on vacation...
i'm taking an email / blogging / twitter / facebook... pretty much any form of social contact... break for the next 8 days.
Tony Morgan: Killing Cockroaches: And Other Scattered Musings on Leadership
Kem Meyer: Less Clutter. Less Noise.: Beyond Bulletins, Brochures and Bake Sales
Andy Stanley: The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
Anne Jackson: Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic
Rob Bell: Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile
i'm taking an email / blogging / twitter / facebook... pretty much any form of social contact... break for the next 8 days.
taking a break from my normal sunday evening responsibilities to hang out with these guys tonight in virginia beach.
our grand opening on sunday was unbelievable. i'm still trying to wrap my brain around everything that happened over the weekend. it's ridiculous. stories of people who walked in the doors of a church for the very first time. stories of how people ended up there... and stories of the people who invited them. stories of people's lives that were changed. wow.
seriously... i have yet to figure out why God is allowing my family to be a part of this, but i'm so thankful He is. i mean... it's not every day you get to be a part of a movement of God.
confession: i make fun of church signs.
so yesterday, we opened our brand new facility. this wasn't our "official" grand opening... that'll happen this weekend. but we opened our doors yesterday for what we call a "soft" opening... and it was nothing short of incredible.
here's jake.
if you've ever had surgery, you know they give you some pretty heavy drugs beforehand. the most remarkable thing about the drugs they give you is that you think you're totally coherent but you have absolutely ZERO recollection of what you've said when you "wake up".
today i wanted to open up the vault a little bit and share something about myself that, if you haven't been following my blog very long, you may not know about me.
we opened up our services on sunday with u2's "magnificent". such an incredible song... it was a great way to kick off easter @ waters edge.
i thought phil and the band did a really good job with this... and the dudes playing percussion on the trash cans were a great addition. the video doesn't really do it justice, but you'll get the idea.
over 300 people became Christ-followers at waters edge church today.
i should just stop right there. i mean, there is an awful lot i could tell you about easter @ waters edge... but nothing else i say in this post is more important than that first sentence. seriously. more than 300 people walked into the ferguson center this morning... broken, hurting, lost... and walked out changed by Jesus. forever. are you kidding me?!?!
today was incredible. i'm not even sure where to begin. our staff and a team of close to 300 volunteers were up well before sunrise, setting up the ferguson center in preparation for the thousands who would eventually join us for one of our two egg drops, and one of our two easter services.
here's the rundown from the day...
today was the most incredible easter experience i've ever had. period. what God did @ waters edge today... i can't even begin to explain it. i'm not sure why in the world God allows me to be a part of what he's doing here, but i couldn't be more thankful.
if you're interested... rob has a few pictures on his blog, and a few thoughts on easter. phil posted some thoughts here as well.
happy easter, everybody!!
just a quick post to say how amped up i am about the championship game tonight. i've actually used the word "giddy" several times today. i'm not sure if that makes me weird or not.
so i have some great news about my nephew will.
if you're just tuning in, will was born prematurely on march 12, and has had a pretty tough first few weeks of life in the nicu. in fact, this time last week, things really didn't look very promising at all. one of the most troubling issues was that he wasn't eating, and doctors were doing tests on his brain to rule out some pretty significant complications.
after several days, the test results came back completely normal... and not only that, will began eating almost immediately! our bold prayer had been that he would drink a full bottle in one feeding. you have to understand... he had not managed even a quarter of a bottle in one feeding at that point.
things really began looking better, and doctors said that if will could consistently feed, they would send him home. since late last week, he's had full bottles at each feeding! simply amazing.
this morning... will woke up at home with his mommy and daddy.
thank you so much for your prayers for will, clint and kelly. they have been so encouraged by them. i don't know that will is completely out of the woods yet, but we're rejoicing in the fact that he is home now, and getting better. i know they would appreciate your continued prayers going forward.