#8 – From Justin to Kelly (didn’t see it!)

#7 – Vanilla Sky (didn’t see it!)
#6 – Leonard Part Six (have no flippin idea what this was about!)

#5 – Little Man Tate (once again, no idea!)

#4 – Leatherheads (did anyone actually think it was going to be good?)

#3 – Howard the Duck (brought back memories…I did actually see this one!)

#2 – Waterworld (I suffered through this one!!!)

#1 – Open Water

There you go from my tweets…many of these tied so I took the liberty to rank them accordingly!

• Got up at 3:45, had an incredible quiet time and then did a 30 minute workout.
• Tony was at my house at 5:45 so we could head to GSP to catch a plane.
• Plane was delayed flying out of GSP…but we still made our connecting flight in ATL
• This guy sat two rows in front of me.
• Took forever to get my luggage.  (Tony took his on board with him…I can’t…if I pack one pair of shoes it requires an extra large suitcase.  I wear a 14!)
• Met with a really cool agent and his sons (who are also agents) & discussed a potential book deal for four hours…I’m VERY excited.
• Tony and I got lost…IN THE PARKING GARAGE!  We literally could not find our rental car and I had to keep hitting the panic button on the key chain so that it would make noise.
• Tomorrow I get to go to this church and participate in a conference that Rick is putting on.  They’ve asked me to be on a panel & help participate in a discussion.  Here is a list of the participants…I am WAY over my head.
• I am really looking forward to hearing Rick speak!

That’s it–good night!!!!

(By the way NewSpringers…being honest here…I am blessed. God has been good to us as a church and me as a pastor…but trust me when I say that there are TONS of hurting pastors in this world–TONS!)

#2 – Shane Duffey, our Creative Arts Pastor, has a blog…and you should read it. It is entitled, “What Leadership Demands,” which is a subject he knows very well. He has a wife (who is also on staff full time) and four boys…AND he has to work with me…so you know his life is crazy!!!

#3 – If you missed Unleash you need to check out NewSpring’s podcast on itunes…we uploaded the messages…and you can download them (for free!) if you would like.

#4 – Craig has had some incredible posts on gratitude this week…if you haven’t checked them out you can do so at his blog…

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four

#5 – In my opinion, Jonathan hit the ball out of the park with this post!

#6 – And finally this post by Tim Stevens is an incredible reminder to us all to prioritize marriage before the kids!

• Steven shares in this post why being a pastor is important to him–AWESOME read!
• Craig hits another home run with this post on time management…it’s so true, we accomplish more by doing less.
• Apparently, according to this article, Moses was high when he received the 10 commandments from God. If that’s true then I want some of what he was on when he saw the Red Sea split in two!!! It’s amazing the things people will try to say to disprove Scripture!
• Chris gives another Pete update here…he asked a question that Chris was unsure how to answer…and his response back to Chris was amazing…
• Don’t forget Lee’s concert this Friday night…folks, seriously, this is one of the best CD’s I’ve ever heard. There are still some tickets left…but they are selling pretty fast.
• Unleash is a week from tomorrow and we have less than 200 spaces available–DANG! Oh yeah, if you are still wrestling with whether or not to come (OR volunteer)–DO IT!!! :-)

That’s about it for now…just wanted to share some things I’ve seen.

WAIT...as soon as I finished this and time stamped it to go up at 11:45 I received the following e-mail from Chris…

Perry:

Just wanted to let you know that Pete passed away this morning.  He spent his final days having people read from the New Testament to him.  Yesterday Pete was hearing about Jesus Christ…today he met Him face to face.

This MOVED me…I thank God that God used Chris and Compass Point to reach this guy during his last month on earth!  Bill Hybles said it best…and I agree…the local church is the hope of the world!  Politics didn’t save Pete, Hollywood didn’t, Oprah didn’t…Jesus did THROUGH the local church!

Chris (and every other pastor out there)–KEEP DOING WHAT YOU DO!!!  God’s plan is STILL the church…and I firmly believe the churches BEST DAYS are ahead of us!!!

• There are two types of churches in the world…those who talk about doing ministry and those that actually DO ministry…my prayer is that we are always the latter.
• Tommy Barnett is 71 years old and ON FIRE for Jesus.  I sat next to him at supper on Thursday night and just asked him questions.  He had a smile on his face the entire time…I could seriously see the joy of the Lord in him.  I WANT THAT!
• He was telling me about some stuff coming up in his church and was about to come out of his skin because they were getting ready to try some “new” and “innovative” things that they had never tried before…did I mention he was 71?  I WANT THAT!
• I am not sure that I’ve EVER met ANYONE with as much passion as Matthew Barnett.  He got on stage before the surface and did the windmill…I would break every bone in my body if I attempted that!
• What God is doing at the Dream Center is amazing…I talked with a young lady (18 years old) who had been a prostitute for two years…and then someone from the Dream Center rescued her off the streets…she stood near me during the worship time and worshiped Jesus with passion like I’ve never seen…and I was a mess.
• There were also former gang members, drug dealers, kids that no one wanted, pimps, prostitutes…I could go on and on.  It MOVED me, once again, to see a church stepping up in their own community and meeting needs in Jesus’ name.
• Seeing what they were doing in LA made me want us here at NewSpring to step it up even more and continue to make a serious impact in the upstate.

There were a few non-ministry highlights on the trip…

• We stopped at NBC studios so that I could speak to some of the writers that were on strike.  (AND beg them to end it!)  I wound up talking to the screen writer of “Mortal Combat” for around 30 minutes.  (He also wrote for “The Highlander” and “Hunter.”)
• I met “Norman the Doorman” from the suite life with Zack and Cody!
• I had supper on Thursday night with the guy who is going to be playing Batman in a movie entitled “League of Justice” about the comic book heroes that is due to come out in 2009…he’s a solid Christian and actually played guitar in the band for the Dream Center.
• It was 60 degrees on Friday morning…I walked out of my hotel and was heading to Starbucks when I passed a man who was wearing a suit, a heavy coat on top of that–AND…a scarf.  I wanted to yell, “Dude, it’s SIXTY FLIPPIN DEGREES,” but…I didn’t!
• I really missed ‘Cretia and Charisse!  REALLY!

• Last night I practiced with the girls basketball team that I am the assistant coach on OUTSIDE! It was flippin’ cold…but the ladies showed determination! We have a game tonight and are currently 4-0…or is it 5-0?  UPDATE:  Just received an e-mail from “Coach Karla” that says, “we are definitely 5-0!” 
• There is a rumor that it might snow or ice on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. For those who may live in Anderson but are not originally from the South…PLEASE stop what you are doing right now and go to Wal Mart to buy bread and milk…trust me, everyone you know is there…and they all have bread and milk in their hands.
• God’s vision is ALWAYS better than mine! We had originally planned to do a sex series in February; however, for a solid month God kept saying, “not right now.” It frustrated me…but when I finally surrendered and said, “it’s your church, what do you want” He BLEW MY MIND with the direction He took me in–I am SUPER EXCITED about the new series beginning the second week in February.
• Joe has started a series of posts that I believe EVERYONE needs to read concerning tax refunds.
• Tony shared this information on his site that I was completely unaware of–WOW!
• THIS is one of the best things in blog world I have ever read on the subject of leadership! I don’t know this guy…but I can honestly say that this blog article stretched me!

I told you my thoughts were random!

We are beginning a brand new series called, “Crank it up” that I think will be one of the most powerful series we have ever done here at NewSpring Church.  In it we will be getting down to the roots of what it means to really meet Christ and maintain a consistent walk with Him.

And…you MIGHT want to get there early as our band will be jamming during the counter.  Seriously, the song tomorrow is going to “melt my face off.”  At least that’s what Lee told me on Thursday.

In other news…Charisse got to attend her first basketball game today.  I am helping coach a girls basketball team in our church and my little girl came to watch.  I love watching her in new environments–she doesn’t miss a thing!

That’s it for now…just felt like blogging!  :-)

• I have ENJOYED hanging out with my girls!  Charisse is beginning to laugh out loud–WOW!
• I have also enjoyed some chocolate chip bread that a wonderful lady in our church bakes for me every Christmas!
• I have enjoyed my brand new one cup coffee maker that “Santa” brought me…I think he got it from Starbucks!
• I have enjoyed getting a little extra rest!
• I have enjoyed coming into the office and really being able to focus on what I feel God wants me to speak on over the next month or so–and I am EXCITED!
• I have enjoyed hanging out with friends…EXCEPT for last night at the Cracker Barrel.  They “discontinued” their baked apple dumpin’ for the “holiday season” and, instead, have some “yummy pies.”  Uh…NOTHING is better than the dumpin’!  I was so sad!!!
• I have enjoyed getting an invite to eat at Fogo de Chao next week before the bowl game!!!

I will be posting a little more next week…I hope all of you have had an awesome Christmas break!!!

• Right now Lucretia and Charisse are watching some sort of video–and EVERY TIME they do so when I am at home I sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” all day long.  AHHHHHH!  (I can also sing it in Spanish…just in case you are wondering!)
• This story about Tony Morgan made me laugh out loud!
• Last night we had our staff Christmas party…and I laughed so hard I nearly got sick.  One of the things I’ve learned so far in ministry is that at staff MUST laugh and celebrate life together.
• During our creative planning session yesterday I heard screaming in the parking lot–I looked out the window to discover Joe Sangl in an elf costume (complete with yellow tights) riding around in a golf cart – I will never look at him the same again!
• Yesterday I had the privilege of hanging out with six church leaders from across the upstate and hear about what God is doing in their churches–it was so encouraging and I cannot wait to do it again.
• Our Christmas services are just about here…and I am PUMPED.  I was informed today that we’ve distributed over 15,000 tickets.  We still have a few hundred seats left in our Monday services.  Yesterday I walked into the sanctuary and saw the stage for the first time–DANG!
• Oh yeah, I know I’ve said this already–but get their early Sunday…the service is going to begin in a really “unique” way and I would HATE for you to miss it.
• AND also–please remember that it’s ok if you forget your ticket–we are not turning anyone away!
• I really do miss college football…and I have NO IDEA where that came from.
• There’s that “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” song again–why must children’s videos sing things over and over?
• I will be posting after the Christmas services and then MAYBE sporadically next week…we always shut the office down the last week of the year to allow our staff a breather.
• That’s it–I’ve got to go workout now…there have been WAY too many “goodies” in our office lately and the Bible says in I Opinions 3:17 that, “Thou shalt not pass by Christmas goodies without partaking in the goodness that the Lord has allowed.”
• (OK–I made that verse up–that’s really not in the Bible!)

She’s always right–I DO always like whatever she cooks–but she was ESPECIALLY right on this particular day. She knows I love dessert. Seriously, I believe the 11th commandment should have been, “Thou shalt have dessert at every meal!” And so…on this particular night she made a…

WHITE CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE…let me explain…

It’s basically a plain vanilla cake mix–BUT–you mix in white chocolate pudding with the mix…thus giving it a rich flavor. AND–in between the two cake layers is a layer of thick, rich chocolate fudge! THEN…the icing on the cake (literally) is a mixture of white chocolate and whip cream! Trust me–if you put a piece of this cake on the top of your head your tongue would slap your brains out trying to get to it!!!

It’s awesome!!!

I’ve talked about this cake before on this blog and from the stage–and SEVERAL people have e-mailed in wanting the recipe–well, I asked Lucretia to e-mail it to me so that I could copy it and so here it is. BUT…I am warning you–this cake is AWESOME and should only be eaten by people who can handle their cake in a responsible manner–here goes…

(My wife is very detailed–so she included everything she knew how to do–please do not e-mail me with questions about this, I have never made the cake, I’ve only eaten it so I do not know ANYTHING at all regarding the construction of this work of art!!!)