End of the month Admin stuff today!

Worked on my financial reports. Took care of my donation and expense reports.

Confirmed arrangements for our banquet at FBC Mountain Park this weekend. Everything looks good to go!

Made a support request to FBC Forest Park. Filling out forms takes time!

Working on editing my video I shot this weekend. Burned DVDs for our partnering churches. Here’s the video I shot of Briarcliff Baptist Church working at Azalea Place and Briarlake Village with some shots of the clean up at the Chamblee Soccer Fields too.

Research on web site promotion. Ever heard of web rings?

K and I worked out on weights this afternoon. I also went for a 4 mile run late in the afternoon.

Busy!

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Ashley and I went to Briarcliff Baptist Church this morning. I spoke at the main service on the importance of getting involved in the community. Later we had a meal and a missions fair. If all goes well, this great church will start plugging in at Briarlake Village once a week to help with an after school program with the kids.

After working with the church we went over to Perimeter Mall. One of our favorite things to do together. Actually, going to the bookstore is MY favorite thing to do together, but Barnes and Noble is right by Perimeter Mall so it all works out! She actually didn’t do much shopping, just got some conditioner for her hair. I also bought her a candle. She like Ginger Root. Then we went to the bookstore. I actually fell asleep in a chair while reading. Lack of sleep will catch up with you.

Kathy wasn’t feeling well today. She stayed home and took care of her mom. Tonight we watched an episode of House on DVD. The only problem with that show is I start thinking I might have some kind of weird disease.

When I got home I went for a 4 mile run, then worked out on weights. Guess that nap at the bookstore helped!

My folks come into town this week! We have our Whirlwind Missions banquet this Saturday and they’re coming early to spend some time with us. Excellente!

Peace.

Full speed ahead kinda day!

Started out at Briarcliff Baptist Church for their In As Much service project day. I did a short briefing and training with the teams then took them over to Azalea Place to stripe parking lots, clean the mission and pick up trash from the soccer field in Chamblee. Later that day we hosted block parties at Azalea and at Briarlake Village. Great time was had by all!

Then I went to Huntington Village to off load all the band equipment from the van. Lester and Tito played music and had an Outreach Event with the help of their congregation. I would have loved to play some music with my brothers! But, I had other assignments.

Next was Crosspointe Church where I did a training session with the teams there before leading them over to Cherokee Courts and Olde Salem in Lawrenceville. I had an especially good time there because there was a large group of refugees from Burundi who spoke SWAHILI! That’s the language that I grew up with and is the second language I studied. It was fun to hear it again! I’d like to go back there soon just to get to know them better.

Refugees from Burundi had an especially hard time.

I got home about 9 pm. Mighty tired.

Watched an episode of House with K.

Now I’m compressing and uploading the shots I did to the Photo Gallery, then I’ll capture the video I shot onto my hard disk so I can start editing tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning we go to Briarcliff Baptist Church for their missions fair. I’m supposed to speak for a few minutes. I hope they put me last. Would you want to follow me as a speaker?

Peace.

Spent a couple of hours this morning finishing up writing the newsletters. Turned out to be 196 in all. Takes me about 10 hours a month to write, edit, publish, copy, label, write a little note on each letter and drop them off at the Post Office. A critical investment in time!

Took care of my 81 year old mother in law. She’s not doing very well. She says she hurts all over. But when she takes the stronger pain medicine she just sleeps all day long or sits in a chair and nods off. We’re always trying to adjust the dosage so she’s not so sleep nor hurt very much.

Ashley watched her later in the afternoon so Kathy and I could go see a movie together. It was fun. I wanted to see Tarantino’s knew effort but yesterday was the last day. Bahd luck. I’ll have to wait for it to come out on Netflix. We watched Pathfinder instead. Vikings vs Indian. I liked it. Not exactly a chick flick.

We also went over to the bookstore for a little while. Always doing research . . . lately I’ve been most interested in digital video techniques and promoting web sites.

We got home and checked on K’s mom. She was doing fine. Ashley does a good job watching out for her.

I ran four miles just as it was getting dark.

I just finished packing the van with the band’s equipment and the gear I need for doing the block parties tomorrow. I’m actually working with three churches in seven locations! I’ll have to get up early tomorrow to go get the food for the events, then over for the training sessions first at Briarcliff Baptist Church then Crosspointe Baptist Church. I’m a little bit concerned as to where I’m going to put the food in the van. It’s really full of stuff.

Whew!

Newsletter time of the month! I produced the pages, took them to the copy place and started writing! This month I’m writing 184 notes.

I had a terrific lunch today. I ate at Cafe Istanbul with a friend I used to work with back in my TV days in Savannah–Blair Meeks. He works for Channel 11 here in Atlanta now and is a big time reporter. He’s such a great guy and I really enjoyed catching up with him. Working in the news industry really changed my life. I was confronted with so much sudden death that I got a whole new perspective on life. I have a sense of urgency that most people can’t even fathom.

Being in the news industry also changed me in other ways. I still eat REALLY fast.

I specialize in “semi-legal” driving menuveurs.

My heart starts beating fast and I think I’m in “Live Shot” mode.

I gained the ability to focus and work at light speed without panic or freaking out.

I look at car wrecks and go into analysis mode as to whether it’s “news worthy.”

Weird, huh?

Also went to the mission at Azalea to check on the kids. My friends at Perimeter gave me about 100 little footballs. The kids had a gas throwing them around the parking lot. Fun!

K and I enjoyed watching House on DVD this evening.

My friend Carl has had a setback after his surgery. Please pray for him as he deals with this phase of his health challenge. It’s not life threatening just really uncomfortable.

Back to writing newsletters. . . .don’t get no better!

Peace.

Had a meeting with the cops and managers this morning. Specifically with the Dekalb County Center Precinct and the managers that work in the Memorial Drive/Clarkston area. We usually meet at the Red Cross on Covington Highway. The RC has had a cut back in personnel which resulted in the building being locked up when we got there! I made the suggestion that we meet in the mission at Kensington Station which is just around the corner. I was sure hoping that Ashley had cleaned it up great before she left! I took about 15 managers over there, plus the manager for KS, plus all the cops and the mission looked PERFECT! Way to go, Ash! So it was a good testimony of what we do and our professional standards. There were pictures on the mantle piece of Jesus on the Cross (drawn by some little kid) plus hand written Bible verses of John 3:16. It was a beautiful thing!

Left that meeting to meet with my partners from the UNITE churches. This is being led primarily by my partners from Perimeter: Chip Sweeney and Drue Warner. I’ve worked with Chip since the beginning of my ministry in this town. The Father is really using these two men to lead our churches to work together to reach this city for Christ. We sure do have a long way to go!

Great to meet other partners and see how we can get together in other areas as well.

Also got together with Tito Ruiz and my partners from Crosspointe Church, Steve and Ruth Nolen. They are three of my favorite partners in Atlanta and I am expecting really big things to happen from this partnership. We went over to check out the opening of a new mission off of Satellite Blvd: Gwinnett Crossings. The place is nearly 600 units and primarily Latino. We’re looking forward to having a block party there this Saturday with the help of Crosspointe. In the future we’ll start ESL classes over there with the intention of planting a church in that area.

It’s Kathy’s birthday today! We celebrate for about two weeks. Ironically, on her birthday we usually have a time of somber reflection. Just kidding! She did think she’s getting old. I actually think she’s in the best health she’s been in years.

Her mom’s still not doing well. Having a lot of chest pains. Hard on all of us.

Went to Marietta this morning to work with partners at FBC Marietta figure out the logistics for the youth group’s Summer Missions experience. We’ll host around 40 kids in four missions for about 6 days. Should be a great time!

Talked to office staff at Glenbrooke about the status of the mission there. Still no solid decision. Hard for me to understand.

Bought my tickets to go to Texas next month. I’ll be gone for a week to speak at a conference outside of San Antonio and at FBC Georgetown. It’ll be a good time to also renew relationships with the folks at my Dad’s church. They’re big supporters of our work!

Also had a pre-site visit with two partners from Pine Lake, MS. I think this team is going to do a terrific job for us. I had originally planned on starting new work in the S. Atlanta area specifically for them, but after yesterday I just don’t feel comfortable with that. Bottom line there are no churches to plug any converts into. Few if any leaders in the area. Not a good recipe for success. They told me today that it wasn’t a big deal for them to drive the bus the 25 minutes to come to the International Village area. I think they’ll have a much better experience up there.

Went to Azalea after working on my admin work at FBC Doraville. Went to the Post Office to get the stamps for this month’s mailout. Also got the rest of the supplies I needed from Office Depot. The kids at the mission are always good about helping me do all the labels and stamps.

My partner Paul Reynolds is having a challenge with his brother. He may be suicidal. It was so sad talking to Paul about the situation. Pray for the family.

Ran 4 miles and worked out on weights when I got home.

K and I enjoyed watching House on TV and then on DVD. Pray for Kathy’s mom, Nell. She’s not doing very well. Hard on all of us.

I spent the day with a new partner–Doug Bell! He’s working in East Atlanta around the Moreland Avenue area. LOTS of work to be done there for sure. He’s been a minister in the Manor 5 apartment complex for the last three years. I plan to bring my team from Pine Lake, Florida to help us ramp up work in this area even more.

We did a recon of the area and set up work at Sun Valley and talked to the manager at Paradise East. I still have to hear from their corporate bosses as to whether we can work there or not.

I also went back to the Forest Park area where I hoped to put in teams in about 6 locations. Unfortunately, it turns out the Clayton county doesn’t get out for Summer until June 1st! That means that my teams will have to be in the Dekalb county area instead. So I’ll go back to the Moreland Avenue area and set up another 6 or 7 locations soon.

I really enjoy starting new work, meeting new people, seeing their vision and helping to accelerate their work.

The director of the mission at Sun Valley goes to church in Douglasville, where I had an outreach event last weekend! I hope to get her church involved with our work there.

We went to Walmart to pick up school supplies for the two missions in the area–a little gift to help them from Whirlwind. While I was there, I asked different Walmart employees where they went to church. I hope to get some of the African American churches in the area to plug into the work I checked out today. They need a LOT of help.

And so does my daughter Ashley. Pray that we can get some volunteers to go over and help her there. It’s a burden on my heart.

Came home about 7pm and went for a 4 mile run.

K and I enjoyed watching “The Quick and the Dead.”

Ashley and I went to First United Methodist Church of Roswell this morning. We had a great time at the early service. Their praise band rocks! Pastor Mike also gave an inspiring message about getting out into the community. I certainly amen that idea!

Then we spoke at the class led by Rick Mullen. They were very enthusiastic and I pray that they will get involved at some level in the Latino communities around Roswell.

Ashley and I went to the rubber stamp store and learned how to make some thank you cards for our supporters. I like the hand crafted stuff. It looks super cool and I think people really appreciate the effort!

We ate at Taco Prisa and then went to visit the historic district around Roswell. We checked out a number of antique stores (I bought a really cool compass/sextant and some candles), sports stores and art galleries. My wife can’t stand that kind of arty stuff, so I’m glad Ashley likes to go there with me.

We got home around 6 pm and I took Kathy and Jesse out for steaks for her birthday. She really enjoyed it!

I’m looking forward to her putting her mom to bed so we can spend some time together.

Super busy weekend. Looks like next week is jammed too. Pray for me!

April 21, 2007

I spoke at the Multi-housing conference at Central Baptist Church in Douglasville. We had a good time discussing how to get the church engaged into the community—not an easy task!

Then I led the actual field training where we hosted an Outreach Event at Columbia Gardens. We had about 60 people show up, which is great for an initial event! We fed everyone and then I had the chance to share the Gospel. Best part was that five of the kids accepted the Lord! PTL!

After the Outreach Event I shot over to Stone Mountain to watch the finish of the 6^th stage of the Tour de Georgia. I was running late because of the event in Douglasville. I went to the main entrance, waited in line for about 20 minutes before they told us, “This entrance is closed until after the bike race! What!? I sped over to the West Entrance from the Stone Mountain side, parked my car and ran over to the where the police had blocked off the road. “They’ve just gone through!”

“WHAT!?!” I then had a decision to make: run or blow off the race. I decided I could run that two miles in my sleep, so I started down the road. Finally got to the park and the bikers were making the first lap around the mountain. I ran to finish line and then back towards where they were coming from. I got to see the group go by twice! Then I got to watch the presentation of the awards and even met some of the winners!

What a great day!

Worked on my email this morning. Went over my notes for the conference I’ll be speaking at in Douglasville tomorrow morning. I’ll also be doing some field training at an apartment complex near by.

I took care of K’s mom today. She went with me to the bookstore in Snellville. I’m doing research on camera filters for my video camera. I go and read all the books on the topic then make my decision as to what to get and where. My mother in law sat in the religious book section. Do you like book stores? Where do you head for first in the mall?

I was hoping to go by Wolf Camera to pick up the 30 mm polarizing filter I need, but they were out of business and had moved. Bahd luck.

Came home and watched “Kicking and Screaming” on DVD with K and her mom.

Went for a 4 mile run.

April 19, 2007

Went to the Faith Based Alliance meeting today at FBC Clarkston. The main topic was the Separation of Church and State—specifically in regards to the schools. We were interested in how it relates to after school programs on school campus. All in all I found it pretty depressing how our schools have nearly NO Chrisitian perspective any more. Very sad to me. I did tell the people there that we have after school programs off of school campus and we do NOT have to separate the church from state. We can tell the kids all about Jesus as much as we want.

Later we had a meeting with Barb Newman from Dunwoody Baptist Church and Tim Isaacson from Open Table Church. I wouldn’t be here in Atlanta if it wasn’t for DBC. I owe them a large debt of thanks. We hope to have a more agressive partnership in the future.

I went on to Doraville to work on admin stuff and then talk with Jason Pope–the director of the mission at Hamptons at Lenox. He’ll probably be shifting his ministry to an apartment in the S. Atlanta area soon near to the church where he’s a member. Works for me! He’s part of the Salvation Army.

Came home and paid for my car. Timing belt, water pump, hoses, radiator flush, oil change. All preventative maintenance. Cost over $1,200 when it was all said and done. Gotta do what you gotta do. The Chrysler has been a real work horse and I’ve found if you keep up with these cars they do really well, but if they over heat–you’re doomed.

K and I watched the last of the first season of House this evening.