Need Counseling? Try This?

Having majored in psychology, I found the following approach to therapy very interesting! Some call it "Cognitive Restructuring;" I call it funy! It does give us pause to stop and think about taking responsibility for the things we need to change in our lives, and the futility of always blaming our difficulties on others while ignoring our responsibility to change what we need to change about ourselves. Enjoy and be careful about employing this technique to those who may come to you for help. Better leave it to trained professionals!

Catalyst Conference was Cata-Rific!

From Richmond, I headed about 600 miles south west to Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference. This is a leadership conference for church staff and lay leaders. It was a great two days of worship, fun, and thought- provoking instructions and testimonies from a wide variety of great speakers.

Here are some pics that don't do the conference justice. I sat in the "horn" section on Friday. We were all given horns to join a Guiness Book of World Records for largest symphony! Last year they had the world's largest pillow fight (you can see it on youtube).

The camel was given to John Maxwell, Christian leadership author for a lifetime achievement recognition. Two years ago they gave Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, a cow. It was an unexpectedly "cool" moment!



Memorable Quotes:

God, give me the ability see myself for who I really am. I’m a fool to think that I could ever fool You. Give me the eyes to see myself clearly. As painful as it may be… I don’t want to be a part-time Christ-follower who calls others out of casual Christianity yet chooses to stay casual. I don’t want to be a practical atheist. Jesus, I want to believe in You with all of me. All of it. Go ahead, Lord. Disturb me. Amen. Craig Groeschel (Pastor of Life Church in Oklahoma)

“If Jesus had a church in Simi Valley, mine would be bigger. People would leave his church to attend mine because I call for an easier commitment.”
Francis Chan(Pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA)

Stop trying to change culture, just create it. - Rick Warren

I learned that the purpose of influence is to speak up for those who have no influence. - Rick Warren

Most of the time, the church is known for what it’s against and I intend to change that. I want the church to be known for what it is for. - Rick Warren

A practical atheist is one who believes God exists but behaves as though he does not. As pastors, sometimes we believe God exists but we do ministry as though he does not. - Craig Groeshchel

“It’s not so much about what I need to do in leading my church, it’s more about who I need to be.” Francis Chan

For more on Catalyst goto:
http://www.catalystspace.com/catablog/?m=200710 (October 4th - 8th)
For video clips of past conferences goto:
http://www.catalystspace.com/events/video.aspx

My Vacation in Richmond

Okay, here is about as brief a report as I can give on my recent vacation in Richmond, VA.

• Getting re-acquainted with the Trail boys (always enjoyable).
• Spending time catching up with Kittie and Randy, who were nice enough to take a day off to show me some of the sights, including a tour of the oldest plantation (Shirley) in Virginia.
• Getting up early Saturday to take pictures of Patrick and Thomas' soccer match
• Helping Ben find a bargain laptop after his was stolen at school
• Going to church and seeing my first stain glass rooster
• Touring the IMB (International Mission Board) where Randy and Kittie serve as candidate consultants...the rotating stone globe fountain was cool.
• Having lunch with a college buddy, Rick, from Clemson days, who I haven't seen in many, many years (He is the best guitar player I know.).

And then there was my time at the ILC of the IMB of the SBC! (That's the International Learning Center of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention)

My other reason for going to Virginia, was to see Ricky and Niki Cook as they finish up their orientation before heading to Zambia for a two year term as missionaries along with their kids Austin, Coby and Kelsey (who endured a broken wrist while there). I was able to be at their commissioning service which was a great bonus. I have known them since they were teen-agers and am very proud of their commitment to the Lord and their willingness to serve Him in Africa.

While there, I not only toured the ILC, but got to be a part of the school's open house which showcased projects the Cook kids have worked on for two months. I also sat in on the parent's conference which was pretty interesting in terms of how to be supportive of first-timers as they prepare to leave the U.S.

Don't Forget to Thank God for Stanislav Petrov

If you do a GOOGLE NEWS search for "Stanislav Petrov," you won't find ANY mention of the 24th anniversary (Sept. 26th) of his decision that probably saved 100's of MILLIONS of Americans and Russians (maybe even the entire planet! ). A man who was considered an enemy of our nation, saved our nation. Go to: http://www.brightstarsound.com/ for the story and then say a big THANK YOU to the Lord for Mr. Petrov, who disobeyed procedures, and saved our lives! Take this as a lesson to never underestimate the power of ONE DECISION!

A Prayer to Start The Day For All Jesus Followers!

I came across this video while looking for something for Sunday night. Love the song. What do you think? Note: the "English" part begins around the 27 second mark, so be patient!



Here are the lyrics...pretty simple...pretty "cool." Go ahead...pray it...mean it....see what happens!

Be with You
by Ray Watson

I don't want to do my own thing today
I don't want to do what I want to do
I want to follow Your path today
I want to be with You Lord
I want to walk with You Lord
I don't want to change gold into brass today
No no no no no no
I don't want to build with hay
No no no no no no
I want to be a servant of the Most High today
"Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee
In whose heart is found the highways to Zion"
Want to fly away in Your presence Lord
Want to be in Your presence today (Be with You)
Want to walk with You today (Be with You)

Fall Revival Weekend

Our church experimented with a new format for our Fall Revival this year, having it over a weekend. We were concerned about the possibility of rain on Saturday, but it didn't come, so it was a perfect weather day, and it was a great weekend. I've tried to get better at being brief in my blog, so I won't go into details here, but I will share a couple of favorite moments that I was not expecting.

One came on Friday night during our Concert of Prayer for revival. I had several "self-paced" interactive stations focusing on praise, confession, the Lord's Supper and intercession. It moved me to see a line to sign the Praise Book...hard to explain, but seeing people waiting to write simple declarations of their praise for God moved me.


A team of seven great college students from Charleston Southern University joined us Saturday to lead in worship and in ministering to our children. They were talented, flexible, enthusiastic, and they loved the Lord. The same was true of the Free Gift Baptist Church Choir who were joined by their pastor, Rev. Andrew Cooper, who brought the last message of the day.

The other unexpected gift was the sight of prayer groups Saturday afternoon made up of five or six people of different churches, different ages, etc...praying for revival. Have our prayers been answered? Time will tell. All I can say is that God provided several unexpected moments over the past week and weekend that gave me opportunities to rejoice in, confess in, and to grow in. Some felt great, some didn't...but I am thankful that I don't have to figure it all out today (maybe never on this planet). God isn't through me, and I can always experience more of Him and of the life Christ died to give me.


Our youth were in full force Saturday, and we were glad they were!

Pizza Trivia

Being the health food nut that I am, I like pizza. How else can you get all the major food groups in one bite...and with CHEESE! Anyway, here's the trivia: Do you know how Pizza Hut got its name? The sign for the first "Hut" was given to the Carney brothers, Dan and Frank, who borrowed $600 from their mom while they were still college students. The sign, provided by Pepsi, only had space for three more letters after using "pizza." Dan's wife came up with the idea of "Hut."

And what about Domino's logo? Did you know that the three dots represented the first three stores in the franchise. They were going to add a dot for each new store, but it soon became apparent that they would run out of space too quickly.


As a cautionary pizza-related tale, be careful about making impulse decisions, the consequences can be immense. Case in point: poor, shortsighted James Monaghan, who in 1960, founded Domino's Pizza with his brother, Tom. Eight months later James traded his half of the business to brother Tom for a USED Volkswagen Beetle. In 2006, Tom sold his part of the company for just under one BILLION....that's right...BILLION dollars! I wonder if he gave James a new Volkswagen???? Ouch!

The Artistic Ability of Man - Amazing

Peter Callesen is an unusual and amazing artist. Many of his works use ONE sheet of paper...just one sheet! Here is a slide show of some of his works. His website: http://www.petercallesen.com/index.html

Six Years Later...

In less than 30 minutes as I type this, it will be exactly six years since the first terrorist hijacked airplane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. 3,000 would die that day. I'm watching a documentary on the History Channel depicting the events of 9/11 including the day before. It's still chilling and hard to believe. Here is a photo of all the victims except 92. Just a reminder that even though the nation has moved on (though forever changed), we will still need to remember and pray for the families and friends who lost loved ones in the disaster.

150th Anniversary of Something Amazing

September the 23rd is the 150th anniversary of something that started with one man in New York City, and resulted in a revival that spread across the country, and even to other parts of the world. Here is a six minute video about the Fulton Street Revival that is worth seeing!