Just got back from a quick trip up to Tulsa to check on our house (still for sale) and pick up a few things. Got to have lunch with Shannon R., see some former co-workers, and grab my much-needed Boss chromatic guitar tuner. I am exhausted from driving all the way to Tulsa and back in one day.....but not too tired to catch the next hour of 24.

Big U2 news coming soon.

I'm looking forward to another great Sunday. It will be a very full day. Our new little church is meeting in an elementary school, and we start setting up at 7:30 in the morning. I'm excited about leading the praise and worship time tomarrow. Our worship order this week looks like this:
Blessed Be Your Name
Better Is One Day
Open the Eyes of My Heart
Communion Time
The Wonerful Cross
God of Wonders
Keith's Message

I'm having a meeting with our key student ministry leaders tomarrow afternoon, and then Keith, Betsy, Shannon and I will be visiting another one of the regional prayer goups tomarrow night to share the vision, values and strategy of Southlake 11:7.

It is so cool to be serving in a church with the following values:

Our Values
We believe God’s Word is to be loved and lived out through God’s people.
We believe spiritual maturity is the expression of the Spirit’s fruit in our lives (love is to permeate everything we do).
We believe every believer is to love lost people and invite them into a relationship with Jesus.
We believe in church being a unified family that celebrates…strengths, differences, and freedom.
We believe in creating an environment where real people receive real hope.
We believe in establishing an atmosphere where everyone’s spiritual gifts are used to encourage one another and bring God glory.
We believe in accepting people where they are helping them become everything God wants them to be.
We believe the church is to be culturally relevant while remaining doctrinally pure.

"The Church – a group of believers – is God’s ordained place for the discipleship process to take place. God’s Plan A for the redemption of the world is the Church, and He has no Plan B."
-KP Yohannan

I lead the praise & worship time at church again last Sunday. This time I was much more relaxed and felt as if I truly was able to worship God. I don't know how long I will be doing this, but I must say that I have found great joy in planning and leading the worship times the last two weeks. I am also having a great time getting to know my new friends in our band.
Last week we sang:
Forever
I Will Give You All My Worship
Better Is One Day
Heart of Worship
Blessed Be Your Name

It's had been such an amazing blessing to reconnect with some friends I haven't talked with much since college. Doing church with Chad and Geoff and Julie and Steve and Jana and Bret and Eric and others is just so cool. The fact that theses guys and girls knew me in college (mostly stuff I'd like to forget) and still consider me one of their pastors just blows me away. I am completely humbled by their trust and faith in me.

I am sitting outside Starbucks in downtown Southlake enjoying 68 degrees and sun typing on my new, little (4lbs) Dell 700m laptop. I truly don't deserve to be doing this. Thank you God.

Here's a bit from atU2.com regarding U2 tour....
Take this prayer... -- Reports say the tour announcement has been delayed because a member of Edge's family is ill. Out of respect for all involved, let's leave it at that and keep Edge and his family in our thoughts and prayers. The tour can wait....

Please, continue to pray for Mike Cope's son, Chris, and the other families involved in the accident from Highland in Abilene.

Please, stop and pray for my friend Mike Cope's son, Chris, and his family. Chris was injured in a tragic car accident yesterday returning from a youth ministry event. Mike is requesting that we all pray for Chris and the other children injured in the accident. Tragically, Brady Bourland, age 10, was killed in the accident.

Here is Mike's blog. (Check the comments for details on the accident.)

Please pray now.

Starting a new church is very exhausting. There just seems to always be something to do. Sometimes I feel like I am so busy doing "stuff" that I neglect to participate in the things that God is doing all around me. I really don't want to work for another church. I want to work with a different type of faith community. I dream of a community that measures success by the transformation that God does in people's lives and by the love and respect that is shown to every individual regardless of who they are or what they look like or what they believe. And not by numbers or bank balances or coolness or popularity.

Sunday was Great! Close to 300 people showed up for our launch service at Southlake 11:7. I am so excited to be a part of this new church. With it being a new adventure, there are lots of hats for me to wear. This next Sunday I will be leading the worship band- please pray about this. We had about a dozen kids over at the Brannon's house on Sunday night to hang out, pig out, and watch Napoleon Dynamite. What a cool movie! I think my favorite part is when Pedro makes the pinata of Summer. What a great idea. A pinata of each candidate that gets beat down by the opposing party should be a part of every political process.

For some added fun click here to found out which ND character you are.

In case you were interested, it turns out I am a....

Liger

Tomarrow is our first "official" gathering for Southlake 11:7, the new church in which I serve as the associate pastor. I am both extremely excited and very nervous. I know that God wants to use this rag-tag group of believers to bless people in this community, I just pray that I can be the kind of leader that He needs me to be. No special talent or skills needed here-- just hard core faith.

I feel alot like praying Anne Lamott's prayer tonight, "Lord, thank you, thank you, thank you; and help me, help me, help me." Quite a prayer. Peace.

I have started a new job in Southlake, TX. As of this week, I am the Associate Pastor for Southlake 11:7, a new church planted in Northwest Tarrent County. I am very excited (and nervous) about this new opportunity. But I honestly believe that's right where God wants me to be -- utterly dependent on Him. I am looking forward to how God will use this new community of faith to bless others.

I have recently finished my second book by Donald Miller. This one is titled Searching for God's Knows What, and is equally as convicting as his previous work, Blue Like Jazz. These are probably the two books (along with Brian McLaren) that have had the most profound impact on my ministry, and my life as a follower of Christ. I am truly grateful.

I'm trying out some new looks for my blog. This is the first one. What do you think?