Barnabas

Son of Encouragement, right?

I have decided to adopt his stance in life. In all things.

The world is already full up with skeptics, pessimists, whiners, critics, complainers, curmudgeons...the list goes on and on.

And it's not only the worldly contained within this list. It's followers of Christ as well. Those of us who have been saved, called, blessed, exhorted, edified, forgiven, redeemed. We join in. Why? Why would we let the nasty junk of the world creep into our spirits?!?

I say no more!!!

So, I've decided to let God give me an uplifting makeover. I'm gonna let Him fill me with encouragement and help me dish it out to others in this world. Dish it out to...

Not only my Christian brothers and sisters but my community surrounding.

Not only my wife and sweet, little girl but my neighbors next door.

Not only my coworkers/coministers with whom I get along but the members in church who hurt my feelings/make me angry.

Not only those who smile and love me back but those who flip me off in traffic or cuss me out when I do something they don't like.

I am gonna be an equal opportunity encourager.

I ask you, Dear Reader, to come along and join me.

Out of Sorts

I didn't blog yesterday because I was just too out of it.

First off, I have been feeling a little under the weather (a cold trying to come on and an ugly fever blister-add to that an under the weather/cranky spanky baby girl) yet really happy at the same time.

Then mix in trying to get a lot done and plan and visit and mow and prepare for upcoming events-all keeping me out late at night.

Also, going to see one young and healthy member recover from a heart attack and some older members that are about to leave the hospital and go under hospice care has made me pretty blue.

This is getting me all out of sorts!

I tried to nuke some oatmeal in the fridge 2 times this morning! If that's not out of sorts, I don't know what is!!!!

And to top it all off, my partner in crime, Mike Knappier, has just played the worst of all pranks on me. I won't go into detail, but I will tell you that I deserved it from one huge mischievous prank that I pulled on him in June. It was coming. I knew it. But I just wasn't ready for it. It was, in the language of our newest minister, muy malo!!!

The Future's So Bright!

I woke up really early this morning!! 6 is not that early but it sure is for me on my day off. Especially after a nice, big Sunday with meetings in between meetings!

No, the reason I have graced the early morning with my presence is because I am just too excited to sleep!!!

Excited about the ministry at Northside. Here's why in a nutshell:

• We keep growing in number! People are placing membership with us every week.
• The youth group is getting massive! We are truly growing spiritually as well.
• There has been a reconciliation between NS and one Jim Gardner. 12 years in the making.
• We have a new full time minister on staff. Fernando T is our Hispanic Minister and I love him to pieces! He is a true servant of God and a man of the Word. He keeps baptizing 'em left and right. He is in the office right next to mine. I think I get too excited, though, because I get a little too loud and he laughs and then shuts the door!!!
• We are getting ready to begin small groups again and the response/need is overwhelming. We already have over 140 signed up. In one day!!
  
• Friendspeak is about to begin.
• Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University is about to begin.
• Our Sunday morning Children's Worship has gotten so big that we have had to move to 2 big rooms.
• Northside's beautiful voices increasingly continue to blow me away!

There is more and I will continue, but I must go tend to a Boodle who just woke up!

Fleshy Meat Arms!!

Just posted some improv done by Conner S, Leavon B and Johnson F on Youtube. Just note that this was done at around 5:40 in the a.m. at an overnight lock-in with Robinson and Center in Conway. The longest and strangest 6 minutes of my life! Johnson scares me sometimes. I really don't know what is funnier-the scary improv, the slaphappy giggles of Katie N and Savannah S, or the total lack of any kind of expression on the faces (due to being totally unimpressed) of everyone else in the audience. Look it up if you dare-Fleshy Meat Arms!!

Hairy and Not So Hairy Days

I was looking at some old pics that some friends on Facebook

posted and tagged the other day and found some doozies!!
Thought I would share them with you, dear readers.

Back in 1994 when I thought it would be cool to shave my head. Turned out not to be so cool!! And yes those were the days that I had a gross fixation with purple. You can't see them, but my shoes were even purple!


This was me and my "other family." Grew all this out for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 2001 at Harding University. Don't I look like a mountain man?!?


There I am yet again with some extra bushiness going on!

A Great Start

We could not have had a better start for the week. My buddy, Jim Gardner, brought a great lesson this past Sunday morning. We had over 480 people in attendance!! That number is higher than we have been in a long while.

Many came from Hot Springs Village to hear Jim preach. It was amazing to see some old friends and catch up and talk about times past.

I was able to spend a good amount of time with Jim and talk about the old days and peek into the future.

Later that afternoon, something happened to 6 former 6th graders that were getting ready to graduate into the youth group. They were kidnapped! By the youth minister and those already in the youth group!! After all the scary stuff, we had a great time of eating and swimming at the Norris house!! There were 40 there to join in the fun. Brenda G was there as our photog. She took some great pics. I will post them as soon as I get them.

The Road

I just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and I have to admit that I cried a bit. OK, maybe I blubbered. It was such a great read, though. If you have not read McCarthy before, I tell you now that you must go out and get one of his books. The writing is unlike any other I have read and it took me a few pages to get accustomed to it, but once I did, I fell in love with the style. I believe you will, too. Great book!! I highly recommend it.

Recap

Yesterday was a bit more wild than I thought it would be. After the breakfast, I met with Cameron Cook and we worked on our evening Oasis worship last night, then I got to work on other things and totally forgot to fill you in on Tuesday's action packed events.

I was honored to be a part of CAC's revisioning of The Amazing Race! I was merely a driver. No more than that. And I was supposed to just go where they told me even when I knew our destination might be in the opposite direction! That was hard to do, but I managed pretty well.

We left the CAC parking lot and traveled to:

The Big Dam Bridge Road
Pulaski Tech (Old Expo Center)
Little Rock Zoo
UALR-Welcome Center & Fountain
Clinton Library
Somers Avenue Church of Christ
Linens N Things
Barnes and Noble
Target
The Old Mill
Sherwood Humane Society
Sylvan Hills Church of Christ

At these stops, the group would take pictures, find clues, meet new people, watch videos, play games and buy things. What a crazy day!! I had a lot of fun and I know the teens did. Can't wait to do it again soon.

The Amazing Race

I had a big day today with Central Arkansas Christian seniors in something like 'The Amazing Race.' I will fill you in about it tomorrow mid-morning when I get in to the office after our weekly 'Vision Wednesday Ministers Breakfast'.

Shredded Part III

A big part of the group wanted to be out in the rain so we went over to the Sloans valley and played in the rain and mud-relay races,
human pyramid,


a contest of best 3rd base slide (with 3rd base being a mud puddle),

Red Rover,



and some great wrap football in the grassy section.



We ended the night with a great time of singing and devotion to our Lord and Savior followed by stuffing ourselves with yummy food. Awesome times!! I am just so proud that we still had a huge number-60+!!

If you want to see more pics, go over to the NS Youth Facebook Page!

After all of that fun, I am just about shredded!!

Shredded Part II

The highlight of it all, however, was what happened on Sunday. Many of you already know that Murphy likes to follow me around. Murphy's been around before-butt surgery in a 3rd world country-Hurricane Dolly putting a halt to our Mexico mission. He came in the form of a huge thunderstorm with lots and lots of rain this time. On the day that was set for 70+ to go out on the lake!! The meteorologists called the storm an anomaly. It came out of nowhere!!

We made due, though! Instead of going to the lake, we decided to set up the Outreach Building for Rock Band on Wii, Guitar Hero on PS2, and some XBOX 360 games-all on big screens. Also some tables for Spoons and Risk.

Shredded Part I

This weekend was a big one! El left Friday morning to take little Boodle to spend the weekend with her GranMary since El was going out a blast of a time with the girls. Melissa S, Melissa P, Kelly D, Jessica T and El spent the weekend swimming and 'SeaDooing' at the lake.

While the girls were away, I had quite a blast of my own. Friday night, I traveled to Baptist Rehab Institute to baptize Haley Y. She and the rest of the family wanted Jared S, her cousin, to be in attendance and the only way for that to happen was if I would be willing to perform the ceremony in the Baptist Rehab Institute swimming pool. Of course I said yes! It was a great experience for all of us!!

On the way back, I talked to some of the guys from the youth group and we decided to go out to eat, watch a movie and hang out and goof off at my house for the night. They stayed over and we did not go to sleep until 4:00 in the morning. Davis fell asleep too soon and that just is not a good thing with a group of guys around. Come on, who wouldn't want to squirt mustard in an open mouth?!?

We got up the next morning a little before 8:00 and got ready to have Second Saturday Servants. 11 of us journeyed to Stoneybrook, Benton and Grace Healthcare Nursing Homes to sing some songs (both old and new) to the residents.

That evening my mom and dad came to spend the night on their way back to TX. It was good to spend just a little bit of time with them.

And Counting...

I want to let you know that I am getting a little apprehensive about the new number for the Back To School Lake Celebration over on Balboa at the home of Gary and Paula B! The number started out with a reasonable amount of 25. Then it went up to around 40. Now it is just scraping under 70!! When I talked with Paula B. this morning, I could hear a bit of 'overwhelmedness' in her voice! But, I think with 4 boats and more backyard and beach for the extra bodies, we should be OK. Gonna be awesome and wild, though!! I will make sure to post some pics when I get back from the fun in the sun.

The Last Big Hoorah!!

For those of you who have not read my email and for those of you who have not seen the Northside Youth Facebook Event page: We are going to have a Back-To-School Lake Balboa Celebration replete with boating, tubing, skiing and swimming this Sunday afternoon and evening!! The count so far is 25 and rising!!! If you want to come, let me know either by email, comment or phone call!

Ministry Can Wear You Slick!

Melissa S took this on the bus as we traveled to Austin, TX. Since I drove the van the whole way there and back, I missed out on this great Mike Knappier moment.

New Link

Today, while Boodle sitting, I added a link. Our youth group here at Northside has a facebook page devoted only to the happenings and thoughts of the youth ministry here in Benton, AR. It's becoming chock full of pics from former events and listings for the upcoming ones. Check it out.

The Joker's Wild!!

Just got back from seeing "The Dark Knight" yet again. This time on Imax. Wow! Even better the second time around. I thought that it was a bit ironic that my friend Paul P drove up in his "Batmobile" with his Batman shirt on and I showed up in a purple shirt and dark purple shades. Pretty cool. What follows is a little pictorial tribute to The Joker. One of my favorite comic book villains. Whether the comic gentleman (Nicholson) or the maniacal agent of anarchy (Ledger), The Joker has been a truly powerful force on screen.

Do you have any better pics of this villain that you could share with me? Send them to my email address.

My Next Door Neighbors Are Vampires

They are!!!

El and I started noticing that, once the building of the house to the left of us was completed, no one came. But, the lawn would be mowed & edged and the sidewalks would be swept every other week. The place continued to get spruced up and kept in more than decent shape when no one was looking. We still haven't seen them doing it.

At first we thought that it was being kept up by some sort of hired out lawn care people for the soon-to-be-residents, but that is not the case.

Our neighbors have moved in already!!

Just at some time when no one was awake.

I still have not seen them.

El has, though.

But only once.

At night!!

And they were scary.

I believe we have some vampires in our neighborhood.

Maybe it's because I am in the middle of a pretty scary vampire novel. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me! Maybe they work the graveyard shift.

There's a whole lot of maybes that can be inserted. We could go on and on.

Let's face the facts here, though. They might be nocturnal bloodsucking fiends.

You decide.