Just Some 411

End of Year Stuff

• I have been very busy this week. Not only are we wrapping up 2010, but we are pre-planning for 2011. This has had me pressed for time and kept me from blogging for a couple of days.
  
  
• The end of the year is when we study data, are crunching the numbers, evaluating effectiveness, planning the budget, talking about restructuring & realignment matters, new ministry initiatives, facilities, and expenses.
  
  
• The message for this weekend entitled, “Vision Sunday.” This is the weekend that I normally share a “State of the Church” address, so I thought it would be a good idea to talk about vision and what lies ahead for us in 2011. As the Bible says…..
  


• Where there is no vision, the people perish…. (Proverbs 29:18)
  


• Changes are in store for us. Our current reality dictates our need to reorganize & restructure some areas. Business as usual is not cutting it.

Personal Stuff

• My son and daughter in-law, Jonathan & Jamie, flew to Denver CO Monday morning for a ski vacation – their first ever. The day started out pretty stressful. Their starting flight out of Pensacola was cancelled, so they had to catch a later flight, which delayed their departure. This meant they missed their connecting flight. You get the idea. To make a long story short, they eventually made their destination after being rerouted through Atlanta GA and Minneapolis Minnesota. This created a little distress for me and Renae, worrying about them. While they are grown up, they are still our children and we were anxious for them. BTW, this was Jamie’s first airline flight.
  
  
• Talked to Jonathan tonight. They are having a blast. There is eight feet of snow on the ground in Winter Park CO; fresh powder on the slopes; and gorgeous weather in the daytime. Jamie has learned to ski very quickly and is doing very well. Today, the two of them took a snow mobile ride through the mountains and up to the Continental Divide, which has an elevation of 14,000 ft. He said the view was spectacular. Jonathan and Jamie are flying home on Saturday.
  
  
• If Renae and I could afford it, we would go snow skiing every year – it’s that much fun.
  
  
• My home owners insurance has increased $1900 for 2011. My health insurance increased $1000 in 2010 and is going up even more in 2011! Not happy.

Preaching Stuff

• I have decided to postpone the message series on Joseph from the OT. Although I have been preparing for this series for a couple of months, I felt a strong impression about two weeks ago (that has been inescapable) that I should start the year off by speaking from the ministry of Jesus Christ. So I’m going to begin a new series entitled, “What Jesus Said About Salvation & Eternal Life.”
  


• This series will contain some of the strongest content (meat) that I have ever taught – much like the Malachi series in January of 2010 – and is not for the casual Christian.
  


• I feel led to clearly communicate just exactly what Jesus had to say about salvation, so that we can start the year off with a strong discipleship emphasis.
  


• This will be an expository (verse-by-verse) message series that will examine Jesus’ encounter with several different people who came to Him for salvation. It’s worth mentioning here that not everyone who came to Him for salvation received eternal life. Many turned away from Him just as lost as they were when they approached him.
  


• Some of you will be deeply challenged and your belief-system shaken after hearing the words of Jesus and what He had to say about salvation. If His words cause anyone to discard their false assumptoins about eternal life and intsead gain a truly Biblical understanding, then they will be the stronger for it. This is going to be a strong word.

More Personal Stuff

• I bought a cast net the other day. It’s a beauty - an 8 ½ footer. If I can get proficient at throwing it, I hope to catch some early spring mullet. If I catch fish, I’ll be having a few fish fry’s at my house.
  
  
• My father was an expert at cast-netting. I can remember fishing with him from my earliest years as a child. I’ve never been as good as he was.
  
  
• There is a reason that I am still driving a 1998 Tahoe – because I’ve been saving the (car payment) money and applying it to our mortgage. This truck is thirteen years old and has 198,000 miles on it. That’s a lot of time to save a lot of money. For me, the discipline of being frugal is well worth the benefit.
  


• If everything goes according to plan, I’m going to buy myself a fishing boat in two or three months. Renae and I are dying to get out on the water again. When we first married I had a small 14 ft boat. We used it often; for fishing, for picnicking, and for a variety of other recreational activities. But after the first baby came along, (three years into our marriage), it put a halt on our boating trips. Eventually, I had to sell the boat. Now that our children are grown and we are close to being debt-free, it’s time for us to do what we were doing at the beginning – spending time on the water. Can’t wait.
  
  
• My youngest son, Nathan, is close to finishing college. He is one semester from earning his bachelors degree; he attends UWF. He changes jobs next week too; he is leaving Chili’s in Pace (where he has worked since they opened) and has taken a management position at Opps Alley. This will be good experience for him and will help build his resume’.