Sunday Mind Dump

• UH-MAZING day. Today was one of those days you’ll always remember. At least I will. Attendance was very good – 440. This is especially good in light of it being Labor Day weekend. We would have easily went over five hundred otherwise. The ushers had to bring out additional chairs.
  

• Worship was exceptional. We worshipped through song… through God’s Word…. and through giving. The church service felt different (and good) today. I experienced a renewed sense of awe towards God. Several people committed to Christ. The children’s ministry & pre-school returned to a regular schedule today; providing ministry for both services. CDs of the message flew off the shelf.
  

• The music just felt good. I especially enjoyed “Days of Elijah” and “Hallelujah” by Robin Mark, who is Scottish.
  
  
• Our church grounds look as good as I have ever seen them. At the risk of sounding like I’m bragging, I think we have the best looking and best maintained church campus in the area. All credit goes to the great team of volunteers who labor tirelessly to make it happen. For instance, last Thursday a group came to mow, (as they do every week). Then on Friday one individual came and trimmed all the hedges (a very large job). Then on Saturday another individual came and mowed the grass again. You people are great.
  
  
• Our volunteer force (across the board) is the best we’ve ever had. I mean across the board.
  
  
• After church today we took a group of teens to Madison’s Restaurant in downtown Pensacola. Renae and the other teen leaders do this about once per quarter for all the teens who maintain perfect attendance. About 20 went today, including myself.
  

• Almost every week strangers write notes to me and turn them in. Some of the comments make the back of my neck tingle. I now have security personnel who watch over me and are always nearby.
  

• A lot of people told me how much they really enjoyed today’s message, “Another Spirit” based on the life of Caleb. He (1) Had “Another Spirit” (2) Followed God Wholeheartedly, and (3) His Descendents Would Inherit the Land.
  

• I think the personal stories I told really resonated with people. Pretty cool story about my father. He was a real character and a neat guy. Miss him. Look forward to seeing him again. The armadillo joke was great. The story about Jonathan and the armadillo was hilarious.
  
  
• The best quote: You are not trapped in your current problem because you are a bad person. You are trapped there because you won’t walk away from bad behavior. Stop making excuses… make good choices.
  
  
• Another good quote: Making the right choices is not difficult. If you will base your life on principles contained in the Bible, then 99% of your decisions have already been made.
  
  
• Alex Buell is an exceptional violinist. His wife Cindy has the gift of encouragement. Both are amazing people.
  

• Last week a Calvinist left a comment on my blog. I didn’t publish it. Based on what he said it was easy to see that he has been thoroughly schooled in that line of thought. He parrots well.

• Upcoming events at PCC: Seminar 101….. Baby Dedication Service…. Communion Service….. Baptism Service….. and Volunteer Appreciation Banquet. I would love to offer our Foundations Classes again but we are out of space and don’t have a good night to use the building because of other events. Next time we might call these classes the “University of PCC.”
  

• We could probably benefit by having an additional building.

• I am praying for a million dollar offering to be given to PCC. Don’t laugh. This poses no problem for God. People laughed at me when I said we were looking for 20 acres of land and we were running 35 people in attendance. Just look at where we are now - the evidence is there. God comes through.

• Everything changed (for me) today. PCC will never be the same.

• Our small groups have gotten off to a great start. Man, I’m loving it. Last night I went to the first meeting of a small group hosted by Robert & Ann Lewis. Had a blast. Watched football. Ate food. The fellowship was great. Good job you two.

• Florida State plays Miami tomorrow. Oh yea, gotta love it.

• You would be surprised at the number of police officers who attend PCC. Even more surprising is the number of ‘customers’ of those very same police officers. Yet they attend the same church and worship together. Is there any other church in Santa Rosa County that can make that claim? I just love the diversity of PCC. This work really is a God-thing.

• I still can’t believe that God allows me to do this.

• It’s overwhelming how many hurting people attend PCC. Personally, I am incapable of ministering to (or being available for) this many people. We absolutely need more ‘pastors’ or ‘care givers.’ The answer WILL be found in our small groups’ ministry.

• ATTENTION SMALL GROUP LEADERS: You are MORE than the leader who leads a discussion in your group. You should see yourself as an ‘UNDER SHEPHERD’ to the people of your group and should teach the members in your group to minister to “one another.” This is mutual ministry of the body to itself.
  

• SERMON SERIES: We will continue our current series until it runs its natural course. Afterwards I am planning on an END TIMES series about the destruction of mankind and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. It should be informative for a lot of people.
  

• FAIR WARNING: I am also planning a message series on FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP in which we will talk about money, managing finances in a Biblical manner, and honoring God with our giving. Your money and what you do with it is an essential part of your spiritual growth and development (discipleship), so we must be instructed as to what God has to say about it. This message series WILL HAPPEN before the end of the year.
  

• We will be conducting a mass mail-out in the next month or so, and plan to penetrate 25,000 homes with an encouraging message of hope from PCC.
  

• A neighboring church in the area is going through some serious turmoil right now. It was necessary for the leadership to ‘let some people go’ who had sinned and now the church is polarized over the event. Trust me, when church leaders make these kind of tough decisions it is BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO… and almost no one else understand the reasons behind those decisions. Please pray that goodness will prevail.
  

• Can’t wait for next Sunday.

• DEAR STAFF MEMBERS: Instead of doing everything yourself, empower others to run with the ball into the end zone.

• Check back every day…. I’ve got some stuff going on that you’ll enjoy reading about.