Spring So Far

Spring has freshly arrived and things are feeling good.

Some positives that God has allowed me to be a part of lately...
*With the warm weather this week, I went to hang out @ the Cov Library again. I would love for God to show me how to connect w/ the library guys. All in time I guess.

*We have one of our men stepping up to commit himself to deeper discipleship. I really need God to teach me how to encourage and guide our men who want more than avg Christianity.

*Very excited about our people who are taking part in the Daniel Fast. It is fantastic to see people who want God to move in a very real way.

*Excited and nervous about the upcoming Man Hour on April 26th.

Under the heading of difficult...

The passing of Amy Huff's mother the day after Easter. I'm sure Amy is aware her church is here to pray and support her through this time.

The Crash of the laptop. If you have noticed the website is slightly outdated, now you know why. I have a tech call in hoping to get the website back on line.

Let it snow...Let it snow...Let it snow...

One of the biggest snows in a few seasons had officially hit the metropolis of Alexandria KY.

How bad was it? I had to walk the 3/4 mile round trip to the Shell station to get my Diet Mt. Dew fix! I felt like it was Little House on the Prairie.

The great blizzard of '08 has caused our first church closing in the last year or so. Admittedly, the idea of kicking back on a Sunday sounds relaxing, in the end tomorrow will feel weird. Having lost time of corporate worship will be different.

In my ongoing streak of narcissism I will give you some more lists...

5 places I would like to visit...

1. Iceland...It looks adventurey.
2. North Korea...Curiosity.
3. Denmark...At one time we had plans of being missionaries there.
4. Alaska...The outdoors.
5. A jungle...When we were in Peru we missed our chance. The cocaine farmers had went on strike and the road to the jungle shut down.

5 great movies...

1. Braveheart.
2. Henry V.
3. Batman Begins.
4. The Illusionist.
5. The Prestige.

Mindless Drivel

In an effort to keep this small corner of a small mind from being completely inactive here are some things occupying my time and thinking.

Books

Music

Blogs...
Ted Conference
The T.E.D. presenters are scary smart.

Reformissionary
Pastor from Ill. Steve has a lot of good thoughts and links.

Fox
This is where I get my House MD fix.

What is about about the particular books and music I listed that makes them outstanding to me?

Books
*The ESV Reformation Bible... I like the translation. I like the Reformed (aka Calvinistic) notes.

*Men's Health. I need to get more active. It inspires and interests.

*The Feasts of the Lord... This is a subject I don't know well. It is new and therefore interesting.

*10 Distinctions Millionaire/Middle Class... It addressed my thinking. I didn't get much financial info out of it but mindset info.

*Why Men Hate Going to Church... Great resource to start thinking church from a pro-guy angle.

Music
Casting Crowns...One of the few Christian bands that I think are deep and talented.

Blackstone Cherry...Old School Southern Rock out of KY.

5 things I would like to be if I were not a Pastor (they assume I would have the skills to do the job) ...
*Theoretical physicist.
*Astronaut.
*Some sort of extreme athlete.
*Explorer/Adventurer
*Navy Seal.

5 People I would like to have met/meet...
*Jesus... I know this is cliche. I know I will meet Him. But for now I would like to know His sense of humor, listen to Him about walking on water or the Resurrection.

*Ernest Shackleton...Polar explorer/leader extraordinaire. Read the story of the Endurance and you'll understand.

*Teddy Roosevelt...Maybe my favorite President.

*Jonathan Edwards...Brilliant theologian/pastor from the early 1700s.

*Hudson Taylor...Cutting edge Missionary to China in the 19th century.

I imagine that is more than enough for now.

Connecting w/ the Guys

On April 26th we are going to experience a whole new approach for guys. We'll have a guy environment, hang out with buddies and be challenged with the things we need to man up and deal with.

In the pre-lim we have it looking something like this;
*Hold it @ the gym. All guys feel @ home in a gym.
*Have a playlist going over the sound system of what guys actually listen to.
*Have the gym set up w/ a guy vibe.
*Throw out some humor.
*18 min challenge from a guy's guy about men issues. Our first speaker is a 13 year ex-State Trooper, construction worker and elk/mountain lion hunter.
*Have a live band.
*Demonstration of something that interests men. One of the things we are working on is a
mixed martial arts demo.
*Free food.
*A just for fun get together within a 2 weeks of the guy gathering. Paintball is a serious consideration. Follow up paintball w/ buffalo wings or something.

This is just the rough outline. Totally pumped. Motto: Obey the King. Love Your Family. Do Right.

Right now we are just calling it the 'Guys Gathering'. We'll do it once a month.