Wednesday, November 21, 2007

A Record Setting Knife


When I saw this record setting Swiss army knife, my first thought was: Simple is good. Have you ever felt like you had more tools than you really needed? For the record, this knife has 87 tools. I saw this picture, laughed and wanted to share it with you. What does it make you think of?

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Coffee Creek Update

I just got home from the service at Coffee Creek Correctional facility. I have blogged previously about the ministry we have in the local ladies prison. God is still blessing in a tremendous way. There were 120 ladies in attendance tonight and 3 trusted Christ as their Saviour.

It is a huge blessing to be able to go in there each week and preach God's Word. The ladies are so appreciative of our willingness to come. They are also extremely receptive to preaching. I can't think of another group I'd rather speak to. Please pray that God will keep His hand on this unique ministry.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

A Thought about Thinking

I am in the process of preparing to teach a class on preaching to a group of about a dozen men in our church. This Saturday, I am going to give the guys a lesson on the introduction of a message. When I was in Bible college, Dr. John Goestch taught us an outline for the introduction that he has used almost every time he has preached since he took homiletics at Maranatha.

Dr. Goetsch taught us that one of the key parts of the introduction comes in the form of a question. He calls this aspect of the introduction the propositional statement. Let's say you are preaching on the subject of the will of God, you might as a question like: "Do you know God's will for your life?" or "Are you seeking God's will for your life?" Dr. Goetsch taught us that questions make people think more than direct statements. I wholeheartedly agree.

As I was preparing for the preaching class, a succinct thought came to my mind. I don't know if I am the originator of this statement, but I know that I've never heard it put quite like this.

Think about this statement:

You can't make people change unless you can make them think.

It hit me as simply profound.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

It's a Girl!

Perhaps you know that my wife is about 6 months pregnant. Well, she went to the doctor today for the ultrasound and we found out we're having a girl! If you don't know my son, you can get to know him here. Now that we'll have a boy and a girl, we might be done.

Here is something for you to pray about: choosing a name for our new baby. I think my wife and I will need marriage counseling before this is all over. I like the name Elena. She wants to name the baby Jocelyn. I'll keep you posted on the results of this fight...err...discussion.

Kim brought home some pictures from the ultrasound and one of them is absolutely hilarious. The way the machine took the picture makes our baby look like Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then that means nothing to you. If you do know what I'm talking about (i.e. you are a Star Wars junkie), then you are laughing right now. As soon as I can scan that photo, I'll add it to this post. Stay tuned for that, you'll like it.

On the serious side, pray for my wife and I about having another child at home. When I told my pastor that Kim was pregnant, his first statement was this: "One is fun, but two is like twenty." We're excited about the new baby, but we also realize that the responsibility doesn't just add up, it multiplies.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Elevator Scare (Prank Wednesday)

Enjoy the video! All the man is doing is screaming as the elevator door is closing. Simple, but very effective.

DISCLAIMER: I can't speak Spanish. I don't know what the text says at the bottom of the screen, therefore I am not accountable for it. :)

(FYI: I'm thinking I might cut back to bi-weekly or once a month postings for Prank Wednesday. If I don't do it every week, I guess it won't be Prank Wednesday anymore. Anyway, I just don't want this to be the thrust of my blog. I just want to have a little fun.)

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Milestone for Timberline Baptist Church

November 4th, 2007 will be a historical day for Timberline Baptist Church. Tomorrow morning, we will have our first Sunday services in our new building. God has blessed TBC in a powerful way in its first six years of existence. The church sits on 7 acres of land and will move in to a 2.8 million dollar, 20,000 square foot building tomorrow. We are truly entering a new chapter in our history. I'm glad to be a part of it.

Please pray that our church will continue to be a lighthouse for the Gospel in Sherwood and the surrounding areas. Also, pray for the final details on the building to be completed without problems over the next few weeks.