I've been healed!!!

You know you are healed of a stomach bug when you can go to a lunch appointment and have Mexican and still feel good afterward. I guess that means I'm better.

I had lunch with Jenni today. She is a blessing to our church. She is thinking about being a part of the worship team here at Preston Road. I hope I didn't scare you off Jenni. :)

I also got new strings for my guitar. Mine were getting really cruddy and we have a talent show that my guitar will be used on this Sunday evening. I love fresh Elixir strings on my Larivee. It sounds great. (As long as I'm playing the right notes of course)

Still Sick

Well, yesterday was miserable. Today is a little better though I'm still sick. My fever hasn't gone down since yesterday afternoon. I'm hoping that will change today. At least I have my laptop, a wireless connection and my grad books and worship stuff with me. I actually may get quite a bit done today. I'm not going to let a fever keep me from getting some needed reading and worship planning done.

I missed our staff meeting this morning. I hated to do that because we have been going through a spiritual disciplines book together.

I hope everyone has a great day.

Sick again.

I woke up today feeling horrible. As the day has progressed, I have only felt worse. I'll probably end up going home sick this afternoon.

My birthday went well. We went to On the Boarder for lunch and last night some friends came and took care of the kids while Summer and I went to a movie and starbucks afterwards. Thanks Ryan and Lesli. You guys are great.

Assignment #1 is done

Well, I just completed my first of two assignments for my grad class this semester. I had to read around 90 pages and write an outline for a class on an intro to the New Testament World. It was not quite as easy as it sounded. It is done and now on to assignment 2 for the week, which is to read another 60 pages and write a page paper. Easier than the first, but still a good bit of work. Once I complete that I get to look forward to next week's assignment which is to read a 300 page book in small print on the the Canon of the NT and write a critical assessment of it. Though I'm interested in the book, it is a lot of reading to do in one week for a full time minister that is a dad of 3 children.

But I want my grad degree and I'm willing to work for it, plus I'm learning some wonderful things that I wouldn't casually learn just for the fun of it. The only person that might read a book on the Canon of the NT or about the Midrash customs of Judaism for fun would be maybe Terrell Lee or Stephen Lamb. Sorry guys, had to write that. :)

This weekend I turn 31. I don't know what to think about 31. It is an ok your another year older, whatever age. 30 is a monumental age, even 32 has a nice sound to it, but 31? Well maybe by the time my 31st year of life is over I can look back and have a better appreciation for the number 31.

Well, I have reading to do and an awesome supper to eat. (Roast, mashed potatoes, okra, green beans, and corn bread) mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..............

Blessings to you all,

Bret

Ugh!

I hate feeling sick or at least feeling like I'm about to be really sick. My daughter Rebekah has been sick the past couple of days. We think she either has a stomach bug or the flu. Last night before rehearsal my head started to pound and my neck started to tighten up. I took some ibeprophen last night and I'm surviving so far at work today, but don't know if I'll make it through the day.

We had a great staff meeting this morning. We are going through a Spiritual Formation workbook together and we are having some great experiences together. This week I've committed to saying the same prayer everyday this week for 5-10 minutes a day. This exercise comes from Eastern Church tradition. I will be praying "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." I look forward to seeing what God will reveal to me through that.

The new digital sound board was delivered to my office yesterday. It is the coolest board I've ever seen. I really think this will make things much easier for our sound guys.

I think of my dad everytime I see new computer or sound technology come out and think about how he would be as excited as I am about all the new equipment. So much has changed in 13 years without dad. I'm sure he's fixing all the computers in heaven and installing sound in the throne room. :)

Have a blessed day.

Rain and Grad School

Rain, Rain, Go Away
3 Weeks from Yesterday

It rained this morning a little bit, but we could use about 3 weeks of solid rain to catch up. Things are dry, and fires are all over the place. I didn't realize how much it doesn't rain in Texas. I'm sure it is dry in other places, but Texas is really dry.

My ACU grad class starts tomorrow online. The only problem is my books were ordered the 3rd of this month and haven't arrived yet. So I'm going to the SMU library to pick up a book for my first assignment. I checked and my book might be here by the end of the week if I'm lucky.

Our sound board came in and will be delivered tomorrow or Wed. I'm so excited about getting that installed. It should make things easier for our sound crew.

We have our first elder's meeting of the year tonight. I'm sure it will be a long one since it has been a month since we have met.

I have to share one of my favorite jokes about elders.

How many elders does it take to change a lightbulb?............


Change??????? Who said anything about change?!?!?!?!?!?

Seriously though, elders have a tough job. I'm blessed we have elders that love this church and want to see it grow. We don't always agree, but I know that below the disagreements are hearts that love the Lord and this church.

Have a blessed day.

The contest cycle has started

Tonight we had our first Vocal Majority rehearsal of the year. It went pretty well. We are going to have to set up two more risers starting next week because so many people are showing up for rehearsals.

The Vocal Majority has a rich history in the barbershop society. The biggest contest of the year is the international contest where the best choruses from all over the world come to compete in one big contest. The winning chorus gets gold medals. The catch is that a chorus that wins a gold medal has to sit out the next two years, so a chorus can only compete and win at the most once every 3 years. We call this the contest cycle. The Vocal Majority will be going for its 11th gold medal this July in Indianapolis. Did I mention that this would make the 10th consecutive gold medal?

This of course will be my first gold medal. I'm excited. We just learned the uptune we will be singing in contest tonight. It is a spectacular piece written by Irving Berlin titled "Marching Along with Time."

I'm looking forward to the weekend. There is nothing to do tomorrow which is good. I love Fridays because I can hang with the family and do whatever.

Have a blessed day.

Nathaniel

Nathaniel is a regular to our back door ministry. Our back door ministry has brought many regulars asking mainly for bus passes and a sack lunch. Nathaniel at face value is just like everyone else. He doesn't have a job, has had a tough time in life, and it doesn't seem he has the drive or the skill to get on his feet at the moment.

We helped him several times until a couple of months ago, things became different. There was a funeral for one of our dear ladies at the building one day and he showed up in a neck brace. His story was he got kicked out of church and needed help filling a prescription. Of course, with our policies, unless we know the person extremely well, we can't just help people get pain medication though I felt for him.

A few weeks later he showed up and we talked for a while. I asked if I could pray for him and he gladly accepted. After I prayed, he prayed the most powerful prayer. This man can hardly read or write, but he prayed more Scripture in a prayer than I have ever heard anyone pray. He has also prayed with John our youth minister. Both John and I have been taken back by his prayers and his knowledge of Scriptures. He quotes everything from Jesus to Jeremiah in his prayers.

He came by again today after telling us he was going to Denver and that the Lord was leading him there. He seemed to be a little down. Both John and I went to talk with him today. We got a commitment from him that he would be coming to church on Sunday.

To be honest, I don't know if he will come. But I hope he comes. He needs a church family. If he is ever going to get on his feet, he needs a group of people that can help him. I pray that he will choose to come. I believe that God brings him back to this church. I told him that maybe why God keeps him back to this church is so he might come and be a part of this church.

Maybe he's pulling a good one on us. But you know what? It doesn't matter. Our prayers and bus passes may be the only Jesus he sees in his life. I'm going to keep praying with him and helping him with bus passes as long as there is hope that he can find a community of believers that can help him and minister to him and also a place where he can utter those wonderful prayers to the encouragement of others.

Definition of Church

How do you define church. Church in the US has become a place that you go to get your spiritual fix. Sadly, we as church leaders encourage that. We are always trying to make our services more _________ friendly. (put in your favorite word i.e. seeker, post-seeker) When we critique our services we look at things like the timing of the sermon, the transition of the prayers, and the effectiveness of the powerpoint.

The church, though, is not a place, but us. We will quickly say, "yeah, I know, I'm the church," but do we know the implications of that statement. The church is the people of God on mission together to further His kingdom. That alone focuses our attention away from the weekend services or maybe I should say "gatherings."

The worship is not about providing a product that will satisfy the people, but about engaging people in worship to God. The questions we need to ask after our services is, "Did people experience the presence of God today?" "Were lives changed through the worship?" "Did our worship help to send out our church into a world that needs God?"

The questions don't deal with a product that we try to make attractive, but about creating worship experiences for the people of God to engage in.

These thoughts have been mulling over in head today thanks to a great book called, "The Emerging Church" by Dan Kimball. This is a great read. Tomorrow I'm starting on another of his books called, "Emerging Worship."

Have a blessed day.

Awesome night

Last night was a homerun. We had 30 people from our worship ministry come to our house. This is the first time that we've had a big group to our house. The night went extremely well. We had a wonderful dinner planned and prepared by my wonderful wife. We reflected on 2005 and dreamed about 2006. After that we spent some time in worship and prayer that was wonderful. Other than my daughter puking as the people left, it went better than I could have hoped.

Anna and Rebekah both have ear infections. Anna has a really bad one. Now we have to get prescriptions and hope they get better soon.

I got an email from my ACU professor this weekend. My internet grad course will be starting next Tuesday. I'm kind of excited about getting my master's finished. It will take me a while, but I enjoy have a class or two a semester to keep me thinking and learning.

My friend Deen will be out of a job on February 7th. He has a marketing degree from ACU and has had experience with the banking industry and also has worked for TXU for several years. Due to outsourcing everything overseas, his whole department has been in the process of being laid off. He will be one of the last ones to be laid off. He would make a great employee for any company. If you know of a position available, please let me know. It has to be around the Dallas area because I refuse to lose him as a tenor. No job offers outside the Dallas area will be relayed on to him. :) Just kidding. I know the Lord will take care of Deen and will always provide.

Our sound job is getting closer to be complete. The speakers and the projector have made an incredible difference in our Sunday services. The next step is to get the booth moved downstairs and to get a new sound board. That should be happening in the next couple of weeks or so.

It also looks like we are going to get a color copier in the office. It is actually going to be cheaper than our current contract and the price per color page is going to be so much cheaper than using a color laser or an inkjet, not to mention we can now do inhouse color brochures instead of taking them to Kinkos which costs a ton. We will have to have policies on using the color part of the copier though as it still cost like $.10 a page which is great, but could be abused if everybody wants to copy color all the time. We will probably be very strict on how much color we end up doing.

Well, we have a staff prayer time in 5 minutes so I need to run. Have a blessed day.

Bret

Getting ready for Sunday night

Tomorrow night, Summer and I will be hosting the worship team in our home. This is the first time since we've moved in that we've been able to have the worship team over. We are very excited. We just went to Sam's to get the food.

On the way back we saw a big pillar of smoke around the Garland area on Hwy 80. It ended up being a huge field fire that seems out of control. I fear that many homes may be destroyed if they can't get it under control. Summer and I drove past it a couple of times on the highway. It is the biggest fire I've ever seen.

Now we are back home which means it is time to clean once again. It seems there is always something to clean. Oh well. have a great Saturday.

Bret

My Day Off!!!

Fridays are great because I get to spend them with my family. Looks like today we will continue "spring cleaning." Though it is not technically spring, it sure feels like it in Texas. The first day of January was 81 degrees. What's up with that?

I will also be trying to get our van fixed. I think there is a belt or a belt wheel that is making noise and it needs fixin.

Have a great Friday.

Beautiful Bekah

Anna trying give a mean face 

Micah trying to give a mean face 

A New Year, A New Look

Well, here is a different look for my blog and my first post of the year and for a couple of months for that matter. The holidays have been busy and posting on my blog has been the last thing on my mind. Well, just in case some of you occasionally check my blog, surprise!!!!! I posted again.

I feel a little more organized though I'm still trying to catch up from the break at the holidays. I now carry a Franklin Planner. I've tried everything. I've had small calendars, Outlook calendars, PDA calendars, and of course the Franklin Planner. I seem to be the most organized with it, so that is what I'm going with this year.

As I look back to 2005, it was probably one of the most challenging years yet. We had our 3rd child, bought a house, and we found out that Summer has Graves Disease.

Through the challenges though, there have been so many blessings. I feel that I'm settling into my role as a worship minister and I think the church is becoming more aquainted with me as well. The priase team has grown closer over the course of this year and we look for that to continue. Rebekah is a sweet heart and a wonderful baby. We love our house. Summer is being treated for her graves disease and many symptoms that she has had for several years should go away.

I'm looking forward to this year. Things are in place for this to be a great year.

I hope to blog on a more regular basis this year. If you know me, you should know that typing a blog is an extremely difficult task for my personality. I have rarely journaled in my life, but not because I didn't have the desire to.

Some of the worship team met at Paula's house last night to watch the big game between Texas and USC. I have to admit I'm a transplant Texan, so though I'm happy to see Texas pull out a great victory in one of the greatest football games ever, my loyalties are still with the University of Tennessee. (football only of course. Basketball is all UK and will always be UK.)

Now it is time to think about the Super Bowl. I think the Colts are going to win it all. Peyton Manning (a former UT, that's Tennessee, the real UT, for you Texans, quarterback) is going to be if not already one of the greatest quarterbacks in the game. It is exciting to see the Colts play. I'll be rooting for them.

Well, I have lunch plans, so I need to stop. Hopefully you will see another post sooner than later. :)

Have a blessed day.

Happy Turkey Day

Thanksgiving is always a busy time of year. We travel to see our families, we overstuff ourselves with fattening foods, desserts, and grace tea, go shopping all day Friday to get the best deals and then come home in time to get to work Monday morning. Though all of those things are some of the great memories that we will treasure for the rest of our lives, we need to stop our business for a while and ponder all the things we are thankful for. We live in such a sarcastic, negative society and there is a lot we can complain about. (i.e. not enough money, can’t find a job, annoying spouse, bad health, too busy, hate my job, I don’t want to travel 12 hours for Thankgiving and turn around 3 days later and make the trip back, kids are hard to handle, I don’t like the songs in worship, etc. etc. etc.)

Ok, so we like to complain. It is time that we be thankful. What good does it do to complain about all these things. It won’t make any of them better. As a matter fact, it might just make most of them worse.

I have been dreading driving 12 hours to Kentucky and Tennessee and then having to make the trip back home 3 days later only to have to do it again at Christmas time as well. My complaints will not help make my trip any better. I want to see my family, but I don’t want to make such a long turn around trip. I’ve decided that it is time to stop complaining and be thankful that I have the ability to make this kind of trip to see my family. As my mind starting thinking of the positives, I also started to think about all the great conversations that come from a long road trip and how good that will be for my family to be able to be together for that long period of time where our relationships can further develop.

I’m now going to list other things I’m thankful for:

God has blessed me beyond my imagination

Beautiful and wonderful wife

Awesome children

Wonderful mom, sisters, and in-laws

Great church, elders, deacons, and staff

Great worship team

I’m thankful God created music

I have a job

If I’m hungry, I have the ability to get something to eat

If I need to go somewhere I have two vehicles to choose from and they both work.

I can afford high gas prices, though I don’t like it.

I have a roof over my head and a comfortable bed to sleep in.

I have money to buy Christmas gifts.

I have a savings account.

I have salvation

God’s Spirit is within me

God loves me

God forgives me

God works through me

I live in a country that allows me to worship freely

I’m thankful to be alive today

The list could go on and on, but the purpose of this list is to get us in the mode of being Thankful for the things we have rather than complain about the things we don’t have or don’t like. May God’s blessings be upon you this Thanksgiving.

Sung Out

Well, I just got back from San Antonio last night. We had a great trip. There were alot of good things that the quartet did and figured out at the contest to help us in the future. The cool thing is that the San Antonio main newspaper interviewed our quartet and and article with our picture was plastered on the first page of teh Metro section of Sunday's paper. It's funny that our quartet is from Dallas, but we get featured in San Antonio's newspaper.

We stayed at the St. Anthony in downtown San Antonio. It is more of a historic hotel. It was nice, but the carpets were a little on the dirty side. On the way back, we stayed the night at a Quality Inn for half the price. Sure, the St. Anthony was decorated nice, but the Qaulity Inn was clean, had free high speed internet, and a free breakfast that included good biscuts and gravy. I'd pay half the price anyday for that deal.

Summer and I were able to attend Oak Hills on Sunday morning. Max Lucado wasn't there, so they had David Robinson there sharing the message. My family got to meet him. I guess it goes without saying, but I have to say it. "Man, he was tall."

We went to lunch with Jeff Nelson and enjoyed our time with him. Our kids and his kids played while we talked over lunch.

Well, it is time to get into worship planning mode. Have a great day.

San Antonio here we come

Well, tomorrow, Summer and I leave for San Antonio. This trip serves two purposes. The first is why we are going to San Antonio in the first place which is contest. The Vocal Majority and my quartet are competeing this weekend. We are really excited about the contest. Our quartet could get as high as second place. The quartet that will get first place is way above our level. They will most likely win the international contest this year.

After the contest, Summer, the kids, and I are going to hang around San Antoino for a couple of days for some R & R.

I'm trying this.

Ok, I have a friend who has recently gotten free stuff from a referal offer like the one I'm tryiing. I'm trying to get a free iPOD. I've signed up for the BMG CD club where I get 12 CD's free and I purchase 1 CD at club price and then my commitment is over and I can cancel my account. I was going to do this anyways to keep up on my worship CD's and you end up getting your CDs cheaper than if you go to Walmart. There are other offers out there as well. If 5 of you can sign up for something under the link below, then I can get a free iPOD. It also starts your process in getting a free iPOD as well. If I get 5 people to sign up for something and I recieve the iPOD, I will tell you that it works and you can get an iPOD the same way. I thought it would be worth a try anyways. Here is the link:

Copy this link into your web browser:
http://ipods.freepay.com/?r=23983600

Thanks for participating if you do.