Flight of the Dwarf Moth Butterfly

So it's been a long time since a highly produced video has hit the blog...well...there is sarcasm in that. My friend Loren gave us a caterpillar in a small cup. We almost forgot about him as "lil Jimmy" has been on the window for a few weeks now. Yesterday, I was sitting at our bar and heard something, next you will see what I heard. Magnificent!!!!

Butterfly

Just a note...

So we had a spend the night party last night.  Went to Fuse to help Pastor Sandy Gibbes and then went to eat with the Cheat, Rhett Cheatham.  After enjoying the modern day manna of Chick-fil-a...Sandy and I convinced Cheatham to come spend the night with us.  We spent an hour bonding over me crushing their faces in Halo 2.  How fun.  It's fun to have fun friends.  Speaking of one of them, this is a picture of my friend Billy Roger's dog...so funny.  His name is Mogley. 

Does anyone need a registration packet for the Cooper River Bridge Run????

Facebook

And you thought you couldn't make money being social, read this about Facebook.

My sister makes the news

So my sister has a pretty cool job.  She works at the Hague in the Netherlands.  The Hague is the UN's place where they put internation war criminals on trial...such as Milosevic who just died in prison.  She has a pretty cool job.  So apparently she is a Dutch pimp because they wrote an article and used her to teach people how to flirt with Dutch men.  Hilarious.

few things I like...

So I totally have the greatest friends ever. I think I got more emails, phone calls, facebook messages, etc etc than ever before. My mommy sent me the sweetest card too.

It really is nice to have friends all over the place. I am so thankful for all of them, and if you are reading this, you are probably one of them. Unless you are one of those weirdos that searches google for really strange stuff and ends up finding my blog. Well I guess that says I'm strange too because, well anyway. Oh yeah, I also have a super sweet girlfriend who made me two cakes and extremely fat over the weekend. She's also a great gift giver and quite attractive. I mean, not that I look for that kinda thing in a girl. uh huh.

I have been visiting different churches for a while now. I never really feel that feeling that most people feel when they want to become apart of something. Some people say that you should just go, commit, and then it will grow on you. I just have never felt like that, it's like I don't want to taste a meal for the first time, not like it, but continue eating it because someone says I will aquire a taste for it. No, I want to like it from the first bite and continue to like it more and more, ie. Zaxby's and Chick-fil-a. But anyway. I visited CrossPoint in Clemson this weekend and liked it the first time. I felt welcome and it was a very friendly environment. There were many people there that I've crossed paths with through the years so that was neat. The teaching was superb and just right on point. He went through verse by verse and still provided a relevant message. It's a tough thing to find a church that can have a relevant message and still have solid biblical teaching and an open and welcoming atmosphere.

I have to admit, I straight up watch people. On business trips, I am a people watcher, in airports, I am a people watcher. Well, in church, I am a people watcher. A woman that was sitting a few rows across from me was crying during the message. You could tell that she was fighting it and was doing the thing girls do when they try to fight crying. The keep pushing out the corner of their eye as if their eyes are doing something wrong. It's neat to see a visual of what conviction and understanding does in a person, it's goooood.

I also like funny stories, like Stunningman's girlfriend, everytime she visits, I make her tell me a gross story about her doctor's office. It's so funny and gross to hear, but I luv it. We all went to Wild Wing on Friday and I got to her some new ones from another friend of ours...well, Standy had a hard time eating after a few of them, if that tells you anything.

I started listening to Relient K again and also to The Fray...man, now that's good stuff. Not to mention that I love Johnny Cash and his music is GOOOOOOD.

News from the air force 1a Jet

You will enjoy this nice lil video from the office of Air Force 1A. Home of my private jet.

Jesus Videos

So every once in a while, I stumble across a video that I just must share. These videos take a look at people's perceptions of Jesus and their ideas about who He is and how He feels about us. This is hilarious and I guess, when you really think about it...sad.

Jesus Video #1
Jesus Video #2
Jesus Video #3
Jesus Video #4

Way of the Master

I have spoken about these guys many times. Yes, it's Kirk Cameron from "Growing Pains." I started listening to Ray Comfort before his ministry really took off. He now has a show on Sirius radio and it's podcasted for those of you ITUNERS. Just go to Podcast and "Way of the Master" is the podcast. Amazing. I could listen to it all day.

These guys have such a whit about them which allows them to communicate the gospel very clearly, sometimes with a little controversy.

Song of Solomon

So for the past few weeks I have been helping with Song of Solomon. I am not a big promoter of someone or something unless I really believe in it. I'm very critical of what I tell people to listen and learn from. I heard Song of Solomon taught by Tommy Nelson my freshman year of college. He spoke at Ridgecrest and it was super good. I have listened to the messages a bazillion times and always learn something new. He goes through the Song of Solomon verse by verse and teaches how a man is to pursue a woman, date a woman, respect, love, affirm, court, romance, and eventually, well...the romance and sex parts :). I have heard many sermons on dating and they all offer good advice but in reality, many of them are some man's opinion of what he has or does with his wife. Good advice is good, but when you hear something directly from the Word it holds so much more power and weight. Probably one of the biggest struggles in mature Christian singles is dating. We just don't have a clue. I know most guys don't. In the Bible, God always spoke to men two times...Saul Saul, Moses Moses, Samuel Samuel. We need help! The conference goes through:

Art of Attraction
Art of Dating
Art of Courtship
Art of Conflict
Art of Romance
Art of Intimancy
Art of Commitment

You will learn things that are in the Bible that you never thought would be there. Unless you understand the cultural context and history, many of the ideas and verses won't make as much sense. Like...Solomon talks about the womans...well, I'll just let you listen to the teaching yourself. Some of it might make you turn red :)

The next conference will be in Columbia, SC on March 31-April 1. It starts on a friday night at First Baptist Church. It will start again on Saturday morning from like 9 until noon. You can register online at SongofSolomon.com.

It is a good conference if you are single, dating, or married. If you are in college, I think the cost is around $20. If you would like to volunteer, there are a few tickets available free.

I totally just had a commercial on my blog. :)

A good read

Blake Wilbank's post on preaching.

Enough Said.

talk about a sign...

I was driving down the road one afternoon and saw this sign.

The feeling of getting it done

This totally should not make me happy. Yes, I just took a picture of my bed. See, after buying a house from Stunningman, he left much of his furniture in the house until he bought another house. Yes, I was sleeping in Stunningman's bed until the repo man himself came and took everything, haha. Hey, he's got another house now, and his furniture needed him. So I have been furniture shopping. 4 years ago, I could have cared less to go furniture shopping, how boring. Well, I have become domesticated. I think I used that word right. Anyway, I have been roaming around looking at beds, couches, and all sorts of other stuff. Being the manly men we are, Standy and I got a nice tv and surround sound system before we really got anything else. Men. Mizz Wezz went with me to Greenville yesterday, well we didn't actually go. On the way there, I asked her if she minded driving to Atlanta on a whim. She was happy, so off we went. I bought a bed! It didn't fit very well in the back of my Jeep, so we stuffed it. I really wanted to get a really cool bed that looked different. I got home around 11:30 and could not go to sleep. I kept looking at the box and had to start putting it together. When I get something on my mind, I have to get it done. I stayed up until about 1:30 putting it together. Today, I went and bought a phat mattress...ammmmm....a beauty rest. How awesome it is. So right now, I'm laying in my new bed, new mattress, and very thankful for my job and the things God has blessed me with. It feels so good to work really hard and sit back and relax after everything gets done.

On a side note, I went to a Vietnamese restaurant on Monday night. You are talking about good. I had never eaten anything like that, so good, and so healthy. They bring out this big bowl of soup with shrimp, chicken, and beef. Then they bring out a plate full of stuff that looks like they got it from the backyard. You pull the leaves off and put it in your soup. I really like eating at the "not so normal" places. I also met a man inside that taught us some really cool ninja type moves, popped my friends back, and then found out that I went to school with his son. A very fun evening.

On another note and I have talked about this many times. Why are women breastfeeding all over the place these days? I mean c'mon. Just because the weather is getting warm and people are throwing frisbees does not mean you can do that in a restaurant. I mean...at least try to shield yourself! Men cannot have a normal conversation with a woman if she has her boob in her hand, I don't care how natural many of you say that is. Maybe in Africa, but not in Walhalla, SC. haha. 

on the road again

It seems like lately, I have been on the road nonstop and the funny
thing, I love it. There is something about going from place to place
that does it for me. Seeing new people, eating at new restaurants,
and of course, king size hotel bed, or queens too. I'm going to start
helping my friend Ashley with the Song of Solomon conferences as an
MC. Today it snowed really hard and worried that kids might not come
but they did, so that's good news. I got to do something today that
I've always wanted to do. Well I shouldn't say always wanted to do,
but u know what I mean. I asked the kids to say the "S" word really
loud in church, in the sanctuary of all places. Yes, I had the repeat
the "SEX" word really loud. It was great and made my day. Everything
went well and I really hope these kids carry home something of good
use!

Derwin Grey was the speaker and he did a good job. At one point, he
was explaining to the kids about how to "consummate" the marriage.
But instead of saying "consummate", he says, and this is how you
"constipate" the marriage. I about lost it. Whitley, you would have
definitely lost it. We get to get up tomorrow and do it all over
again, fun times ahead!

Not that you asked

Have you ever had one of those days where you really can't remember anything? One of those days where you really can't remember if you put deodorant on in the morning. You have a feeling that it is not there, so you have to do the "stick your finger in your armpit" test. Don't act like you haven't done it. We need honesty here people. Well the good news is...I do have on deodorant and the reason I thought I didn't was because it's the gel kind. I do not think I am a fan of the gel kind. It's like putting on 3 hours of working out in the morning. Well not that I know what 3 hours of working out would feel like or what it would translate into underarm sweat, but I can imagine.

On a serious note, a friend of mine plans conferences for Song of Solomon. This is the absolute best teaching I have ever heard on the subject of dating/love/sex/conflict/marriage etc. If you have a youth group, there will be a few conferences in this area. The link for students is here and for college age and adult is here. The conferences around this area are in Columbia, Charlotte, and Taylors.

Fumblin around in Boston

Greetings campers...so I had to come up to the northeast part of our fine country this week for work. I had to work through Thursday but decided to call up a buddy of mine, John Scott and stay with him at Harvard. Yes, he is a nerd.

People up here seem to love the horn. It's amazing how many times a day you will hear the horn blow. I really want to look at most of them and say..."is your day that rushed that you need to act like an idiot?" I chose not to...in fear that they might pull out a gat and mow me down.

The city is pretty awesome downtown. They have MANY places to eat which qualifies as a good city in my book. I also discovered that it is impossible to have a car up here, you cannot park it. You might be able to drive around and get cursed at and beeped at, but you will not park your car, so fill up, drive around is what you do. :)

I really like messing with people on airplanes. As we were getting off the plane in DC, I noticed that a woman was listening to my conversation with a co-worker. So I say.."The President is going to be so excited to see us." I don't know why that stuff really makes me happy. Haha. I could have kept it going, but i figured that was enough.

I walked around Harvard yesterday, I felt like I was making all the students dumber just by walking by them. Someone told me that I even "looked southern." Now how in the world do you look Southern if you are not dressed southern. I had on dress pants, a long sleeve polo, etc. ??? Even Northern people have hair on their face. I should have asked.

Anywho, I'm going to roam around again. :)

Ray Comfort and the Gorilla Suit

Latest Article on the web.

I absolutely love these type of articles.  Charles Spurgeon once said "It would be very easy to prove that revivals of religion have usually been accompanied, if not caused, by a considerable amount of preaching out-of-doors, or in unusual places".  Interesting to read that quote and then read this article. 

Winterplace Ski Trip

 
 

After much ado and not knowing if we would have snow, our group ended up in West Virginia and it was quite a fun weekend! At age 25, things don't repair as quick as they used to.

See Pictures

So we had a party one time

 


So we had a New Years Eve Party. I think it was one of the most "fun" things we have done at the house since purchase. Rhett had originally thought it would be a good idea to have an oyster roast. The Sanch and I were hip to the idea so we set out to get it done. I think it was the most fun in the world to plan this thing. You never realize how much planning and work goes into a party for a lot of people until you start to actually plan one.

My mom and I met my cousin Mike down at the beach for the oysters. It was some good mother/son bonding. Mike took us out in his boat and we found some really huge oyster beds to get the "select" type oysters. (These type are the best and usually cost the most because they are big and snotty) We picked about 6 bushels in 2 hours and it was a lot of fun. A shrimp tried to attack me in the process, but anyway. Great time.

Back to the party. As the party got closer, I started to realize that more and more people were going to be coming. I was excited. I love people and the more the merrier is my attitude. A local "restaurant" sponsored our sweet tea and crushed ice. Some of the neighbors saw our coolers and oysters all in the driveway and kinda wondered what was going on. I invited them also. She replied that she and her husband were "kinda dorky." I then explained to her that she would fit right in with myself and friends, because we were also very dorky. She laughed.

The party ended up being a big fun ol time and we probably had between 50-60 people which was awesome. All random and different types of people. Sandy and I kinda wondered how we would "entertain" everyone but after about the first hour, I realized that people were entertaining themselves. When you have guys (Eddie) volunteer to put a helmet on and allow other guys (sanch, me, and jason) shoot fireworks at his head, that is classic and serves as good-hearted entertainment. I think I stayed up until about 5:30 that night. We brought 2006 in, very strong!

After all was said and done, I really had some just humbling thoughts about the kingdom of God. Man, there is a party coming that we cannot even imagine. The greatest party that has ever been thrown. It's in the planning stages and..well...has been since before the beginning of time. WHAT??? I like that kinda party. It's going to have the most random group of people you have ever seen. There are going to be people with funny hair, funny accents, and funny beards. There will be a smile on everyones face. It's tough as you live your daily life to really think about the future and what God's party will look like. Right now, we are in the planning stages. I've learned that some will not respond to the invitation, some will deny the invitation, some will have better things to do, and some will join full force and even begin to help in the preparation of it.

I started reading the parable of the Great Banquet. Jesus was telling a story about a guy who threw this massive party. Some of his invitees began to say they had better things to do.

See, the meal was prepared way beforehand. The party planner would decide on what type of meat to eat based on how many people were coming. If he killed a calf, 35-75 people could have eaten. The people that were invited did not want to come.

21"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'

22" 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'

23"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "

The idea of giving an order to go out everywhere you can with no regard to class and get as many people as you can amazes me. Do not pick just the "white ones." Do not pick just the "black ones." Do not just pick the middle class. Actually, I would rather you pick the ones that are socially challenged and the ones that are sick, hurt, unmarried, lame, blind. Yeah those are the people I want to come to my party.

I just totally wrote a book but this idea of a coming kingdom and massive party gets to me. I think if you are the average American Christian, you probably have a stack of invitations that you have never given out. OOOOOO, He is good to us!

A friend of mine called tonight and told me that a high school friend of hers suddenly passed away at age 27. It made me think about the people in my life who I have yet given an invitation to. 

a man and a woman

There was a man who got married about 5 years ago.  He remembered the day like it was yesterday.  All the people that were there, friends he had not seen in a long time, the food was excellent, music was great, and his bride looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her.  Since that day, he has never told one single person about her.  Not a co-worker, not a friend, and especially not his family members.  He never shares stories about her and the things she has done for him.  He never talks about all of her great qualities or any of the things he likes about her.  What do you think of this man?  Do you think he really cares about her?  Does he love his wife?

I was thinking yesterday about being more intentional in my conversations and my life.  For most of the past years I have been very confrontational with my faith and super outgoing.  Recently, I have allowed myself to be a lil more passive and this is not right.  I don't care anymore about trying to argue theology of who is chosen and who is not.  I am going to spend my time encouraging people to live out the command of telling your neighbor, family, friend, or enemy about Jesus.  The command is the one thing we do know w/o a shadow of doubt.  Go and make disciples.  Spend your time telling the good news.  The incredible thing about the Lord is that everyday is a new one.  We don't have to wait until the New Year to change things around.  We don't have to spend another year worrying about what happened last year.  We are new creations if we are in Christ.  Our life is hidden in His.  I don't know of a better resting place.  If you have spent most of your life like the man in the story above, today is a new day.  I like new days.

I also like a full tank of gas.  I like my roomies too.  I also like cops who cut tickets in half.  They make me happy.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. I have been very slow on the blogs lately. I spared a few of you.

So I will post a new year post very soon because I want all of you to be jealous you were not at our party, what a blast.

For now, I am about to show you the dumbest video you will see in 2006. My mom and I went down to the beach to dig the oysters for our party. (it was an oyster roast). After we got the oysters, me and my lil sister decided to shoot a small video about what oysters must feel.

Enjoy it here.

ARrrrrrr

The power is out in a lot of places, trees are down, ice is on the roads. A mess. I echo what Sleeve talks about on his blog sometimes. I just want to do something adventurous today, like go driving through a mountain or do something redneck like drive through the mud. There was a tree down in our neighborhood, it took everything in me to fight the feeling to hook my jeep up to it and drag it out the way. Well the powerlines attached to it encouraged me a small bit. I did get to put my Jeep in 4wd on the way to work, what a feeling that is to throw it in there on the fly. Of course you have to beat your chest and do a big growl when you do it. It's manly.

Recently

First of all, I have seen Narnia 2 times now.  I absolutely love the movie.  It will get you excited about the Kingdom.  The thought of a coming King who is majestic, mysterious, and about a zillion other adjectives.  A God who is not safe, tame, or comfortable always, but a God that is GOOD.  That will get you excited.  If not, you got the wrong wood on the fire.   Go see it.

I will reiterate what many people have said about the John Mayer Trio album.  You should definitely go buy it.  It's the type of music that makes your head move and you have to make funny faces when you listen to it.  There are a few songs on it that I would call...in blog safe terms...very "smooth." 

I'm learning that God will actually really definitely assuredly supernaturally intervene in our lives when we need Him to.  Next part will be able to teach me to listen and be sensitive to hear.  TOUGH.

If you are reading this, you are probably one of my friends or some random person who googled something weird and found my blog, either way, I want to say that you mean a lot to me and I appreciate all of you.  Your friendships are VERY encouraging. 

This Morning

In my Jeep this morning, I followed a policeman just to make him nervous.

Little Switzerland

Take a few days off to head up the mountains, a big huge gargantuan pot of chilli, a few friends, and you will have an awesome weekend full of deeper friendships combined with a lot of gas. Sandy!

A group of us went up to stay at Sandy's parents mountain house in Little Swizerland, NC. It was the type of weekend where you go with the full intention of doing nothing for a few days. I mean nothing. Of course, eating is always a huge part of anything I want to be involved in, amen. Sandy, me, meredith orten, and amy wyatt went up on Thursday night to get a jump start on the weekend. Sandy and I went shopping to make sure we had all the right fixins. Fun times at the local wally world. Did you know that powder sugar only costs 1.00. I thought that was quite a deal. Anyway. Everyone else came up on Friday night. Rhett Cheatham, Loren T., Whityey, Joe S, Tavaras B, Melodacious, and a co-worker of mine, PEDRO whom we call Pedo, which means, the fart. It was a name given to him at work and it has just stuck. hilarious.

We did absolutely nothing the whole weekend. I'll define nothing by saying...a few games of cards, foosball, celebrity, and sitting by the fire drinking hot chocolate, apple cider, and bringing in wood every now and then. It's good to get away from everything and just take a break from what you call your life. A place where cell phone signals are few, emails are not popping up, and you are just alone with nature, friendships, and a really cool view of the mountains. We laughed the entire weekend.

Saturday night, we had a time where we all sat down for dinner. Melody made spaghetti and it twas good. It's amazing that we don't really sit down in big groups for dinner as much as people like our parents did in the past. We live in such a fast paced Zaxby's kinda world. I shouldn't say that Zaxby's is fast paced because they actually pride themselves on preparing your food in a timely manner and they are NOT a fast food restaurant. Anyway. It was really neat to sit at a table with your friends and just talk, eat, and have fun. Sandy said it was a tradition to talk about something good that has happened in our lives in the past week etc. So we started it and went around and shared. Everyone had something to say that was meaningful to them. It was really encouraging to sit and listen to everyone share something from their heart. It's SO easy to speak from the surface of our lives and just say that things are good, when they are not, to say that finances are good, when we are broke, to say that you are growing and learning, when well, you are not. Everyone opened up and shared and it was like you could see faces and hearts start to really open up. It's amazing that we long for that type of interaction but we don't really work for it. I think I know why. To really get to know someone and dig into their life, you have to let them see your life. You have to lay yourself bare and allow them to see your sin for what it is. You become vulnerable. I don't know of one single person, much less man that desires to be vulnerable in any way or form of the word. I think I am learning that it is okay to be vulnerable and for people to know your struggles and problems. When we open up and share our intimate thoughts and feelings, it creates an atmosphere where others can also feel comfortable to share theirs, and we can all grow together.

As believers, we are called to love each other, to care for each other, to share our struggles as well as our blessings.

This weekend taught me a lot about the power of friendships that go deeper than the topsoil. God is continually showing me more and more of what He desires me to be. The hard part is that it hurts to be scaled down and broken apart. He wants what is good for us and in return we will glorify Him by pointing people to His Son by the love that we have for each other.

Psalm 51:17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart, oh God, you will not despise" 

Grace

A spider danced across my windshield yesterday, I fought the urge to turn on the windshield wipers. 

The Deep End

I grew up in the pool. I think my mom had me in the water everyday or in the river. I was swimming by about age 3. I have distinct memories of the middle of our pool. We had an above ground pool. My dad wanted to make it deeper so we dug out the middle of it to make it deeper. It was shallow around the outside, but on the inside, it was about 2 feet deeper. At a good game of marco polo, u always knew where you were when your nose would start to snort water. We also spent a lot of time at our neighbors. They had an in-ground pool with a distinct shallow and deep end. Those were the good ol days, playing in the pool, then eating ice-cream sandwiches and hot dogs. MMMM.

I feel like I'm in the shallow end of a pool of all black water. Something is pulling me to the deep end and I can't see a thing. I can't even see my feet in the shallow end, much less what it will be like in the deep end.

I guess I've said before that I don't really know where I fit in. I don't feel called to be part of "normal church" as we know it. I went to hear a guy speak this weekend and I think it has revolutionized my heart. His name is Wolfgang Simson. He's a German church planter and has been all over the world planting churches and teaching people. His talks blew my mind. The purprose of his message was to get back to authentic worship and the type of church that Acts speaks about. A place where people share, don't gossip, sell things to pay bills, give away life, and eat together. Most of church today does not have a "real" look or feel to it. We go meet at a certain time, get out fill, then leave. Most leave unchanged. The focus of the church has been to get people to church. Pack the place out. And if it gets too big, build a bigger building. The focus is not on taking the church to people. Meaning, believers being trained and discipled, and going out into the world and showing them church. Wolfgang spoke a lot about what it will take to have this real fellowship and to take the church to the world. It's in the form of a house church. A place where people come together, eat real food, eat the Word, sing, confess sins to each other, and grow. The home is a place where you cannot hide your life. It's easy to hide our lives behind a pulpit. The first church I ever spoke at was interesting. I walked in the door and nobody in there knew who I was. It was awesome. They didn't treat me special because I was the guy speaking, they didn't know who I was. For all they knew, I was a stranger come in from the street. I could have been anyone to those people. I could have spoke about things that I do not live. I could share a life that I don't have. The same is true of many pastors. Most members will never share a meal with their pastor, will never see him interact with his family, or will never see how he handles his finances. It's a very personal thing to eat with someone in their home. You can see their dvds, you can see their books, you see how organized their life is. There is no way to hide! How scary! I think it frightens me sometimes if people get too close to my life. Am I scared that they may find something that would cause them to not like me? Who knows. I'm thinking through a lot of these things and just wondering what it will take to reach people like in the book of Acts. Church growth is not adding people from other churches, it's adding new people to the Kingdom. The growth that existed in Acts was new converts. Thousands, daily. Where do you put these people? Could they have built these buildings fast enough? Most of these people went to house churches. The branched off and would come back together and meet as a whole.

What does a house church look like? It's a place where a person or family opens their home to people. They share a meal together, study and read the Word together. And not only read together, but talk about how the words they read are going to change their lives. How is the Bible going to transform me? How is it transforming me? The last thing Wolf said was that they would gather around and pray. They would go in a circle and encourage each other, maybe in something from the Lord, maybe with just a verse, but something to spur one another on. We practiced this at our table in a room of about 50 people. Tables were about 6-7 a piece. The guy who said something to me did not know me. But he spoke directly to me. How could someone do that? I say God. He spoke about something that pertained only to me that day I felt like. A morsel of food God sent to keep me hungry again. Man what a crazy day it was. It feels so good to know when God is at work again. To know that He has not given up on you and He still wants to use you. I still am clueless about so many things, so many things, and so many things. But I do know that God is still God, He's the same one forever and ever.

I am so far behind in what I am to do, but I feel like I have more direction, that's now enough for me. I know the director and he's still moving His hands at the right part of the song. I can wait.

On a side note, Columbia was awesome this weekend and a win over Carolina was good. More importantly was to see Jason's life group in action. It's neat to see a bunch of strangers come together in Jesus' name. They were super awesome and so fun to be around. I really believe God is about to do some really crazy things around the Columbia area that could have implications in other places. I love to see people think radically outside the box about God. The craziest things can happen. I love crazy things.

Dillon Strikes Again

After the wonderful victory over the University of Chicken, Dillon's own Shipp Daniel makes the cover.

On a side note, I do believe that the gamecock crow is going to be the siren that is played over and over in Hell.

Good conversation

I really like to listen to a guy name Todd Friel. He is controversial and really makes people think. Some of you might like to listen to this.

Todd Friel talking to high school kids.

More than this

Times are going fast and life has passed me. I'm just trying to catch up, hang on, etc. So officially a homeowner! Exciting times ahead. We settled everything yesterday and finally closed on the house. I left feeling a little disillusioned. I was excited but there was something else I was feeling. It took me a few hours to really feel what it was. I think partly it was the fact that well..."wow, that was a lot of money." But I don't even think it was the money, I think a big part of the feelings was the thought that I have committed to something big. I think commitment really sobers you up from the fast pace of life. The other thing I have been feeling lately is that I have let life run over me. I let it. God made our days for something bigger than having a good job, money, friends, and a mortgage. There is something in me right now that says something big is on the horizon. Ever feel like that? I never really feel anxious about anything. I really think that God has blessed me in that area. I never worry. I have a good life. Somewhere in the past year, I have made a provision for life to pass me. Scripture speaks of not giving the devil a foothold in your life and not making a provision for your flesh. Mainly it's speaking about lust and the things of the body, but you can apply that to so many other things in your life. I think most of my past year, I've just let the world and surrounding dictate what I do on a daily basis. I haven't grabbed my days by the horn and done something that I really wanted to do. None of this probably makes sense, and that's okay, because my blog is therapeutic for me. Right now, I just feel like something is just around the corner in my life that is going to be crazily good and from above. I've had so many thoughts lately about big things that I want to do with my spare time right now. I don't have everything sorted out and a true direction, but I do have some baby steps. I will take them. I want to do something that has some eternal impact. We think so small, I know I do. We believe that...all the big things in the faith must be done by people blessed with organization, money, time, smarts, or many other excuses. That's crap and from below.

I've been thinking about a lot of other crazy things too. Ever really wonder why you are the way you are? Were you born that way? Did your social conditions do the most to shape you? If you look at my left ear, it def. sticks out more than my right ear. Anyway. I didn't get serious about living for the Lord until probably my senior summer of high school. I think that's when the Lord really started working in and around me. I began to read my Bible and just grew. I didn't listen to sermons, I didn't read Christian books. I didn't wear a Jesus bracelet. I would just read. I wanted to go to school in the Navy, but ended up being color-blind so I had to sit home a semester before starting Clemson. I would just read every single night. If I would fall asleep, God would wake me up and instantly, I would start reading. I was disciplined. It was a good time of growth, real good. I have never been directly involved in a church. I've always been on the outside looking in. I just never really felt like it was my place or that I didn't really belong there. These are feelings that I am sorting out. I've been apart of churches, helped in their ministry, and done things behind the scenes but I just have never really had this deep desire to be involved in one church. Something in me these days is telling me that I prob. won't ever be. I'm always going to be on the outside and roaming around. I don't know what that looks like yet or where it will go, it's just what I feel and have felt for a long time. I do not believe that everyone is called to that type of life. For most people, it might be harmful. But for me, I do well having people around me that are good and from above, friends that care about the Lord more than themselves, for the most part. Wow, we struggle there. I raise my hand first. I'm the worst. Back to church, I feel like God is leading me to something that will help glue churches together and make it where we will care about souls. Somewhere in our growth, the church seems to have forgotten about the souls of people. We forgot that Hell really does exist and people will go there. Do we care about the lost? Think about all the books that are out right now. They all seemed to be focused on what God can do for us and how our lives can be complete. Does this bother anyone? This life is not about us. In Philemon, Paul was writing to this small church that was meeting. He really loved them and wanted to encourage them because he heard good things about their faith. He tells them in verse 6..."I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so that you will have a full understanding of everything good thing we have in Christ" How do we REALLY know what we have until we explain it to someone. Man, that's good. I miss opportunities all the time to share my faith, but as soon as you finally share with someone, there is no feeling quite like that. It encourages every part of you and the people around you. Christianity isn't just about witnessing to people, it's about exciting and refreshing the hearts of people around you.

It seems that most of today's modern churches have an inward focus. I know, right now, of one church that does evangelism training. One. I think most churches really believe the sign out front that says..."Walmart, it's not the only saving place" is their evangelism. We are missing it. This world is not going to be reached by just inviting people to church. That is not the heart of what Jesus taught. I'm not saying it's bad to invite someone to church, that's great. Jesus' greatest ministry took place during the one-to-one relationships He had. They multiplied from that. Evangelism is not about how great your videos are at church, it's not about how great your singers can sing, it's about having a contagious faith. This is convicting for me to type. God has done the work, He has paved the path that we will walk, in His blood. How often do we cry for lost people around us? Who cares whether or not God chooses or He doesn't? I have spent way too much of my time wondering that one. He has commanded us to care for the lost people around us. Who knows if God will save them? He didn't ask us to save people, He commanded us to speak and encourage them, He will do the rest. I do such a crappy job at encouraging people. I have a friend that really believes in me. A friend that always challenges me to think outside of myself and get out of my world for a little while. A friend that sometimes makes me mad. The madness will go away and I'll realize the truth. Mmmm, that's good. It's so good to be encouraged and have someone push you along into doing something eternal. Mmmm...good.

Quote from Wise Cheatham

My boy Rhett and I were sitting in Zaxby's when he spoke these words::

"There is nothing like seeing a girl pray and then tear into some hot wings" - Rhett Cheatham

Friday!

You never really know where you stand until you look to see what is around you.

On on a side-bar...Today is the annual MARKETING VS. ENGINEERING SOFTBALL GAME.  GET EXCITED CORPORATE AMERICA!

Excellent Football Players.

I should get a raise.

So our company picks a few people to give out candy to the entire company. Guess who got picked?

Sad News

It's amazing that this is going on in our world right now.

SC Native

Yes, this woman is from Lancaster, SC. I honestly think she wants to have my children. :) Good song! Julie Roberts is her name.

Mile marker 203
The gas gauge leanin on the edge of E
And I'll be damned if the rain ain't pourin down
Theres somethin smokin underneath the hood
Its a bangin and a clangin and it cant be good
And its another 50 miles to the nearest town

Everything I owns in the back in a heafty bag
I'm out of cigarettes and I'm down to my last drag

Chorus:
I'd sure hate to break down here
Nothin up ahead or in the rearview mirror
Out in the middle of nowhere knowin
I'm in trouble if these wheels stop rollin
So God help me keep me movin somehow
Dont let me start wishin I was with him now
I made it this far without cryin a single tear
And I'd sure hate to break down here

Under 50 thousand miles ago
Before the bad blood and busted radio
You said I was all you'd ever need
But love is blind and little did I know
That you were just another dead end road
Paved with pretty lies and broken dreams
Baby leavin you is easier than being gone
I dont know what I'll do if one more thing goes wrong

Chorus:
I'd sure hate to break down here
Nothin up ahead or in the rearview mirror
Out in the middle of nowhere knowin
I'm in trouble if these wheels stop rollin
So God help me keep me movin somehow
Dont let me start wishin I was with him now
I made it this far without cryin a single tear
And I'd sure hate to break down here oh no

I'd sure hate to break down here
Nothin up ahead or in the rearview mirror
Out in the middle of nowhere knowin
I'm in trouble if these wheels stop rollin
So God help me keep me movin somehow
Dont let me start wishin I was with him now
I made it this far without cryin a single tear
And I'd sure hate to break down
Its too late to turn around
I'd sure hate to break down here

Mile marker 215...

More Ferrari

So I have many videos that I keep finding of our Ferrari adventure. Here is another one of a man starting from a dead stop and allowing the Ferrari to pick up a little speed. I'm not sure who was driving :).

Ferrari leaves cars in dust.(right click and save target as)

I'm clean at a cost

So my roomie and friend Lee Stunningman and I had a nice lil dinner last night at Ancheux's which included a Blackjack sandwich.  It's a blackened chicken sandwich that is from the Lord.  It includes tater chips that are seasoned with what I think is also from above.  Anyway.

We left and went to Walmart.  I bought a ceramic heater that has a nice lil thermostat and it beeps.  Ok, I confess.

I bought a loofah.  I have wanted one for a long time because I don't really use a wash cloth.  I used to think I was in the minority and didn't really think anything about not using a wash cloth.  I realized that many people, mainly guys, apply the bar soap directly to their body.  Some girls might find this disgusting, and it just may be.  I mean, when I get out the shower, i smell clean...anyway.  So back to the Loofah.  I felt kinda silly buying a loofah.  While I was in the act of being gay, I saw a nice bottle of liquid soap that would go nicely with the loofah.  Yes, it was something along the lines of Butter pecan honey or something to that effect.  So about 10 minutes later, while trying to hold my ceramic heater and 3 dvds, I dropped the soap and loofah and the soap busted and went all over the place.  So now clean-up had to come over and clean my mess up.  The woman that came over was the same woman I had just met in the bathroom.  Well, she was cleaning the men's bathroom and I walked in as she was walking out.   She made me wait a few minutes.  She was in a hurry.  I think she thought I might have had to "really" use it.  But I really just needed to pee.  So when I saw her the 2nd time, I figured she might look at me funny, like.."oh this guy again."  She was really nice and I thanked her for cleaning up my mess.  I did purchase the loofah and bottle of soap, minus the few ounces I left on the floor. 

I will report that I smell like a honey nut cheerio today and my skin is soft and smooth.  I love my new loofah. 

Dillon, SC is on the Map

Not only is Dillon, SC boasting such names as Ed Edwards, Jason Grier, Chris Moody, Justin Tanner, Chris McDuffie, and the list could go on, but the town is now boasting to be the hometown of the new Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke.  He will be confirmed very soon!  He actually worked at South of the Border.  This man will become one of the most powerful men in the world!

Just listening

So I switched it up a little and bought Josh Kelley's new cd....


So in the meantime
You'll be resting on my mind
For the last time
I will leave myself behind
In the evening
Raise a glass and tell some lies
Make a pass, impress another girl,
She was easy on the eyes

She was easy
And so was I

My reflection
In the window when I ride for Chicago
She is on the other side
Take a picture
Write a letter to my love

Well I was almost honest
I was almost honest

Been a long time
Since I've lay with you in bed
Conversations, full of words you never said
I got your message
But I didn't hear the ringing bell
I gave into the loneliness
But I didn't give them nothing else

Which direction
Down this highway that I ride to Atlanta
She is on the other side
Take a picture
Write a letter to my love

I was almost honest
Well, I was almost honest

Yeah, Oh oh oh Hmmmmm

My reflection
In the window when I ride
Could not save us
But I swear to God I tried


Take a picture
Write a letter to my love

I was almost honest
But I was almost honest
Cause I was almost honest

Texas A&M

I love the folks out here at A&M. This was not your normal day at the office. Kidding ok? :) Click picture for video clip.

Meet Herbert

So a few months back, I got really sick one week and did not leave my room for 3 days straight. I did not eat anything, well some crackers that Rachel West brought over :). But that was it. I lost about 10-15 pounds that I later found quite fast. Anyway, I came down from my sickness and ventured out into the living area of 106 Canterbury and discovered what you will see on this video. Enjoy.

I am out in College Station, TX this week for work so I had some creative time. :)

Meet Miss Wyatt

So, every now and then, the Sanch and I like to have a little time where we interview people. This week's video is a video about a first year teacher. Miss Wyatt was a little nervous about her first day at school and her first parent/teacher conference. So, to help Miss Wyatt, the Sanch and I wanted to do a mock interview so she could field some of the questions she might get.

Please ladies gentleman, hold your applause until the end of the movie. This is not the official release.

Meet Miss Wyatt. (Right click, and save target as)

Wow

I saw this video about and died, literally.  This is the funniest thing I've seen in a while.

http://www.hrtwrk.com/video/gooddoctor.mov

 

Yes...another Ferrari picture....U know, I had to get my white jacket out the front :) Real pimps drive ferraris in Rainbows...haha...Actually, I had to take them off because the car is just like driving a racecar...flip flops just get in the way.

I have sinned

This is my new tennis outfit....yes....don't you like it. Um....NO.
Jk. This is very disturbing, I am sorry for the children and hot
girls who saw this. I mean no harm.

Today

I wore dress pants to work today w/o really trying them on the night
before. I feel like I am ready for God to flood the earth again, but
He promised He would never do that again. Well...so the whole day I
felt a lil uncomfortable with my semi-highwaters on.

Some shots of the mountains in Las Vegas

Pedro giving the piece sign. We got some really cool videos of cars that were left in the dust. No, mom, we were not speeding, the other cars were just going really slow.

Okay, so back to the car. I should have tucked in my pink shirt to look more like Don Johnson but I guess this was close enough. Talk about a fun day. There is nothing like driving this car. To sit in the car instantly puts you in the realm of something incredible. As soon as you hear the engine crank, blood starts flowing fast through your body. This car was not made to be driven the speed limit. I am not saying that I broke the speed limit, I am just saying that this car was made for big things and big roads, and guys with small feet whom I don't fit the build of the feet part. I think I was raced by every car you can possibly imagine. One guy even spun his car around to come back and try to race me. He was driving an Audi, which I could have easily beaten, but I chose to reframe from such childish things :) Many of you might think this is really shallow and a waste of money. So. Who cares. I have 3 small worldy dreams. 2 of them have come true. 1 was to sky dive. Check. The other was to go some cool place and rent the coolest car I could find and well...test the limits of the automobile. Don't ask about the 3rd. More like...ask my wife , if God ever sends me one of those. The funniest part about renting this car was a guy I met at the gas station. He was an older gentleman who walked up to me really sweaty. He had been walking for a long time. He asked if he could have a ride, he just needed to get a mile down the road. I told him that I could give him a ride. Then I turn around and tell him to hop into the Ferrari, he was quite excited. Well let me just say that we got to his destination really quick. I got to share the gospel with him really fast, literally. It was the quickest presentation God has ever allowed me to have. What a fun time.

Sandy and I got lost numerous places. This happened to be one place that was quite funny. What was even funnier was to watch people take pictures in front of the bronze booties.

Just a random shot from the side of the road showing the mountains. It was really pretty out there, minus the dryness :)

Pedro again, what a fun day.

This was a picture I took of Pedro, one of my coworkers/friend that flew out to meet me in Vegas. He is a car enthusiast and he loved the car also. We stopped on the side of the road and just took in the view and the gas fumes from our lil race car :)

The Italians design cars based on a funny concept. Form over Function. This was funny to me because this car looks awesome but functionally, it's tough. You cannot open the doors wide open. You have to open them enough to get your body in and then easily shut the door. I felt a little like I was on the Dukes Of Hazard.

So we rented a Ferrari for the day, this was our gas fill up. Of course...only 93 octane will do for this ride :)

Expository Preaching

I have been thinking a little lately about preaching styles and what is exactly the right way to preach...or at least the general idea of what the Bible teaches...here is a great link to listen to...might make you think....a lot!

Ponder This

I once got into a rather huge debate at Clemson over a publication
that I wrote regarding evangelism. I never wanted to have the "I was
right and you were wrong" attitude but when it comes to souls and
people, sometimes it's okay. :)

A good read:

Concerning The Four Spiritual Laws and the late Dr. Bill Bright:
(Taken from The Way Of The Master, by Ray Comfort, Chapter 10, page 78.)

Over the years that I have shared my concerns about contemporary
evangelism, I have been careful never to name names. However, many
have guessed that on occasion I have been referring to the incredibly
popular tract The Four Spiritual Laws, penned by the late Dr. Bill
Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ. More than a billion copies have
been distributed in all the major languages of the world, and his
approach has become the model for the modern gospel presentation.

In July 2002, Kirk and I were invited to Orlando, Florida, to join Dr.
Bright at his home for breakfast. After breakfast, we sat down in his
living room and heard this warm, humble, sincere man of God (then
eighty-one) confess that he had been in error. Let me use his own
words from his book Heaven or Hell - Your Ultimate Choice (published
the same year) to tell you what he said to us:

"In his approximately 42 months of public ministry, there are 33
recorded instances of Jesus speaking about hell. No doubt He warned of
hell thousands of times. The Bible refers to hell a total of 167
times. I wonder with what frequency this eternal subject is found in
today's pulpits. I confess I have failed in my ministry to declare the
reality of hell as often as I have the love of God and the benefits of
a personal relationship with Christ. But Jesus spent more of His time
warning His listeners of the impending judgement of hell than of
speaking of the joys of heaven....I have never felt the need to focus
on telling people about hell. However, as a result of a steady decline
in morals and spiritual vitality in today's culture and a growing
indifference to the afterlife, I have come to realize the need for
greater discussion of hell....I have thus come to see that silence, or
even benign neglect on these subjects, is disobedience on my part. To
be silent on the eternal destinations of souls is to be like a sentry
failing to warn his fellow soldiers of impending attack." [Bill
Bright, Heaven or Hell - Your Ultimate Choice (Orlando, Fla.: New Life
Publications, 2002), 32, 48]

Dr. Bright even took the time to use the Law lawfully, by quoting
every one of the Ten Commandments, then expounding the Law by saying,
"Breaking these commandments will take us to hell without the
intervening grace and mercy of Jesus Christ." [Ibid., 37] By admitting
that "benign neglect on these subjects is disobedience on my part,"
Dr. Bright revealed his honest humility and his genuine love of the
truth.

Please, follow Dr. Bright's example and examine your evangelism
methods in light of God's Word. At stake is the eternal salvation of
millions of people. You don't have to throw away The Four Spiritual
Laws. Simply make four important changes. First, don't tell sinners
that Jesus will improve their lives with a wonderful plan. Second,
don't make the unbiblical mistake of giving the cure before you've
convinced them of the disease. Third, take the time to follow in the
way of the Master by "opening up" (or explaining) the Ten
Commandments. And fourth, faithfully remember to include the terrible
realities of Judgement Day and hell.

Thoughts from a Jet-Lagged Man

What does it mean to stay on track?
To keep your eyes forward, hands to the plow, never looking back
To the old life lived, words spoken, thoughts awoken
Positive and negative
Regretted and encouraged
What do we do with those old thoughts and words?
Seen and unseen.
Do we save them in the boxes of our mind?
Labeled and catorgized for quick recall?
Some are probably better suited for a yard sale or junk yard.

So I'm sitting here at 1:38 in the morning struggling to get back on
eastern standard time. We arrived in on a red-eye this morning around
10. If you don't know what a red-eye is, it's basically when you
leave one city around midnight and arrive in another city the next
morning. Basically you fly all night and usually lose a few hours in
the time change. We wanted an extra night in Vegas so we took the
red-eye back to Greenville.

It's amazing how a few hours time change can really mess up your daily
routine of life. I flew out to California last Saturday and stayed in
Long Beach for a few days of work. No, I did not see Dr. Dre, Snoop
Dogg, or any of the G-Unit. I did happen to pass Michael Keaton on
the street down from the hotel, which was quite interesting. I wanted
to tell him that he played a much better Batman. Something inside me
also wanted to walk up and say, "I'm Batman!" in that really deep
whispery voice. I chose not to. He was there shooting a movie,
although I'm not sure what the name of it is going to be.

California was beautiful and it was neat to see a beach on the Left
Coast. We toured around Long Beach a little, tried to make our way to
LA on a train but soon realized that it would be passing through
Compton and decided that was not our best bet or even remotely smart.
A co-worker and I ended up renting a car and driving to LA to visit
some beaches and see the city. We drove through Beverly Hills, wow,
some nice houses and cars. We also drove down Rodeo Drive, which was
quite an experience. It's so funny how fast paced things are there.
If you do not slam the gas at a traffic light when the light turns
green, you are in trouble. Horns will start blowing and you will be
forced to drive 90. On Rodeo drive, a woman was trying to parallel
park, so I and the other traffic waited patiently for her. All of the
sudden, she just stops in the process of parallel parking and sits
there. I am trying to figure out what in the world is going on.
There are cars waiting to get by and she is just sitting there. She
reaches down and answer her cell phone. Hilarious. Instead of
parking her car, then answering her phone, she priortized the phone
before the park. Crazinesss. After Rodeo drive, we toured through
Hollywood and a few other places and then made our way back to the
airport. While we driving through LA, we heard on the radio about the
plane that had trouble with the landing gear.

I think they were circling right over our head, we saw a few airplanes circling but didn't know which one it was. Anyway, they are safe :) We made it safely to our airport in Long Beach and flew out to meet another co-worker and Sanch Gibbes for a few days in Vegas :) I will post more on Vegas later! But let me tell you, driving a Ferrari around is no easy job :)