blog.arrowheadchurch.com

So, when do UT fans get to talk trash again? I miss the days of the swagger. They’re long gone. What kind of record do we need next year to be able to talk smack?

This is how we know things have gone a little too far with the whole “Black Friday” idea.

So it looks like Lane Kiffin is our new coach. Not sure how I feel about it. I guess I’m excited.

One thing I am sure about is the pressure he’s going to feel as a 33 year old guy. Kind of exciting to me as a young leader. He has about a million people, including several millionaire boosters, expecting him to turn things around fairly quickly.

There are no great opportunities without a lot of pressure, so I say go get ‘em Lane.

As you might imagine, this time in our lives is teaching Sara and I to trust the Lord like never before. We’re not on the verge of starvation or even close to lacking a meal or anything else we need, but this stage in our life is just different. The overabundance most of us experience in the US is at least a little less for us than it has been over the last several years.

We wouldn’t trade this time for anything in the world, though! It’s counterintuitive, but it’s funny how living with a little more uncertaintly in some areas of your life will make you more thankful to the Lord.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I’m convinced one of the greatest illustrations of why we go through trials is found in the life of Lazarus in John 11-12. If you don’t know the story, Lazarus had been dead 4 days before Jesus raised him back to life. The result of that miracle was that many were believing in Jesus, and rightfully so. In verses 9-11 of chapter 12, we hear that the Pharisees were trying to kill not only Jesus but also Lazarus, so that they could stop the growth of those believing in Jesus.

Put yourself in Lazarus’ shoes. I’d still be a little scared of the pain that they could bring me, but wouldn’t you think the fear of death would be at least a little less after you’d already been dead for 4 days?

Jesus always has the power to eliminate our trials, but sometimes He chooses not to so that we can learn to persevere. I’ve got a lot to learn from Lazarus in facing trials. Jesus has always been faithful, and He will always be.

I’ve already made known my love for award shows here. Tonight I pledge my manliest love to Jack Bauer. Tonight is both the AMAs and 24 Redemption. So, here’s the breakdown:

• CMAs vs. AMAs - Winner = CMAs, hands down.
• AMAs vs. 24 Redemption - Winner = 24 Redemption, in a closer matchup.
• CMAs vs 24 Redemption - The world is full of tough decisions. Let’s just be thankful this one doesn’t have to be made.

I used to joke that “student ministry” was the widest job description in the employment world. Think about it. As a student pastor, in addition to the huge rewards you get to experience weekly, you are:

• Bible teacher
• Adolescent counselor
• Parent consultant
• Small group/volunteer trainer
• Question answerer of things like “Why can’t my 6 friends and I pile in my Civic and drive up at midnight to the youth retreat?”
• Dating relationship expert (it only takes about 2 years to hear all the stories. they’re repeats after that)
• Sound technician
• Computer geek
• Graphic designer
• Event planner
• Public school liason for your church
• Christian school liason for your church
• Student of all things teen culture: music, myspace, facebook, sports, really bad teen movies
• Cheerleader for your students at sporting events, plays, concerts, etc.
• Fastest adult text messager in your church

Now I’m learning things like how to file for non-profit status, sales tax exemption, a CCLI license, malpractice insurance, background checks, ftp access for websites, and a long list of other things about which I only know enough to be dangerous. I know the bare minimums about more topics than I care to…

I am a living contradiction of this book. But, that’s just the nature of church planting.

I don’t think I’ve spent two days in a row on the same task in months. But, I can’t believe I get to spend may days doing this! It’s challenging but I’m having a blast.

Somebody get Jon Tyner on this immediately.

Sara and I don’t have a home phone. We haven’t for a couple of years. We are both Verizon carriers so we are in with each other and can’t use enough minutes to go over on a reasonable plan by talking to people who are not in. So, cell phone only.

From time to time it hits me that Eli (my 15 month old) only knows a tefone (as he calls it) to be a little device that flips opens so that you can say hewo (hello) and then fold it up and put it back in your pocket. Gone are the days of the rotary dial like I used at my grandmother’s growing up. Now gone are the days of the cordless land line (which Eli will use at his grandparents).

This is our generation’s version of the rotary dial.

And my son will never know the difference. Just like I can’t imagine life without a microwave, my parents can’t imagine life without vehicles. Times change fast.

My prayer as we continue working toward planting this church is that my son and the generations that come after him won’t know any different than to believe that it’s normal that a church is a relationally-healthy, spiritually-strong, and community-loving group of followers of Jesus.

Thanks to everybody who prayed for the preview service. It was a big success in my book. It was really good to see a few people from Morristown who I hadn’t seen since we got back. We had several great people who are potentially interested in what God is doing here. Also, the crowd was what we were hoping for, which is always good.

No major hiccups, but we have a lot to learn. Setting up a church is a lot of work! We need to streamline a lot of things, and we will.

Several people gave up a chunk of their week, money, and all of their day today to make it happen. It’s hard for me to get my mind around how committed these people are and what is doing in bringing our hearts together. In our small little core group are:

• a guy who started a business at the age of 16 that now employs a large group of people and works all over east Tennessee and his wife who has told nearly half of east Tennessee about Arrowhead
• a friend of mine growing up and his wife who have started businesses (including a restaurant) for the last 10 years and are known in the community as extremely committed to their faith
• my parents
• leaders from another parachurch ministry
• a student from our youth ministry in Knoxville

And a few others just coming on board. Only God could bring these people together. I don’t know if they’re reading the blog or not, but I just want to say to anyone who is how humbled I am that God has connected us under this vision. It is a huge privilege for me to get to do this with you guys.