I cannot imagine what on earth motivated you to find this site, but I am humbled that you chose to stick around. I am aware of the fact that your most likely reason for reading my musings is that you have been put under some type of direst, but I’ll take whatever help I can get. Whatever the reason, thank you for caring enough about my thoughts and opinions to read on. I hope I won’t disappoint.
A Review of The Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson There is something deep that unites us all. No, something even deeper than our universal love of Mexican food. It’s a common thread that runs through all of us, somehow binding each of us to something greater than ourselves, helping us see each other as more than just unrelated beings moving through unrelated space living out unrelated lives. It unites us and teaches us that we all somehow add to a story much greater than our own, a story that has been groaning...
read moreSo by now, you’ve probably heard about the devastating tornadoes that ravaged our state and knocked on the doors of several other states on Wednesday. As of today, the overall death toll is at 337, with 238 of those deaths coming from Alabama alone. In addition to the deaths, more than 1700 Alabamians were seriously injured during the storms, thousands of people have lost their homes, and hundreds of thousands remain without electricity and seriously low on drinking water and food. The sheer weight of the situation makes it difficult to deal...
read moreI consider myself to be a storyteller of sorts. I also consider myself to be a teacher of sorts. Because of these two passions, I relish the instances in life when I get the opportunity to combine the two and teach someone something about storytelling. One such lesson I’ve had the repeated opportunity to espouse to my often involuntary student base is the immensely important lesson of how not to begin a story. More times than I’d like to admit, I’ve heard people begin their stories with phrases like, “This is the funniest...
read more[The following is an adaptation of a sermon I preached to The Vineyard on March 6, 2011. We attempted to record it in order to post the audio file, but because Satan lives in technological equipment, we only got the first 2/3 of the message. The message was pretty long, even by my standards, so you guys get to read it in its more concise, less-rambling form. No really, this is the shorter form. Seriously. I hope you don’t enjoy it.] I recently received a pretty interesting birthday present from my friend, Dave. For my birthday, Dave got me...
read moreSo, I know if you are one of my faithful followers (as in, one of my 3 or 4 faithful followers!), you have probably noticed a lack of new material over the past few months (I did recently add some new mural pictures here). You are probably ready to tar and feather me this very instant. Hold off for just a little while longer! I have been reworking a lot of the this site recently in order to make it a lot different. A whole new look is coming soon. I know that excites all three of you, so, hold your breath and hope for the best....
read moreSome thoughts on church planting… So, over the past year, I’ve learned a few things. Allow me now to take a step back and emphasize that the above statement is probably my UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR. To say that I’ve learned a few things through this long, grueling process doesn’t even begin to do justice to the events of the last year and the subsequent wisdom gleaned over that time. Not that I consider myself to have now arrived in church planting. I confess that the majority of lessons learned were hard ones...
read moreSo, in July we had our first baptism service for The Vineyard. It was, by far, the most amazing church gathering I’ve ever been a part of. We got together poolside that night on the 4th of July to celebrate our country’s freedom, eat some great food, go swimming, and celebrate the freedom that six people had found in following Christ. Watch this video to see a little of how the gathering went down… We got together at the pool of some of our Vineyard attenders to host our very first baptism service. We were blessed to...
read moreSo, it’s officially been over a year since the Lord started this whole church planting process in me, and as I look back on all that has happened in the last year, I can’t help but be overwhelmed with thankfulness. I’m thankful most of all to the Lord for how he has thrust me so far out of my comfort zone into the great unknown world of living on faith. It has been truly amazing to see how he has provided for me and my family every step of the process. But as I consider the past year, I can’t help but be overcome...
read moreSo, here we are, three months or so into this new church plant. As I look back on those three months, I’m completely blown away by how God has worked in order to get us to where we are today. There is no possible way that I could share with you all the incredible things God has done, but I can share with you a few of the awesome ways He has blessed us. Here are just a few: A place to meet. At the end of December, we fully expected to launch the new church in the home of one of our core members. Though we had spent a little time...
read moreSo, the website is up and running (kind of). As you can see, there is a pretty good shell of a website to work with at this point. I’m still working out some little details here and there. You may find a missing link or two in the site, but for the most part, the only work left to be done is all aesthetic. So, go on, peruse a bit. And if you find something missing that isn’t corrected in a day or two, send me a message via the Contact Me page and let me know that there is still work to be done! Anyway, I don’t...
read more
