I need to read

So many books to read so much knowledge out there. It seems the older I get the more I realize I don’t know very much. I’ve got about 8 books sitting there waiting to be read. I need more theology, I need more leadership, I need more stuff that challenges my opinions and makes me think. I heard Ed Young Jr. say once that he didn’t really read that many books. I wish I could be that way, but I can’t. I want to know it all and read it all. You ever feel that way? Any thoughts on what I should be reading? As if I don’t have enough already…

Check out Pandora Radio

If you haven’t already, you have to check out Pandora Radio.  It is built on the Music Genome Project, which the site will explain much better than I will so read it there. You can also see what I’m listening to at my profile page. Is it just me or have we all become so addicted to music? Not only that we have become addicted to manipulating and creating our own content. I’ve had Sirius for a few months now and am canceling at the end of this month just to trim the budget, but man will I miss the options. Terrestrial radio is really lame and I don’t have an iPod to hook up in the car. So if you have a spare $12.95 a month or an extra iPod laying around the house let me know. I’m trying to figure out how to stream Pandora to the Treo I’m getting on Monday. Any suggestions?

Another great meal

Today I was able to have breakfast with Jonathan Martin from Renovatus Church. What a good conversation. At least from my end, hopefully I didn’t talk too much which I certainly can struggle with. He’s been pastoring a church in the Plaza/Midwood section of Charlotte for a little while now and it was awesome to hear his perspective. Some of the things I’ve been thinking through were confirmed by what he shared, plus it was just cool to have a conversation with a guy pursuing God’s call in a fresh way. You know, I’m always a little intimidated to meet pastors, especially in my area. What if they’re better than me, cooler than me, more spiritual than me…insert immature question here. But what always ends up happening is I get encouraged and God opens my perspective a little wider and it’s good stuff. Thanks for taking the time Jonathan.

Pastoral Crash and Burn

Today I spoke in church about the spiritual battle we’re a part of and led in to the armor of God. But one of the points was understanding what is at stake. Kind of the notes to myself that I didn’t preach out loud was what is at stake for me as a pastor. I’ve really been struck lately with how much moral failure is out there in pastoral ministry, they seem to drop all over the place, and as God gives me more responsibility I’m becoming much more aware of what is at stake. I have to stand strong IN HIM and only Him. It’s so easy to slip back into my ways and gifts and abilities and ultimately blow it I’m sure. Mark Driscoll shared some incredibly sobering statistics on his blog about this. I don’t want to be one of those guys. I’ve now been in pastoral ministry for almost 7 years so I beat one statistic, for those of you who know me, please help me stay focused on Him…

JUNE 18th UPDATE:

Steven Furtick who pastors a massively growing church in Charlotte, also blogged about this issue last week. As I shook hands and what not in the foyer of our church after I had preached yesterday I had several people give me good comments about it, and even as I listened, in my mind I was thinking “I can’t blow this,” meaning make a disqualifying moral mistake. #1 my wife, Casey, has already given me a pretty clear indication of what would happen (thanks baby!) and # 2 there is just too much at stake. This is one of those good fears though I think cause I have to keep this at the front of my brain constantly.

Preachin the Word, Preachin the Word

Well, I preached today at church in all three services. Most folks I’ve ever preached in front, about 2500 or so. Why do we have to call it “preaching?” Sounds to formal. Anyway, it went well. I had good response and I got to talk about our church plant some. Shared our vision of going into Uptown Charlotte and people really responded to that. It’s amazing how much more of a response we’ve gotten since God’s given us the vision for Uptown. It would seem nobody could get excited about one more suburban church (including us) but they’re gathering around this new vision. It’s pretty incredible seeing God move in all this. So anyway, this morning went well. I realized I’m out of practice. Preaching/teaching really is work, and I can tell I’m out of the routine, but at the same time I HAD to rely on God (go figure huh?). So good stuff. The youth worship team led this morning too. I love watching young people worship God, and besides they know how to rock. I’ve always said, if Pink Floyd ever led worship…

Time off

I’ve had the last two days off. It was a quarterly thing for all the pastors at my church. It’s been nice because I’ve been going pretty hard for a while now, but I’ve also felt a certain level of guilt for not working. You ever have that problem? I wish I could just relax and enjoy the time off, but I find myself feeling like I should be doing something. What a pain.

We got a worship leader

Last week we found out we will have a worship leader. Adam Wilson is coming out from California to work with us on this journey to start a church in the Uptown Charlotte area. I’m real excited about this, because he’s good! He certainly has a call from God to lead worship and gets our vision for this new church. We’re pumped! You can read Adam’s blog at http://aconventionalconfabulation.wordpress.com/

Uptown Charlotte Resource

Here’s a great resource for some basic info on the neighborhoods around Uptown Charlotte. Urban Realty

Getting on Technorati

Everyone else is doing it…
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