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Yeah, I know I haven’t posted since Monday and here are my reasons(okay they’re excuses)…

1. While learning the MacBook Pro I failed to eject my external hard drive which cause it to be possessed by a demon.  I have literally spent hours and lots of money trying to recover the last 7 years of my life and ministry.  Needless to say, this caused much panic around my house.  As I type this, my files are being recovered and moved to safety.

2.  My parents decided to visit and I spent much of Thursday and Friday with them.  Had a good visit and it was great to see them.  Hopefully, they can visit often after discovering how easy of a trip it is.

3.  Led my first Wednesday night youth meeting at Denton Wesleyan.  Got some kinks to work out, but it was great to meet some students for the first time.  They are great kids and I think God is going to do amazing things in all of our lives.

4.  Met with the youth leadership team Thursday night and laid out the next 6 months or so.  It was such a relief to see things put on the calendar and see the strategy take shape.  I know God is leading and directing and I am expecting Him to change lives.  I did realize this morning that I planned one event for a weekend when I will be gone, but our great leaders can handle it without me.

Things to pray for:

For Karen and I to find a washer and dryer that fits out budget.

Continued relationship building

New Orleans missions trip

Philly missions trip

For our church to make the name of Jesus famous in Denton and beyond

I spent most of last week in bed fighting an unknown virus.  My fever got as high as 102.  Then we spent the weekend chasing fireworks displays and running from storms.  Finally, on the 5th, we saw an amazing fireworks display at the World Famous Farm Park.  Our fireworks got rained out last year in Philly on the 4th too.  Here’s what’s up…

1.  Getting ready for my first Wednesday night youth meeting at Denton.  Some people are out of town, but I am excited to continue meeting new teens.  This opportunity is a blessing.  Now, where did I put all my youth messages?

2.  I am still reeling from camp(in a good way).  God did a great work in my heart and I know there are some areas He had to scrub harder than others.  I will be going up to one of the evening services of the Shenendoah camp where Matt is helping this week.  They are meeting at our(NC East) campground so it’s a short trip.

3.  I am a month behind on comics.  I have no idea what’s happening.  Gotta slip over to the comic store in Asheboro this week.

4.  Karen and I are hooked on the Dave Ramsey show on Fox Business.  Needless to say, we are making some changes.  And finally…

5.  Often times we award longevity that is not accompanied by excellence.  We also celebrate excellence that burns out too soon.  In the rare case of Fred Andrews, he has enjoyed longevity and excellence.  I had the honor of serving under him for 10 years and in the coming weeks his 30 years of Senior Pastor leadership will come to a close at Central First Wesleyan.  He’s not one of those guys who stayed at the same church for a long time because he couldn’t cut it elsewhere.  He’s also not one of those guys who served at a bunch of churches because he couldn’t cut it anywhere.  God used him to take the church to historic heights.  God isn’t finished with him yet as he will continue to serve the local church.  There are too many ministry students who missed out on learning what being a pastor is all about from this man yet there are many who are still being impacted today.  I know I am.

Oh dear, what an amazing two weeks of camp. I am so tired right now even though my wife was kind enough to let me take a 5 hour nap today. I’ve been in Denton 3 weeks now and here are some highlights…

1. Kudos to James and the rest of the SC boys for putting on two great SC camps. I got so may txts about how awesome “Free” was this year. It’s an answer to prayer and I know that God showed up at Table Rock yet again.  I’m just upset that James found a new sleeping buddy.  Who did Greg sleep with instead of Wes?  Check out Jon Brady’s blog for more.  I almost cried when I saw a pic of the inaugural Claude Heath Mullikin bucket on Facebook.  It was awesome because a girl from Central First was signing that mug.

2. Every service was unique at NC East Sr. High Camp. I really felt God leading me to try and make each altar call unique.  From silence to the Braveheart Freedom speech(face paint included) to the chuppahs it was an amazing week.  I hope that each teen left with actions steps to move forward in their relationship with God and to keep from slipping.

3.  The NC East crew is amazing.  I got closer to the guys I already knew and got to know new people as well.  God has brought together an amazing team.  I am already working on my lunch tour schedule to meet up with a many yp’s as possible.

4.  Home made ice cream!  Mark Wilburn hooked me up with some Pineapple and the team bought me butter pecan and banana split ice cream sandwiches.  Sadly, we didn’t finish them so I brought the leftovers home to the kids…Drake loves em.

5.  Pray for my mom as she continues to recover from knee surgery.  So far, her recovery is going well.

6.  Now that camps are over, I’m looking forward to plugging into Denton and hanging with the teens more.  We’ve got the whole summer ahead of us and it’s going to be amazing.

7.  Get to take the Mac for a ride this week.

8.  Well, we have company coming tomorrow and I’m got work and sleep to do.

It’s good to be back.

Well, today was a surreal day.  I arrived at the NC East district camp to help set up(they are still there setting up while I’m typing this) and greeted friends who had wondered if and when this day would come.  I’m pumped to be on this team.  I want to get to know the youth pastors I don’t know as well and do what I can to make the team even stronger.  It was a fun day filled with laughs, dirty hands, and pizza.  So far, the transition is going smoothly, and the people here have been great.  I miss my Chichester peeps tremendously, but I know they are friends for life.  Pray for me as I have my first meeting tonight with the adult leaders of the youth group.  I just want to get to know them and get a glimpse of where their hearts are coming from.  It’s the first step toward building a solid team of 10-15 volunteers before school starts and then it’s on.  God is good.  His grace and mercy be with you all.

I wonder if students would use as much profanity when writing on people’s Facebook walls if they realized that other people(including their current and former youth pastors) could see it.

Well, I spent most of the day yesterday setting up the office, registering the girls for kindergarten, and hanging with Wesley Grubb.  By the way, there are a whole lot of Grubbs in the Davidson county phone book.  Karen is getting the house set up and things are looking great.  God has provided out needs through the kindness of the church folks including some great food, a new fridge, and a washer and dryer are on the way.  There were so many people Friday to help unload the truck that it was emptied in less than 30 minutes.  We are still sorting through stuff and that may take a while.  Thanks for your prayers.  Please pray that Drake adjusts to being in a toddler bed.  He hasn’t made it through the night yet, but we are hopeful.

I will have my thought on the Wesleyan General Conference when it is over.  My unnamed source has threatened litigation and loss of grapevine privileges if I quote him.  Gotta get back to work.  Peace and love to all!

I don’t remember being this tired with such a bad headache.  However, the truck is loaded(except for a few things), the NBA finals start in 5 minutes or so, and life is good.  There’s a great line in Star Trek Generations(my nerd status is now confirmed) where Captain Kirk tells Captain Picard to never give up being a captain of a starship because, “While you’re there you can make a difference.”  I’ve been thinking about that a lot the last few days as I’ve had lots of time to myself.  Do I make a difference?  Have I made a difference?  Will I make a difference?  Why do I want to make a difference?  What difference does it make?  I try to learn from my mistakes, but I also see the mistakes of others and try to learn lessons from them as well.  One lesson that I’m trying to apply more effectively is this-nothing I do in ministry will make a difference if through the hours of investing my life into others I am not being shaped and formed by God and for God.  I think ministry can become second nature and what we “do” rather than who we “are.”  There have been many people through the ages who had great “ministries” while their personal lives were falling apart.  Captain Kirk eventually sacrifices his life to make a difference and save a planet.  His dying words and thoughts were,”Did we make a difference?”  I know I won’t if God isn’t making a difference in me every single day.