Archives for January 2008
Randome Friday Afternoon Thoughts…
- I know I say this every week, but I’m really excited about this weekend. I will be interviewing Terry Betz on how to make good decisions. We were together yesterday discussing it and I think it will be different, exciting but most of all informative and life changing (if you’ll apply it).
- I’m feeling much better! It’s amazing how much pressure not having to preach this weekend took off of me.
- I’ve been putting together what the first half of 2008 is going to look like and all I can say is WOW! We’re going to have some great series and just yesterday I lined up an outside guest speaker to come in that will blow you away…all I can say is she brings it hard, you’ll feel like you’ve been run over by a Mack Truck, but at the end you’ll go, “Wow I needed that!”
- Be praying that I can get another guest speaker as well to commit to coming in for our post Easter series. I’ll be basing that series off the book he wrote and I thought…how cool would it be for him to come in and do one of the messages himself.
- I love our worship team…they put in tons of ours each week both individually and then corporately so they can best lead you in worship each week. Last nights practice went well and then afterwards we always share prayer requests with each other and then pray. There’s tons of stuff going on in their lives so please pray for them when you get a chance.
- Speaking of prayer…pray for Earl…he has a bad cold.
- Our house is getting some pretty good response, so hopefully we can get it sold soon. Considering the market conditions right now, that would definelty be God.
- TGI Friday’s just introduced a white chicken chili that I had last night that you’ve got to try. Caution though…don’t eat it after 9PM like I did if you know what I mean.
- I can’t believe that some of you have voted for my sister in the “Camera War“. Come on people I clearly got the better shots! Look at them and then vote in the poll.
- Speaking of voting, I can’t believe that I’m already so into the presidential election. Maybe it’s because both sides are so wide open…should be interesting.
- So now that Christmas is over, comment below and let us all know what your highlight and low-light were for the holiday season.
- For me the highlight was getting some time off and finally getting to relax after months and months of near non-stop work. The low-light was how bad I felt after the 7PM Christmas Eve Experience.
- Alright…now it’s your turn…and we’d especailly like to hear from you out-of-towners. I know that people from all over the US are reading this…we’d like to get to know you…join in on the conversation.
Camera Battle
Not this Sunday but the next we’ll begin a new series called, “Everybody’s Normal Til You Get to Know Them.” I’m no exception. A few years back my sister and I both got digital cameras and somehow we now have an annual tradition of having a “camera battle.”
Basically it consists of both of us over a 2-3 minute period taking as many pictures of the other person as close as you can and at the same time. It’s a full-on wrestling match at some points and the object is to get the closest yet funny picture of the other one while at the same time avoid being photographed yourself. This year at the conclusion we decided that we’d let you vote on the winner. Open the attachments below to see some other pictures then vote here for the winner.
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Goals
In Craig Groeshchel’s blog today he reminded everyone of how to set goals. I know you’ve probably seen these before, but it’s a good reminder.
First, a good goal is specific. Don’t just say, “I’m going to get into great shape.” That’s a good idea, but it doesn’t tell you what to do Tuesday morning at 6:30. Better to say, “I’m going to lose ten pounds.” Or “I’m going to go from size 14 to size 10.” Or “I just want to jog a mile without dying.” And put a time frame on it. “I will lose ten pounds by May 31.”
Second, a good goal is attainable. If I said, “I will be an opera singer by year end,” it’s not going to happen. Mainly because I don’t like opera. But even if I did, no amount of training would get me there. For me to sing well would rival the miracle of the resurrection. If you have two car payments, credit card balances through the roof, first and second mortgages on your home, and a student loan, and you’re resorting to pawning your kids’ Legos, an attainable goal is not “I’ll be debt-free by Friday.” But you might be able to pay off one credit card in three months. How? That decision is up to you. Maybe you will stop eating out or cut cable television. You can do it. If you keep your goals within reach.
And third, a good goal is written. Writing a goal is the first level of accountability. You would not believe the difference in outcomes between a written and an unwritten goal. The Harvard graduating class of 1953 was surveyed to find how many students had written goals. Three percent. That’s right, only three out of one hundred had put pen to paper. Thirty years later, those same three percent had accumulated over ninety percent of the wealth of the entire graduating class. That’s the power of a written goal. Now turn that same power toward God’s vision for your life. Just think what a few words in black and white can do.
What are your goals for 2008?
New Year’s Thoughts and Vacation Wrap-up
- Happy New Year!
- Our trip to FL was quick and not very relaxing.
- I realized about part way through that all I kept thinking about was how much work I had to get done when vacation officially ends tomorrow…so I decided to invite Terry Betz to come deliver the same message he shared in the main sanctuary with us for this Sunday.
- Terry and I are going to do the message together in a Q&A style format. We’ll sit up at the table and have a conversation…only 100’s of people will be eavesdropping in.
- I’ve done these in the past and they are a lot of fun. Terry has some great info to share about decision making, so make sure you’re there and bring a friend or two along with you.
- During the summer I has an intern named Brian. All summer long, when I’d type his name I’s accidentally, type it as Brain. So his nickname became BRAIN. So imagine my delight when I’m browsing through the in-flight magazine and find a toy robot you can buy for your kid called “Brian the Brain.”
- I was playing soccer with my 2 nephews the other day. We were rotating between who was goalie and at one point it was me and my nephew Jordan against his 6 year old brother Adam. I made a “fancy” behind the back pass to Jordan who easily scored a goal to which Adam responded, “Hey Gilbert you’re not allowed to use your magical powers when were playing soccer.”
- In the 14 years now that I’ve been a Christian, I think I can still count on 1 hand the number of times I’ve missed a church service on a weekend. The few times that it has happened was because of either weather being so bad that services were cancelled or I was EXTREMELY sick. What I’m getting at is just because your on vacation, doesn’t mean you should take a vacation from church. So no matter where Lisa and I find ourselves, we always find some place to attend. This past Sunday we had actually already arrived home so we went to a church in Hagerstown called The Life House.
- It’s always nice being able to attend somewhere else and not have to worry about all the logistics.
- We enjoyed the service and it’s definitely a church that I’d recommend you send your friends to if Chambersburg is too far away or if they just don’t care for 1 of our 3 styles of worship experiences.
- I listened to Earl’s message on Monday and then to Terry’s yesterday. Thought they both did a good job!
- I thought last night’s party went well for a first time out.
- With 4 bands and all the additional equipment, I thought Andy did a great job of minimizing the technical conflicts. Yeah there were some but if you could see and understand everything he had to do to pull that off, you’d be amazed.
- A huge thanks to the worship team from Crossroads (another Hagerstown church I’d recommend) and to the Safety of Routine for coming out and being a part of the festivities.
- Of course thanks to our own band for playing as well!
- My favorite part though was the combined band at the end.
- Oh yeah…I lied…my favorite part was hearing that Tom Weil…one of the let’s just call him “older” party participants wanted to start a mosh pit down front. Now I’m not really into moshing, but if that’s what Tom wanted, we wanted to make sure he got his wish. Thanks Tom for showing us young-uns how to have a “good time.”
- Thanks to all of you who helped with the planning and execution of the event. Click this link here to give feedback on your highlights and what we can do to improve on it in coming years.
- Again Happy New Year!