She's doing it Daddy!

Our daughter Hailey will be one year old on Monday. She shares her birthday with my favorite (and only) sister Erica. For the past couple weeks Hailey has been learning how to walk and her older sister Andrea has been a great supporter. Andrea loves to encourage and cheer Hailey on. Whenever Hailey puts several steps together and makes forward progress Andrea will shout out, "She's doing it! Mommy, Daddy look at Hailey!" These are some fun and exciting days at the Jones house.

At church this Sunday we are launching our new three service format. I have been attending Fairwood since 1991, on staff for six years, and I couldn't be more excited about what's happening. I feel a sense of pride knowing that we are taking steps to reach more people in Fairwood and the surrounding area for Christ.

I realize that God will build His church and that He is the one who saves people and changes lives. I'm just so thrilled that I get to be on the work crew. After making calls to add some greeters for our 3 Sunday services I realized that I'm not the only person who feels this way. Volunteers are chomping at the bit to be involved. Gone are the days of begging people to be on board or to help serve in a given area. Truth be told, I think the new day is going to be making sure that there is enough work for all those who want to serve.

I'm so proud of Fairwood, so happy to be a part of it all. I honestly feel like shouting to God and saying, "Look! Hey, over here... see, we're doing it!"

Last night at Live...

I'm happy to report we had another great service at Live last night. We continued our series, "Unbound" and God really got our young people's attention. From a technical standpoint the service was a little off. We were working with a new sound board and so buttons were in different places than our crew was used to. Some of our transitions were rough, but you know, I've found that God has this strange habit of working, moving, and speaking to us despite the distractions. Don't get me wrong, I want a technically sound service as much as anyone (and we'll always strive for it) but God did great work despite our foul-ups.

We focused in and talked about Faith overcoming our worries. We talked about walking in and living out the Faith that we always love to talk about. We talked about the story in 1 Samuel 14 where Jonathan and his Armor Bearer go to attack the Philistines at their base camp. Despite being severely out numbered Jonathan's attitude is something like, "“Perhaps the Lord will help us..." I don't know about you, but if I'm trying a surprise attack on an enemy who vastly outnumbers me on his home turf I'd want to have a few more assurances than, "Perhaps." I love Jonathan's Faith.

I also love the Faith shown by the Armor Bearer. After Jonathan explains his master plan the Armor Bearer says, "Do what you think is best, I’m with you completely, whatever you decide.” WOW. Seriously? If it were me I'd be wondering if Jonathan had a death wish or something. I'd say, "You want 'em? You got 'em. You're on your own buddy! Peace!" However, the Armor Bearer doesn't do that. Instead, he shows great Faith in Jonathan and says I'm with you, COMPLETELY.

We talked last night about becoming a youth church comprised of both attitudes. Jonathan's: The Faith to go attack the enemy at his base camp and to have the audacity to believe that God will be with you. The Armor Bearer's: The ability to trust in leadership and give 100% commitment; to be completely on board.

Students came up front and we prayed that the same heart Jonathan and his Armor Bearer had would be in each of them. God met them at the altar and we had a great time of worship and prayer as service drew to a close.

The cool thing is the story doesn't end there. Our students are living out their Faith. They are fasting, praying, and believing for spiritual breakthrough in their lives and in the lives of others. As we make the switch to three services this Sunday they are ready to serve like never before. Our students inspire and remind me that, "God, who began the good work within us, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Philippians 1:6.

Better and brighter days ahead.

Breakfast Cereal Challenge

I love the NCAA Basketball tournament as much as the next guy, but lately I've realized something... It's just not for everyone. Sure, everyone has their reasons for not filling out brackets: they don't know the teams, don't care about basketball/sports, or they actually have real lives to live. Here's the deal though; I think that everyone has some competitiveness in them somewhere. So, I have decided that for the next couple weeks I'm going to try and find it!

I am proposing that we (me and anyone who happens across this blog) conduct a "Breakfast Cereal Challenge." It will work just like the NCAA Tournament, we will pit YOUR favorite breakfast cereals against one another to determine the best of the best! My family actually did this at our Christmas party a few years ago and it was a lot of fun.

Here's how it will work:

1. Please submit to me via email or the comments section YOUR 3 favorite breakfast cereals. (doesn't matter if they're healthy or sweet; just YOUR top 3 cereals)
2. The selection committee (me) will break the submitted cereals into 4 divisions containing 8 cereals each. Obviously the goal is to get 32 entries. The 4 divisions are: General Mills, Kelloggs, Post, & Quaker (We don't need even amounts from each maker)
3. Once seeded, you, your friends & family will vote in individual match ups to determine the winner (ex: Lucky Charms vs. Frosted Flakes) the winner will advance & the loser goes back in the cupboard.
4. We will vote it down all the way to the final four (just like the real tournament). Then take it all the way to the championship match.
5. We will vote to determine the 2009 Silver Spoon Award Winner! The person who submits the winning cereal name first, will receive a box of that cereal from me!

This will only work if we get good participation, so help me out. Don't be shy, or just lurk! Let your voice be heard and email or comment with your 3 favorite cereals. This will be lots of fun once we get it rolling! Who knows, if we get enough participation we might come up with 64 cereals just like the number of teams in the NCAA tourney.

My goal is to have the brackets up by Wednesday night, so don't waste anytime and email or comment now. Oh and one more thing... may the best cereal win!