Saturday

It has been a super busy week, in a good way. Angela and I have accomplished our P90X workout for today, done a little cleaning on my old pickup, fixing to grab lunch and then head to Pensacola for several things. Our YMC Sunday School class has taken off well. We try not to use a lecture (normal lesson format); we use a video segment and then try to stimulate discussion in the group. I do not teach an outline, but lead a series of discussion questions from scripture and the video. So, we are almost to the end of our current series on faith (Abraham and Sarah) and I'm in search of the next series today. If you or your spouse falls into the YMC age bracket (20s & 30s) come out on. We meet across from the cafe' in the very back of the facility. One last thing, this isn't "couples" teaching, meaning that you have to have your spouse there. We will surely cover some relationship stuff, but its a small group for the YMC that will cover many subjects. So, if he or she can't or won't make it, come on anyway.
Sunday 9:30 check out www.excelag.net

Sunday's Connection Lunch

Wow! The connection lunch was incredible. The lunch was designed to allow all the Excel A/Gers that have been attending less than a year (newbie) get connected with the staff and board, along with their families. Sheena worked very hard coordinating the event and Teresa knocked it out of the park with the roast. (I'm hungry thinking about it.) The board members and their wives, along with the staff assisted and worked diligently to make it a success. And last, but not least, I appreciate all the new families that God has brought into our church, we are honored to add each one to our family. It was great to get to spend some time connecting with each one. This will definitely not be the last 'connection lunch'.

Decisions

I had a teacher in high school that use to say, "we are today, the sum total of our decisions". I have found much truth in that statement even though I think it may be a slight bit more complicated than that. Dave Ramsey often says that we will be the same next year as we are this year except for the books we read and the people we meet. There are certainly situations that we face that we did not create by our decisions, and we must react to them correctly to move forward. But with all of that said, our decisions do play a HUGE part in our present and future. The voice of the Holy Spirit and His leading is one of the most precious things we can have in this world. When we stand on the verge of decisions that we may or may not realize the impact of, we need His direction. Some of the decisions we make will have a very small effect on our lives and others will completely alter the course of our lives, and/or the development of our character or maybe the success or failure of our careers or family life. Yea, decisions are very important. Am I making the decisions in my life that are leading me to be and do all that God has for me and my family? Am I making decisions that will lead others to be and do all that God has for them? Or am I making decisions that will hinder others? What kind of decisions are you making?

New Webpage for Excel A/G

Hey guys, just getting started in trying our own web page, check it out at www.excelag.net
It's simple and plain, but hopefully will get better and better.

Mark Batterson's 'Primal'

Just finished reading "Primal" by Mark Batterson, what can I say, another awesome read. Really spoke to the adventurous spirit in me. Life is too short to waste when we are called to at all cost reach the world with the gospel of Christ, 'primal Christianity'. Anything and everything that gets in the way of this mission is, well, in the way. The 'quest for the lost soul of Christianity' spoke to me in a deep way. How has so much of modern Christianity fell so far from the mission of the church found in Acts? I'm not talking about forms, style, methods, etc., I'm talking about agendas, mentalities, priorities, and choices. We don't need to return methods of the past, if they no longer work, then they need to be replaced. I'm afraid much of the modern church has drifted away from the original agenda of the church, to win the world for Christ. The early believers began the revolution at dear cost to themselves, counting God and the cause of Christ worthy of taking priority over everything in their life, including their opinions and preferences. The mentality of self absorbed religion was engulfed by the mentality of servant leadership modeled by Jesus Himself. These early believers turned their world upside down, and I wonder sometimes, does the world even know we exist? I think God is calling those that will hear His voice to once again be consumed with His mission over all things. This call means leaving selfishness at the cross and finding the raw, uncut, 'primal' if you will, passion for Jesus that changes the world. Anyway, as you can tell, the book has me pretty fired up! Check it out.

Perspective

The last day or two has found me thinking about the value of perspective, actually clear perspective in life. This morning it was on my mind even more, I made a comment about it on facebook and twitter, spent some time in prayer over it and basically continued to ponder the subject during the day. I bought a book a little after lunch by Mark Batterson entitled, "Primal". As I read through some of it a portion of it reminded me of something that happened to me. For the last three years, I've had the privilege to travel to Seattle with our District Leadership to attend training for our church coaching efforts. On my first flight to the Pacific Northwest (I had never been) the weather was very cloudy and rainy as we flew over the mountains. I didn't see anything but the very flimsy looking structure of the wings of the plane. The flight home was a night flight, so again, no view. But on the next trip out a year later, the weather was clear and I was traveling alone, planning to meet the guys in Seattle, so I had little to do but stare out the window. This time, the snow capped mountains were in full view and incredible. I was in awe to say the least. That trip seemed to past quicker than the previous as I enjoyed the view. It wasn't a big deal to most on the plane, I'm sure they had seen them before, but it was beautiful to me. Reading the book today caused me to think of how the mountains were the same both years, but my appreciation of the view and awe at God's handiwork wasn't in the front of my mind until I saw things with a clear perspective or view of what was there all the time. I know it is the same with my Christian walk, God is always glorious, wonderful, majestic, and working in my life, but many times I don't have a clear perspective and miss it. So anyway, a clear perspective is worth much.

tough couple of months for Seth

Well, Seth along with the rest of the family had his flu shot like a good boy but then in late January tested positive for flu and strep on the same day. Less than one month later, he tested positive for flu again today. I am hearing now that it is possible, but I had never heard of such in my life. He's had a rough go lately, seems like if something comes with 2 counties of us, he catches it. I'm thankful it's not a terminal issue, but still hard to see him feel so bad, so say a prayer for Seth (and the rest of us NOT to catch it please).......

On another note, the church survey yesterday has yielded some interesting results, comments, and attitudes!