Monday, June 22, 2009

On the road a ton this week

I am in the Orlando airport waiting for a connection to take me back to TN. This is going to be a packed week of road travel so I would appreciate your prayers along the way. I arrive home this evening, will do some laundry and repack to leave again in the morning. Tomorrow I begin a two day drive to Schroon Lake, NY where I will be based for the summer. I have rehearsals scheduled for Thursday there and then will drive to Michigan on Friday. I have a family reunion on Saturday and then a ministry event in Indiana on Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon I drive back to Schroon Lake to be ready to go Monday morning. Are you tired yet? I am just thinking about it. But I am looking forward to the week ahead. I download loads of messages off the internet and then listen to them when I am driving. So by the end of the week I will likely have listened to dozens of great messaged. I will be fired up!

A friend fowarded an interesting video the other day on the idea of what if Starbucks marketed themselves the way a church does. It is funny to watch. But it made me sad when I realized the truth of what it was saying. The link for the video is here;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_dZTrjw9I

Have a great day!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Update from the Shack

I am on the road in Northern Michigan near the end of two weeks of ministry. Last week I ministered at a Pastors Conference for IBM - Independent Bible Mission. The conference was hosted by Ao-wa-kiya, one of my favorite places to be. This was a group of Pastors who are planting churches. I love being able to minister to the Ministers and it was a great privilege to be there. As a side note, this camp facility is a great resource for Pastors in this region and I highly encourage you to check it out if you need a place to host an event or retreat.

On Friday, after that conference ended, I drove on up to Ludington to see some friends I had not seen in 8 years. It was a blast to spend the night with them. In the morning we went on a long walk down to the Ludington Lighthouse and back. It was a privilege to get to spend time with them again.

On Sunday I had the privilege of ministering at Aetna Community Church near White Cloud. This is one of my favorite places to be. The folks there are so kind. I alway look forward to being back. And these folks can cook!

Which brings us to the Shack. This week I am at a Pastor's Retreat, which is different from a Pastor's Conference. The idea of a Pastor's Retreat is to provide a place for a Pastor and his wife to disconnect from the pressures of ministry and reconnect with their spouse and with God. So there is no agenda, just lots of hanging out and sleeping. It is hosting by Shepherds Care, Inc. and this year it is held at the Shack in Jugville, Michigan. In the category of "poor me, suffering for Jesus, AGAIN!", the Shack is an amazing bed and breakfast. I am providing worship music for a share time we have each evening. But I am also gladly taking full advantage of the time to rest. I need it as much as any Minister out there. The road schedule is so busy right now. So I am putting off office work until the end of the week and sleeping my way through the day.

I am enjoying it a ton.

Hope you are doing well. Have a great day!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Latest updates

Wow, it has been a long time since I updated the blog. It has been crazy busy and updating the blog gets pushed down the list of things to take care of. I am excited about all that God is doing. Some times the trick is just holding on for the ride.

I am looking forward to the summer season when I will be based in upstate New York at the Word of Life conference center and family campground. I was there last week for administrative meetings and it was exciting to see all that is going on in preparation for the opening week the end of June.

I was also in Montreal that weekend for the first of many ministry weekends. My friend Viv in Montreal has set up all the meetings with local churches over the summer. It will be a blast to be there almost every weekend. I met the folks at Temple Baptist in the morning and will be back this summer for a full concert. Then in the afternoon I met with the youth group from South Shore Chinese Alliance. They are a great group. Then the pastor took us out to eat at a local Chinese restaurant. It was fantastic! I really love trying new foods and this was as authentic as it gets. There were no English menus anywhere. And the menus did not have any pictures either. Pastor ordered for all of us. There were 14 of us around a large round table. They brought all the food out and sat it on a large lazy susan in the middle of the table. Everyone started with a bowl of rice. Then you simply added to it from all the options on the lazy susan. The most interesting thing I ate was the Duck Kidneys. They were good. They were cooked in a hot sauce and sliced thinly. You picked out a piece and added it to your hot soup. The soup warmed it up. It reminded me of the texture of a chicken gizard. So anyway, I really loved the meal and am looking forward to being back for a couple more events there at South Shore Chinese Alliance this summer.

I am in Michigan at this time for a couple weeks of Pastor's retreats. I am in the midst of a very, very busy season. I will only be home about 5 days between now and September so if you think of me, say a prayer. I appreciate it.

Have a great day!