Leeds Storm

This is my friend Jeremy's house, that metal debris was a roof from a building 5 blocks away. That old Pecan tree may have saved their lives, definately saved the house more damage.


Their upstairs window was "sucked" out of the house!



The rest of the roof that hit Jeremy's house




Building with doors "sucked" out





Leeds High School Ballfield

Please pray for the survivors and the families of the elderly woman that was killed. They all need some peace and rest.

Work day

Just a note. Thanks for all the folks that showed up Saturday and worked their tails off. We had a ton of junk to trash and general straightening up. We could not have gotten it done without you and I greatly appreciate the help.
We haven't always had good turn outs at these things, and I was concerned last week that we wouldn't get everything done, but I was wrong. Chrissy said she counted 41 people! That's awesome!
For those who couldn't make it, just wander about the buildings and look in closets and classrooms, no more junk, scattered debris, or mice infested furniture! Also, for those who couldn't make it, there will be a Exterior work day in March, so your pentence can be achieved then! ;)
Thanks again for all your hard work!

For: God

When I first became a Deacon and started counting the offering after worship, I noticed one member always wrote in the "memo/for" line of the check "God". Not tithe, not offering, not missions, just God. At the time, I got a chuckle out of it. Then, after thinking about it for a while, I realized that is absolutely correct, that money is for God! Much of the time, we write that check and think it goes into a hole at the church, or consider it a fee for church membership. But no, it's not, it is simply returning to God a small portion of what he has given to us.
The fact is, all we have we has been given by God. Our salvation, families, time, talents, jobs, money, health, everything.
As Stewardship chairman, I get to see much of what it takes to do ministry. There are costs involved with most every aspect of ministry. More than just the obvious salaries, missions and utilities, there is curriculum for our children, mercy needs for our congregation, even pizza for starving workers at the work day. I used to get depressed writing my tithe check, considering that even though it was a true tithe, my little bit wouldn't even cover the water bill for that month. But that's not what we are paying for, we are not paying for anything. We are giving back to God in gratefulness for what He has blessed us with to help further the Kingdom. It is then used by the Session, Diaconate and staff to pay for bills that are incurred while furthering the Kingdom.
In our "2020 Vision" meeting last night, we learned about a more direct way we will have to further the Kingdom. Church planting is in our near future and a portion of our tithe dollars will be spent spreading the Gospel in other communities. Our time, talents and tithes will be needed in this effort.
It is an exciting time for our church family to grow and mature in our faith. Please prayerfully consider your position on tithing, consider what God has blessed you with, consider what you now spend your money on, and what good you can do for the Kingdom with your money. We all have debts, we all have things we would like to have, but how many of those things truly matter in the big picture compared to the eternal Glory of God?
So, I challenge myself and you, next time you get paid and are writing that tithe check, look at the "For" line at the bottom of the check and remember who it is truly for.

Grace revealed through Hope

So, I have entered Blog world a month or so after the fact, but there are things worth repeating regarding Hope.

You may not have felt this way that fatefull Sunday, but you were better off hearing everything all at once. I am sure it was alot to swallow at one time, but I think it was for the best.
The days and nights following our "discovery"were more than a struggle. What you went through in moments took days and weeks for me. Much like you, I went through doubt first, hoping against hope that I just missed something legitimate. Then great hurt when the truth was revealed. Then anger as more was revealed. Then rage as more came to light. Satan was playing me pretty well!
Then, my old friend and accountability slavemaster (Milton) slapped the gospel on me. After confiding in him about all that had occured, he took minutes, no seconds to reach a point I had not reached in days of struggling with this. He said, "Scott, she needs Jesus right now. Something is going on with her, and we weren't there for her". WOW! I hadn't even considered that! All I could think about was the wrong that had been done and the trust that had been betrayed. (Gospel smack down). Who am I to judge what she had done? What have I done and do every day that my Father is betrayed by? God has done much more for me than I had ever done for Hope, yet I betray Him all the time! Hmmm. One thing Milton said that broke me, he said that "no matter what she had done, when God looks down on her from heaven, He sees a sinner, but not just a sinner, but one with the ritgheous blood of His Son covering her." (Gospel smack down II)
Our very wise Session was extremely quick to see grace in this as well. Yes, they understood and considered the discipline side of things thoroughly, but their first concern was Hope. While that meeting with the Session was painfull, tearfull and very uncomfortable, I really wish that every member of CPC had been there. God's grace and mercy flowed out of those men in an unbelievable way. I saw grown men tear up over their own sin. I saw righteous men beg Hope for forgiveness for not seeing her pain and not hearing her cries for help. I saw wisdom and love flowing freely. God's grace and the Gospel was being laid out.
What you heard that Sunday was all of it at once. You got to feel the doubt, hurt, anger, rage, and mercy in a span of one hour. Be glad! Rejoice that the Elders in our church were and are being led by the hand of God. They led us in understanding of the situation, and understanding of the Gospel. I have always had a great appreciation of these men, but ever more so, now. And they will be the firsts to tell you, it is NOT of themselves, God was and is working through them.
What was told of the situation that morning was all that anyone needs to know. Details are not important. She has repented and is working towards complete restoration. And we are making changes to keep anything like this from happening again.
It has been over a month, now, but we need to remind ourselves everyday of just how sinful we are, yet how wonderfull of a Saviour we have!
That Sunday, Grace was revealed through Hope.

Home Body

Is that synonymous with lazy? Since moving to this house nearly two years ago, things have changed.
I used to hit the road every morning before 7 and was lucky to get to my home office by 2, just in time to do paper work for several hours. I averaged over 40,000 miles per year on my truck.
Now, I find it hard to convince myself to leave. I have a great office that I can do pretty much everything. My project managers handle 75% of the projects we have going. The price of gas makes it easy to talk myself into staying put.
I have grown to love Moody, and rarely leave. I eat lunch with "The Boys" from CPC most days. It's just easy to stay here and when I leave, I seem to rush to get back.
The last month or so has been really nice as my fishing schedule was over in early December, and won't start again till early March. In 2007, I bit off more than I thought with my fishing. I fished one trail that had 4 tourneys in the Spring and one in the Fall, fished as a co-angler on another trail that was on Sunday's, but only had 4 tourneys (so I thought), and I was the tournament director in my bass club. The club had 7 tournaments, plus 12 meetings. In one of those trails, I was fortunate enough to make the Nation Championship. Unfortunately, I was gone for 7 days for this event. All in all, I had 22 tournament days and over 50 days of pre-fishing.
By the time it was over, I was DONE! Ready for a rest. So, for the last few months, I have been laaazy, and I am having a hard time motivating myself to get going.
Now, the "Season" is about to start over. After the Feb. 23rd work day at CPC, I have two out of town tournaments in a row. Time to get back after it, long cold days on the water, early mornings and a lot of driving.
Don't we get that way about a lot of things we need to do? Going to church for worship, learning and fellowship is something I enjoy. But, deep down, I just want to stay home and do nothing!
Burt wrote about this in his blog a few weeks ago. We find every excuse in the book to NOT go to church. It is something I want to do, and enjoy doing, but Adam (sin nature) tries very hard to keep me from going.
What about prayer? I am very quick to pray when I have needs, or wants, but how often do I really talk to my Father when things are good?
What about reading God's word? I read every morning (box checked!), but how often do I study His word?
I am a weak, lazy individual that needs and appreciates the "nudging" of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus to the rescue

My brother sent me this video today, I believe it was from a youth conference.
http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ee73e63418003b47d7d5
What a cool job of presenting the gospel. Something we hear at our church very often is that we need to constantly preach the Gospel not only to our community and our homes, but to ourselves. This skit was a great reminder of how Jesus comes to our rescue even when we look to everything else in the world to give us "life".
Ephesians chapter 2 is the scripture I run to the most when I need to be reminded of who I was and who's I am. Not only did HE come after me when I was dead, but HE still drags me away from harmfull situations and lifestyles, now. How often do we still look to the world for assurance, "life" and peace? I would say we are looking the wrong direction!

First Post

My first foray into Blogger-central. I am not nearly as imaginative and interesting as most of you, hence the name of the blog. But I do have random thoughts that require you to answer the question, is this guy crazy or genius? You alone can decide.
More to come as the waves of random thoughts arrive.