Hey all,
It was good to have a weekend off. Sounds like all of you had a good time hangin with Bob while he stepped in as CP.
I had to pass on this picture that was sent to me from the people of SLP. Apparently they want a re-count on the Bridging decision (that went clearly to WB). Check out the picture and see if it convinces you of SLP’s “victory”.
Here’s a heads up on a few things going on this weekend you might not want to miss.
First of all, our good friend Noah the harmonica player will be back. He’s been to WB a couple of times and you can check out one of his last appearances at this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XXkK7aGVLg
2nd - Jason Strand will be kicking off our new series called “Christian Cliche’s That Drive you Crazy.”
Also - Bob Merritt will be hanging out with all of you this weekend as my family and I are escaping for a weekend away. Sorry I can’t be with you on Mother’s Day weekend but I’m sure Bob will be the warm friendly face the mom’s are looking for.
Have a good weekend and Happy Mother’s Day!
Well, I said last weekend and I’ll say it again today. You guys blew me away with your giving. We filled over 2 full semi’s of furnishings for people in our community. As I understand it, SLP filled a little more then 1 truck and Lino did a little less then 2, equalling 5 full trucks. Along with this our kids raised over $2300 to add to our donations. It was quite amazing to see. Let me extend a special thanks to all of you who especially gave of your time, energy and resources to make such an impact.
My hope is that we’ll continue to find outlets for us as a church to pour our generosity toward people who are in need.
Here’s a couple of our pictures from SLP Campus Pastor Steve Whicker’s excitement to wear his new shirt.
These dates have a way of sneaking up on us. It’s unfortunate because great ideas come for me in the last minute about how we could and should pray together more. But perhaps a quick note on the blog might just help.
This morning I decided to carve out some time to pray. I’ve put a few practices in my life that have really helped my prayer life recently, although I constantly find myself wishing I was more disciplined to dial in with God more regularly. For whatever it’s worth, here’s 3 things that have helped me more in this area.
1. Type out your prayers. Seems a bit odd at first, but once you get used to it, it’s a great way to “journal.” For me journaling has never stuck. I’ve taken shots at it, but my handwriting is terrible and slow. Typing allows me to keep up with my thoughts more and, as odd as it sounds, I kind of enjoy typing. When I do this I simply write out what I’d want to say in my mind toward God. I often start by typing out a verse that I had just read, then I launch into praying for my family, my parent, my friends, my church and then finish with prayers about my upcoming day.
2. Create a prayer grid. For those of you that like tables or excel sheets this will be right up your alley. Try making a column with names of people that you want to pray for, then make a second column that has space to write out specific prayer requests, then add a third aisle that allows you room to write how the prayers were answered by God. Put a date even if you can. This makes for a great way to look back and see God’s faithfulness
3. Turn your radio off. This sounds easy, but if you can commit to going to work with your radio off and try to commit your time there to hearing from God, asking for his help, expressing how you desire to line up with his ways, I believe your day can get going in the right direction.
In honor of national prayer day, give one of these a shot. See how your day or your life takes a different turn when you feel God’s presence in your day.
Happy National Prayer Day!
PS - You all are defintely a part of my regular prayers!
Well friends - I have heard what the official results are from the Bridging Furnishings drive and although I’m tempted to tell you who won between WB and SLP, you’ll just have to show up this weekend to find out. Let’s put it this way, as a church my understanding is that we filled over 5 full semi trucks of donations. That’s amazing and will make a huge difference for people who are in need.
I must admit, I love when I see the people of the church generous. I believe it’s such a tangible way to show God’s love today.
Thanks so much to all of you who brought donations and/or helped volunteer your time on some dreary cold days.
Way to go!
BTW - here’s some of the photos that Steve and I took for last weekend’s announcement. You’ll recognize most of them if you were there. There might be a couple others that I’m not showing (just so ya know) 
Hey troop - I just wanted to give you a quick heads up here. We’ve been promoting the ongoing series as PG along the way. I realize some messages have been more clearly “PG” then others. This weekend will be one of those. The main focus on this weekends message will be pornography. Probably not great content for those in 5th grade and younger.
Also - If you ever want to talk about what you’re hearing on the weekend, consider this your official invitation to talk. Feel free to post comments here, send me an email…or if nothing else, give the church office a call and track me down.
See you on the weekend!
It’s been almost exactly 7 days since I got off the plane from Florida. Yesterday’s weather was definitely helpful in the re-entry process, but I’ve found it a scramble trying to get caught up on all the tasks necessary to pull off all the great things going on. In the next three weeks I’ll lead the Starting Point class, officiate a wedding and lead our site in our first Parent-Child Dedication. All great things to be a part of, yet all require a quick need to catch up.
Our trip to Florida is something we’ve been doing as a family for over 20 years now. It’s the one time a year that my sister and her family, my parents, and our family all get together. The time there sounds quite boring to the outside reader, but we have a pretty consistent schedule. Wake up whenever, go the pool or beach, eat. Take a break for a couple of hours from all the stress, go back to the pool or beach, eat dinner. Walk the beach, eat lots of ice cream, take in a little evening TV and go to bed. Wake up, do it again. One thing I found was the clarity that came during week two of our trip. Week one was great, although I was quite surprised by the clarity and new thinking that came in the second week.
As I did mention on the weekend, the one bummer to our trip is that 7 or 10 people caught the flu. A real drag, but the good news is that I was one of the survivors. I’m not sure how it happened. It could be that I washed my hands every 5 minutes, drank water like a fish or maybe just a nice gift from God. Not sure.
Here’s a couple pix for anyone interested in taking a mental journey to a warm place!
I wanted to just take a minute to let you know about something coming up this weekend that I don’t think you’re going to want to miss. After the 6:30 service we’ll be hosting a local recording artist named Caitlyn Smith in our newly remodeled gym. You can learn a little more about Caitlyn at her site (www.myspace.com/caitlynsmithmusic). The hope is that some of you people who are regular Sunday attenders will give Saturday night church a chance. It also makes for a great chance to bring a friend back who might have given Easter a shot. Finally, I hope you’ll use it as an opportunity to meet someone else. We don’t get these chances very often, so let me encourage you to extend a hand and meet someone new as you grab your mocha and settle in for a fun evening of acoustic music.
I hope to see many of you there!
P.S - We will be featuring Caitlyn in our opener on Saturday night so you can get a sense of what Caitlyn is like.
Hey WB Peeps,
Before we get too far away - I just wanted to comment on what a great Easter we had last weekend. Over 16,000 people in attendance at our 3 sites and over 350 people came to a Yes table to say that they want to follow Christ as their leader and forgiver. Awesome! I’m thankful for how many of you jumped into volunteering to help us carry the load of our increased attendance and I’m also fired up about how many of you brought friends and family members with you to check out EBC and our WB site.
I hope it was a great experience for you - if you have comments feel free to email me or send a comment.
Way to go people of the WB!
Welcome to Spring everyone - Today marks that first day, although we’re all planning for snow over the next couple days. How insane are we?
I was just looking at the RSVP status for our sites and wanted to let you know all is looking good for our site at this point. If you happen to be flexible, it looks like the 4:30 is looking to be the service with the most room. Here’s 3 reasons why it’s a good choice
1. You get to sleep in on Easter - LOVE IT!
2. You can hit the Easter Buffet’s before everyone else
3. If we continue to grow, adding a 4:30 service would probably be our next step. You showing up at this service will in some effect cast your vote for the need for such a time.
4. You can now attend the 4:30 and stick around to serve at the 6:30. A chance to love and be loved
5. You get to be the FIRST to experience the 08 WBL Easter service - What more could you want!
Nonetheless - I’ve heard Bob talk through his message and have had a chance to read his draft. It should be a great weekend, particularly for someone who’s unsure about all that Easter really means.
See you soon!
I'm the Campus Pastor at Eagle Brook's White Bear Lake Campus, but the thoughts written are my own opinion and not necessarily approved before posting. So, you know, don't hold the church responsible.
