To Whom It May Concern..

Thanks for the anonymous "note" today. WOW.

Weight Loss Contest Over, Tummy Issues and two weeks without my mouth...

Well its official, out staff biggest loser competition came to an end. The end result was fantastic, as a group we lost collectively 100 lbs!! I myself went from weighing 210 lbs on March 12th to weighing in at 170 lbs this past week, a total loss of 40 pounds. A huge thanks to the people at weigh watchers (although i still havent been to a meeting), the sidewalks between my house and our church (where i walk daily), my wife(for not going crazy because i got so annoying with this obession) our staff here at South Side (for doing ALMOST as good as me), Krogers (for selling Lean Gourmet meals for 1$) and my fat (for leaving).

As a staff we like to go to BW3's from time to time to enjoy some hot wings. We went yesterday and i ordered my usual, 18 wings (I know, yuck). I actually ate them all, plus more later. I know know what it is like to have a two day belly ache. I cant even stomach french fries after all this time of eating only grilled or baked foods, but after having such a unhealthy lunch in such great quantities i just might die. So if you enjoy praying for useless things, please pray for my tummy not to hurt much longer, eventhough i deserve it.

Also for our South Side tribe, i will not be preaching for the next two weeks, as i will be observing my occasional break from the preaching schedule. I will be worshipping with you, so be on the lookout for the annoying fellow with the "Jesus Loves This Guy" shirt that talks through the whole sermon and gets up too often for coffee and potty breaks (a result of the coffee and the wings from tuesday i am sure).

But if anyone is in need of anything, dont hestitate to call or e-mail. My e-mail is hafe4osu@gmail.com and my cell is 740-606-7347. ThankZaBunch.

Oh Yes...

Jason Castro. Singing with his Worship Team just before Idol's Hollywood week.
Clumsy by Jason Castro

And i thought the Crusades were bad...

Okay there are many things we as Christians should apologize for:
Micheal W. Smith's career
Child Molestation
Stephen Baldwin
3/4 of the wars
"What if cartoons got saved?" (you know what I'm talking about)
and many many more.

But something i saw this morning takes the cake. Watch this video

Now I'm God's Mess...

I was a drunk and a liar.
I was addicted to nothing but impressing those who lived with more issues than i had.
I hated the only people in my life who loved me.
I was in a dangerous relationship that was based upon lust.
I was full of passion for things that would be gone tomorrow.
I was lazy and uncommitted.
I had no vision or direction.
I was literally, open to anything.
I believed the only Jesus that existed was on old people's wall clocks.
I had nothing to do with the church.
I cared nothing for the poor or diseased.
I was suicidal.
I was foul mouthed.
I was cold inside.
I was a bully to those weaker.
I was a follower of all things popular.
I was a fraud.
I was selfish.

I was alot of things, but then Jesus saved me at age 19.



Now I'm God's Mess.

Dad, da, da, da, dad...

So this is Father's Day week here at South Side (well i guess everywhere else in the USA) and it seems like everyone is doing some sort of planning for the holiday in one way or another. This Sunday in our contemporary service we will be going through some scripture of the topic of daddy's. Well not really, actually we will be going through scripture about our real fathers, which is God. But it all got me to thinking about how much i love being a dad. A couple of things on this subject to share with you.

Gretchen had her 1 year old birthday party this past saturday, and it was alot of fun. She ate cake, opened presents (well Em did) and got to see alot of fun people. She was hillarious when observing all of these things, but the biggest highlight was last night, when she took her 1st 5 consecutive steps. I know some of your children walked earlier, and i guess still she isnt really "walking" but she is stepping, and for us that is huge. She spreads her arms out like a airplane and just kind of giggles and goes forwards, its great. so after she does this I call my mom and tell her and she is all excited and i put Gretchen to bed, this was about 7:30. Em actually went to bed too because she had alot going on all day and needed the rest. So we get her to bed and then about 8:30 i hear Gretchen crying. I go in to see what is going on ad she is wide awake.She threw her bottle against the door (as usual when she wants up) and she wasnt having this bed stuff. So for the 1st time in 1 year of her existence, i took her out of bed and we watched TV and played for almost 3 hours. It was a blast. We giggled and yelled and acted silly, i loved every second of it. Then she finally fell to her pillow by her toy box and she was ready to go to sleep.

The entire way to her bed she kept saying Daddy, Dad, Da, Daddy. Then she smiled and went to sleep for the night. I was so fun to just hang out with her late at night. Not because Em wasnt home and she needed to be watched and not because she needed anything, just because she was there and so was I. I just hope our relationship is always like that.

Until the next time

Talkin' Bout My Generation

So alot has been said about the new sort of revolution this world has created from the religious prospective. What i mean by this is alot of people seem very skeptical of the people who have become the "voices" of the movement that has been aptly titled "emergent" or "emerging". I am one that has went back and forth with it several times. On one hand i think that we have taken ourselves a little too seriously.

I say taken ourselves too seriously because we have found ourselves wanting "one up" those who came before us. For instance alot of time when i write a sermon, i take a look at a passage of scripture and i ask myself what it is that a typical person would get out of it. Meaning what is it that God wanted us to learn from His word in this particular section. Then i research what has been said about it, and see if the two match up. On alot of issues it seems the religious world played follow-the-leader and sort of assumed the last guy who covered the topic was right, but, he wasnt. (issues like gambling being a clear sin, dancing in church, tattoo's, etc) But at time we strive to prove the old guys wrong, so that we will seem, well, smarter. And when we do that, we make it too much about us.

I also see this movement as wonderful. I am not talking about the Brian McLaren's, Reggie McNeal's, Doug Paggit's (most of you are saying WHO? but dont worry, not important) of the world who seem to say that the Bible is mostly true. I am talking about the ministry. Author, Theologan and Pastor Mark Drisscoll said that this movement is basically about the sons and daughters of fundamentalists. Meaning it is for the generation of people who are sick of hearing that God is a political party or a set of rules and they just want the real thing. People like Rob Bell to me are what all of this is about. He is one who preaches at a church in Grand Rapids, Michigan at a church called Mars Hill. It is the fastest growing church in US History and still growing. When asked why he started this church in Time magazine, Rob said "A hundred people a day were calling saying 'Dude, Give us the real thing" So he said "I realized that if i could speak to them in their native tounge, they'd be here in droves". Alot of critisism has come about from his church, and all of what i have heard is, well, wrong. To understand why, click
here
(http://youtube.com/watch?v=rIKkvmSNUCY&feature=related)
also, use the link here
(http://youtube.com/watch?v=v8U9jto2D00&feature=related)
and here
(http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZJLqyWAtpvE&feature=related) Many say that he and other like him dont believe in the authority of scripture or judgement, Hell to be more specific. But he affirms both, as do i. I may disagree with alot in the Christian world, but i believe in all of the teachings of Christ, all of them. I am considered a liberal as pastors go, but i am also grounded. If you want to know just what makes me liberal you may ask and i will tell you (of course you may be surprised with the answer).

I also think we are a generation of sayers, not doers. I think we love to tell people what should be done to change the church, but when we execute it, most of the time we are just playing church. We think as long as we light some candles, wear street clothes, discuss social issues play some Tomlin and Crowder or even U2, that we are instantly relevant ( i know i am incriminating myself on that last one or two). But in the end we do nothing. Sad, but true.

At times we do great things like the Blood Water Mission (www.bloodwatermission.com) and One.org (www.one.org). We are a generation of change, we jsut need the motivation to do it. I love where we are going, i just cant wait for us to get there.

There is a ton more to be said on this topic, but i will leave it for another time.


And yes, the title is a quote from the greatest song ever, by The Who.

Vacation All I Ever Wanted....?

So i didnt post last week, mostly because i rarely was around my laptop, let alone the internet. The reason being was i was on vacation all week. Now i know for some people this would mean a trip to the mountains, beach, etc. But for me it meant sitting at home with Gretchen Mae and playing, ALOT. I have to tell you though, i have never enjoyed or felt more rejuvenated on a vacation than i did about that one. The furthest i drove the whole week was columbus, but it felt like i was in another world.

Dont get me wrong, i love my job at South Side. I promise you it would take a combination of the Army National Guard and a whole group of elders to get me to leave it, but at times i need a break. See a confession that i must make is that as much as God rewards me for the ministry we do here, i get down about it alot. I love the preaching and the working with people, but at times the unfair criticism of myself and more importantly other members of our leadership depresses me. So when i do a vacation i like to not even reflect on it. I just kind of sit back and enjoy God's blessings outside of our church.

But good things have been happening here and i would be remissed to not mention them. Holly Heath and Danelle Coleman were baptized in the last two weeks, and the feeling i am getting is many more are on their way. People are finally feeling open to come forward for prayer, and i get a least a couple of great calls or visits a day of people who feel they need Jesus and want to know how to receive him. If you are reading this and you are a part of our ministry, please feel free to contact me about ANYTHING. My office hours here are Tuesday-Friday 8:30-(usually around) 4:30 and my cell phone is 740-606-7347. I am called by God to help, please feel welcome to ask for it.

But yes i loved my vacation. My little girl turns 1 on saturday and you are all welcome to come to her party at the church on saturday from noon-3pm. Thanks and i will try and post again this week to make up for last week.