valuable lesson. I don’t know what it is, but it has to be something. All I know is our washing machine is back. The only reason I bought this particular machine was because of its name. These washing machines supposedly never need to be repaired. The repairman on the commercials is bored out of his mind. I was sold on the machine because of the commercials. However, a friend of mine informed me that my particular washing machine was really a Magic Chef.  This company had bought out Magic Chef and put their name on the machines. Instead of buying the machine I thought I was buying, I bought a Magic Chef. When I think of washing machines I immediately think Magic Chef. The Chef is in the house. Long live the Chef!

Easter is on the way

Easter is just a few weeks away. I am so excited about the service that we are going to have at Summit. I think God is going to do something great. We are going to combine a major advertising effort with personal contacts to invite people to come hear the greatest story ever told. The title of the message that I am going to deliver is “Is God Satisfied with Me?” The amazing thing is that God can be satisfied with me. If you are wondering what it takes to satisfy God then be sure to be with us on Easter.

New Logo

This Sunday we will unveil a new church logo. Amy Hultquist is a professional graphic design artist. She has offered us her services in the design process. I think the new look is great. I designed our previous logo online for $48. It was a great deal, but it looks like something I designed. You see, I have no artistic ability. Probably the last picture I painted was a paint by the numbers pirate skeleton when I was eight. This new logo looks like it was designed by a professional because it was designed by a professional. You will immediately see the difference.

Church Advertising

Jimmy and I have been doing a lot of research into advertising for Summit. Today, we visited a company called mindzai multimedia. They have ridiculous prices for all kinds of printing needs. Check them out.

Reflecting on Sunday

Yesterday was a good day. Of course, it was President’s Day weekend, but attendance was still good. Something amazing did happen yesterday. For some inexplicable reason, the majority of the people sat in the front section of the theater. I was amazed. I think word has gotten out that the seats in the front section rock. They are extremely comfortable.

We have several upcoming events. Easter is just a few weeks away, and we are planning a major advertising effort. We have the potential to reach thousands of people in our area. I am excited. Also, the D-Now weekend is less than two weeks away. Currrently, we have 33 youth signed up. It’s gonna be great. There are also plans in the works for an outdoor cookout and baptism. Isn’t that a great combination?

Summit Band

The band at Summit Church continues to grow. We are looking at adding another guitar and eventually some drums. Phillip is a very gifted musician, and we are fortunate to have him. Eventually, we will have to add a couple of more sections to our stage.