On the road again...

We're leaving for Impact tomorrow at around 3:00PM. We're driving straight through to Ohio, so that we drop our dog off at my parents' house. We should arrive in Ohio at around 3:30AM on Saturday. Once there, we will get some sleep. We'll probably see some of our family Saturday evening too. On Sunday, we will leave for Michigan at around 8:00AM. That will put us at Impact around 12:00N. Man, it's been a crazy week trying to get everything prepared for the two services that I'll be missing. It's gonna be worth it though... I'm real excited about getting to see everyone again! In other news... Last night, I watched The Resurrection of Motley Crue. Very interesting. It was how they got the members of "the Crue" back together to try to put on a tour. The fascinating part was that they were 2 months from the start of the tour and NONE of Motley Crue had commited to anything. Another interesting part of the story was that of Mick Mars. Mick has some kind of disease that messes with his infuses the bones together on his spine. Anyway, he had gotten down to 93 lbs. and had to have his hip replaced just to even get started. The poor guy looked like a frail piece of glass. Sad really. Anyway, they are touring again... and rockin' it out. *** Although I'm on staff at Keypoint Church, this blog doesn't necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Keypoint Church. ***

Staying a servant.

For quite some time now I've been in charge of my area of ministry. Most of the time I like to do things my way; and I can get easily offended when my work gets criticized, or someone suggests a change from the way I do things. This attitude isn't good. So, I must take a step back from myself and realize my place in the big picture. Before I can be a good leader, I must be a follower. The attitude of servanthood is the dividing line between a good Christian and the normal Christian. It's really a lost art. Because I'm in charge... I have to continually check my attitude to keep the attitude of servanthood. I'm here to serve my pastor, no matter what. It's not about me, and mkaing me happy. The other day I was watching a show on the History Channel about Sergeants in the military. They interviewed the "Sergeant of the Army"... this guy is the highest ranking sergeant in the entire US Army, he has over 30 years in the Army. He said that he continues to salute and show respect to every fresh Lieutenant out of West Point. In order to show good leadership... you must show good followership.

Impact Media Texas Hold'Em

So I had this idea today. Last year at Impact, our media team gave birth to our "down-time recreation". Last year it was Medal of Honor: Spearhead. This year, I was thinking about getting some Texas Hold'Em Poker started up. We could get the multi-colored Goldfish and use them for our chips... or we could just use regular poker chips, since all the Goldfish will probably be eaten.

Why didn't I learn to play the kazoo?

Although I'm honored that Pastor Casey wants to keep me on the drums; I really wish that I'd never even mentioned that I can play. I offered to help out for a few weeks or so, just until he found a new drummer... it's June now, and I'm still on the drums. I'm really beginning to get a bad attitude about the whole thing. I really wouldn't mind playing, if that's all I had to on Sunday morning. But, by far, it's not. It's just extremely frustrating. I am exhausted on Sunday mornings. I'm up at 5:30AM, and I don't stop until 1:00PM. Throughout that span of time I've loaded and unloaded my car packed full of video equipment TWICE, including a 150lbs tub full of cable... Unloaded/Loaded two trailers... Setup up the drums... Setup the video equipment... Made the powerpoint for the new songs that we're doing that morning... Practiced with the worship team... Setup the timeline for the videos... and played the drums during service. If you've never played the drums... it can be extremely tiring on its own. So, once you throw in all the other stuff that I have to do... it doesn't result in a very good attitude. I wasn't supposed to play today... but the guy that was supposed to replace decided not to show up this morning. Then people wonder why I'm not a "people person". Okay, I'm done.

The Great Outdoors.

I feel like it's been forever since I've posted on my blog. It's been a good week, since I've got my internet back. I must say, I'm really enjoying having cable television; and I don't watch it as much as I thought I would. I caught a late-night showing of Navy Seals with Charlie Sheen on Saturday night / Sunday morning. It was interesting watching a movie from 1990. Instead of the focus being on Iraq or Afghanistan... they were going to Beirut, Lebanon. Yesteday, we (Shawn, Whitney, Sabrina, and myself) went out to "the rock". "The rock" is a secluded place that we found off of the Shaddox Hollow Trail. It sits right on Beaver Lake; it's very pretty, perfect for sunbathing and swimming. The only downfall to going to "the rock" is the 20 minute hike it takes to get there. This is the third time make this hike, and I've found that I'm generally in better shape than most people. I love to hike. It's relaxing being in nature, and it's a pretty good workout. I've found that Arkansas has nice weather 90% of the time. There are definitely a whole lot more "nice" days than there are "bad" days. This allow for a whole lot more outdoor activity in Arkansas. And there is plenty to do outdoors down here. In other news... Sabrina and I will be home (in Ohio) July 8-11. Here's out tentative itenerary:

July 8 - Arrive in Spfld at 1:00pm; relax with whoever wants to come over to Mom's house July 9 - Spend good part of the day with Ratcliffe's July 10 - Church at WFFC, lunch, leave for Cincy in afternoon July 11 - Leave for Arkansas

SBC sucks eggs!

We've been without internet service at our house for close to two weeks now. Which, in my profession, makes life extrememly difficult. Considering that I do 90% of my communication with the world via email and instant messaging... I NEED internet access. But, after two weeks of fighting with SBC... we've cancelled all services with them; and are anxiously awaiting our Cox Internet and Cable to be installed next Monday. For just a little more money, we get a faster internet connection plus some cable tv to watch. The History Channel... finally!!!! So, our cell phones are all we have now. Right now, I'm sitting at Sabrina's office just to use the internet. That's pretty sad. I don't mind though... it's better than sitting at my house with nothing to do. I'm getting real exciting about coming to summer camp. First of all, to smack Josh Scott and Joanna for us being like the last people to know about them expecting their first child. Secondly, to see all of our friends that we've missed so much. Thirdly, because MattRatt (one of our staff members) may be coming to camp... I think he'll blend in real well with our Media Team and he'll have a blast. Catch ya'll later.