You ever have just one of those weeks?

The past seven days have been muy frustrating. That's "very" for all you gringos. Last week I took a side job laying a raw stone sidewalk. That should have taken 3 days to finish, but my truck broke down, I got sick one day, got rained out two days, had a meeting on another day so I only got a few hours in.

The mechanic took my truck a part in the Home Depot parking lot where it broke down and then didn't come back to finish the job. He wouldn't return my calls so on Saturday I took a few hours and fixed it myself "well at least that felt good".

Now Sunday was great with church and all and we got to hang out with an emc-er and her husband and met a couple of her friends, but Monday came and my lousy string of days continued. I felt like I was edgy at staff meeting (sorry guys) and then cause I was frustrated that I was frustrated I continued to remain edgy. "edgy" is a nice way of saying Amie was having to put up with me cause I was being a jerk.

Today seemed like I was going to get the stone job done, but NNOOOO it had to start raining so boom back into the mood. At least I got to go to the coffee shop, see some friends and work on Sunday's sermon (that was nice) then as I am getting the kids ready for bed and we're reading the Bible, Grant just wasn't listenening so I whooped him right there. Oh that's really great Ross....."hey Grant what comes to mind when you think about Daddy reading the Bible to you? If I don't listen he spanks me....(Good job Ross) now I'm Parenthetically talking about myself in the third person...I guess all I'm saying is I am really having one of those weeks.

Look on the bright side the truck is running, the job should be done tomorrow by 2:00, I don't think I've done irrepairable psychological damage to Grant, and now I can sit back and experience a fresh dose of God's grace.

excited about our new series!

Easter is over we had a few days to breathe and now we have our eyes set on what's next. I am really looking forward to our next series.

As far as the institutional "church" goes we do a pretty good job of complicating what really is a very beautiful and simple faith. When I say simple I mean "simple" in a good way....you know minus the fluff and extremes that so often characterize and malign the essence of Christianity.

Jesus Christ is the core of our faith and His teachings should be the rule or order of our lives. Over the next few weeks we will be digging into Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-Matthew 7) and in it we will find the true beauty and force of the Christian faith as we look at some of the greatest teachings of Jesus regarding life, relationships, spirituality, and a plethera of other things. (I love the word plethera not quite as much as I love saying rutabaga, but what does a swedish turnip have to do with anything?) Speaking of that, what does Godzilla and t-shirt slogans have to do with the Sermon on the Mount?

Post Easter Update

I can't believe I haven't sat long enough to blog since Sunday. After service we had some friends over, that night we had some much needed family time, and then we crashed. Yesterday I got to hang with one of my closest new friends here in GA. We took an adventurous canoe/fishing trek up the Little River. More canoing than fishin', but it was incredible. I didn't know that our county had such amazing sites! Thanks Bill for the invite. Maybe next time the wind will be at our backs.

We've been asked by a lot of friends, fellow church planters, and family how Sunday went. As far as our "experience easter at the embassy" things went great! We kicked the morning off with "when love comes to town" by Bono and B.B. King. Great song-great vibe, and it just started rollin' from there. We had 121 people, not that we focus on numbers, but numbers are people and I'd rather have more than less. Why? because several of those people defined their relationship with God on Sunday! And many others who have been coming to the embassy since our launched jumped in and served. That's what it's all about. As always the emc crew stepped up to the plate and I feel you guys hit a definite home run. Thanks for all you did.

Sunday just made me so proud to be a part of the embassy. It also made me realize that God is with us. Yes... I know he is, but sometimes you just need to know He is, you know. This weekend for me was just a gigantic confirmation that God has and is going to use the emc family to significantly impact our communities.

Well thanks again emc-ers for all you do. And thanks to everyone who was at the embassy for the first time on Sunday. I appreciate that you included us in your weekend plans. It was great getting to meet so many of you after the service.

Well I can't wait until next week. See ya then.

Reach Out and Do Crew

This Wednesday the Road Crew will be meeting at the Serene Bean on Main Street in Woodstock at 7pm.


If you want to help us "get the word out" about "experiencing easter at the embassy" be there.

We'll hang out at the Bean until 7:30 and then go place invitation cards around Woodstock until 9:00. It suprises me how large the percentage of people that have come to the embassy because of a simple invitation card.

T- minus 123 Hours and 20 minutes

Only five more days until our first "Experience Easter at the Embassy." I am so amped I can't wait. Last night we had our final meeting to go over the details and to make our final tweaks on the experience. The next five days will be crazy as we continue to "get the word out" and create the finishing touches on the service.

I love days like this. Days where it really shows what a team of people working together can do for Christ. Days when people who may have never had a relevant presentation of God's love presented to them will begin to see and connect with their creator at a deeper level. A-team days...."I love it when a plan comes together"-John "Hannibal" Smith.


I know the emc team will "go large" this weekend and I want to tell them thanks in advance. You guys are awesome and what you do is making a difference. Since our launch 14 weeks ago we have seen 6 adults express a desire to begin a relationship with Christ. That is so cool! I can't wait to see what God is going to do in people's lives this Sunday and over our next 14 weeks.

emc's first easter!

I can't believe we are just a week and 2 days away from our first "experience easter @ the embassy." People are inviting their friends and family. The Road crew (Reach out and do crew) are putting invitation cards out everywhere, and we are working on all the multi-media elements, music, and various things to make our first easter service an experience that will impact lives in a deep way. This easter We would love for you to show up and get a fresh look at God's passion for you and for your life.

I've been asked, "what's up with the photo?" The photo of the bald guy looking at the egg on his shoulder to be honest was used just because I liked it (don't blame anyone else if it's a stupid Idea). No really I used it without a clear idea of what story the photo could tell, but you know me I love to find meaning in everything. So as I think about it today for me this photo says that God is always near....so near that at times you feel him speaking to you. Your not sure if it's Him or not and it seems very familiar like the loony tune cartoons when the angel is on one shoulder and the devil (mandatory pitchfork included) is on the other.

The egg a symbol of life is resting on this guys shoulder and as the dude gives it the "what are you doing there" kind of look it makes me think about God the author of life's place in our lives. God is close, always speaking and for many an awareness of this is second nature, but there are others that when faced with the reality of God they say, "hey what are you doing there?" In a sense that's what easter sunday is all about. People getting up close and personal with the reality of God and finding out for themselves in a clearer way, "what's God up to when he shows up in their life."

I pray that as we load the last container into our trailer on easter sunday we will be able to do so knowing that we helped people begin to answer the question of "what's God up to in their lives?" Please keep this day in your prayers as we finish our preparations.

April Fools!

It's the first day of April and I guess the jokes on me. Why you may ask? It's 4am and I can't sleep. What gives? So after laying in bed for a few hours not really thinking about anything in particular just pestering Amie to stay up too, I decided to go outside. So here I am sitting on my porch with a cup of coffee and enjoying the sounds of frogs and I think what would be crickets or may be katydids or swarming locust. How many years has it been since the 17 year locust have done their thing? As a kid I remember gathering them into piles and torching them with gasoline. As I listened to the crackle I thought to myself how gross it would have been to be John the Baptist. You know with the whole honey and locust diet and all, but since then I have had chocolate covered grasshoppers and they weren't so bad.

I wonder if John ever sat outside at 4 in the morning? If he did, did the sound of bugs make him want to run for the border for a late night snack. That's the last thing I need right now. For sure a #1 at the old taco bell would keep me up until dawn. So I'll just sit here and caffienate myself a little more (a cup-o-joe always relaxes me at night).

Now John, that was a preacher.....man he sure could challenge people to life change and then point them to the one who could make it possible. I would have liked to have been John; minus the whole camel hair leisure suit and all. Oh, and the loosin' his head thing. You know to be honest what have I really sacrificed to be given the privilege of challenging people to life change and pointing them to Christ. I think most of us would say, "not that much." Anyhoo, there's no other life I would rather have so I think I'll just sit here a little longer and allow God to speak to my heart. You know what's great about God, whatever He shares with you He's not going to say, "April fools"

Disclaimer: These have been the words of a man half alseep and hopped up on java. Good night and Good luck. By the way did anyone see that movie? it did well at the oscars......what am I doing?......go to sleep already.......It was amazing how many awards Clooney got.......enough already log out and crash....now I am talking to myself. I must be more tired than I realize. G-night....really.