Los Cabos here we come!!!

This is going to be me and Hollie in just about 48 hours!!!

My unbelievable, incredible, super woman wife and I are leaving Friday morning to celebrate our 10 year anniversary in Los Cabos!!!

We are going to be away - "just the 2 of us" (are you singing that song right now - cause I am) - anyway, we are going to be together (and away from our little monkeys) for 9 nights!!

Hollie is the most incredible person and I can't wait to just hang out with her! We are celebrating a little early - our actual anniversary is not until August 2.

As they say in Mexico - ok, I don't know what they say in Mexico and I definitely can't spell it, but......see ya.

10 Characteristics of a Transformer

Yesterday at VL, we concluded our Transformers series. The main point of the 3 week series was this: "I am a Transformer when my LIFE is being changed by God and witnessed by others." The point is this - it's not just our belief, but our behavior - it's not just our doctrine, but our duty - it's not just what we learn, but how we live - being a Christ follower is truly a "BOTH/AND" - not an "EITHER/OR" life.

We spent the first 2 weeks on Romans 12:1-2 - dealing with the "being changed by God" part - learning that I must #1 Offer myself to be changed and #2 Allow myself to be changed.

The last message was all about the "witnessed by others" part - if I say I am being changed by God, then it must show also in my Relationships with others. Paul goes into a series of EVERY DAY circumstances - where this Christian life is actually LIVED OUT.

You know, I am reminded that the reality of "every day" life is where the battle is won.

According to Romans 12:9-21, here are 10 Characteristics of a Transformer:

1. Authentic Love - Romans 12:9a
2. Understand Good and Evil - Romans 12:9b
3. Puts others first - Romans 12:10
4. Passion for God - Romans 12:11
5. Trust is in God - Romans 12:12
6. Welcoming - Romans 12:13
7. Forgiveness - Romans 12:14
8. Selfless - Romans 12:15
9. Common - Romans 12:16
10. Peaceful - Romans 12:17-21

*God is proven through every day tests and tasks.

VBS

Oh my! What a week it has been! We had Vacation Bible School this week at Vinings Lake and it has been amazing. We have had the opportunity to touch MANY children and their families.

It looks like we registered around 160 children this week, there were tons of volunteers who did an awesome job - and MAJOR PROPS go out to our VL Preschool Director Melissa Riddle for leading the charge! She had a lot of help with her team and Stephanie Newton assisted her in a HUGE way - thanks to ALL of our incredible volunteers - also among them were a team that came from First Baptist Woodstock to serve every day - thanks SOOOO much!!!!

One of the victories was our Wednesday night event. We had a BIG carnival Wednesday night for the kids to come and bring their families. Our VL band played, the kids sang, there were snow cones, popcorn, cotton candy, blow up games, yard games, and best of all - catered by The Varsity! (in the words of Kip from Napolean Dynamite - "that's what I'm talkin about!"). There were probably around 375 people in our parking lot - and SO many of the kids from the community came out and brought their families - it was great!

Another victory that is definitely the most important were the children who responded to the good news that was presented to them about God's love and gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Several kids responded to talk more about that and prayed to recieve the forgiveness of Jesus in their lives!!!

This Sunday morning, we will be taking some time in our service to celebrate all that happened, watch a presentation of pictures from the week, hear the kids sing what they learned, and just celebrate the opportunity we had to touch so many lives this week!

What a week! What an opportunity! What a great God - who loves EVERYONE - and gives us the chance to join Him!

***Be checking our website - we will probably be posting some pictures in the near future.

Simpatico - try it! Date your wife - try it!

I had a "hot" date Friday night with my wife of almost 10 years (wow!) and we went to a place on the Marietta square called Simpatico. It was phenomenal! Hollie had an Asian dish and I had one of the specials - a horseradish crusted Grouper with rice and some type of spicy souce and vegetables. While you are waiting for your food, they bring bread and some type of vinaigrette and oil to dip it in. It was great - and not too expensive either.

In our house, it has become a joke between Hollie and I when we are trying to carry on a conversation and the kids are screaming (literally) - we just say, "I'll tell you when they go to college".

I enjoy taking moments to spend with my wife - alone without the kids - and it is needed in our relationship between her and I. It is not easy to make this a priority - but again - what we say we value - we must give time to and prioritize!

Here is the link to restaurants on the Marietta square - and Simpatico:
http://www.mariettasquare.com/dining.html

VL Podcast!

Our Vinings Lake Podcast is here! If you are interested in downloading it into your iTunes/iPod, you can click on the link over to the right that says "subscribe on iTunes".

Props to Derek who got it up and running for us. Derek is doing an internship with us this summer - he also created our website and is an incredible addition to VL!

A Generation - from Belief to Action

One of the things that has seemed heavy on my heart has been the issue of believers (I like what Joseph Stowell says about calling ourselves "followers" instead - because of this very thing) - but the issue is for us to move from what we believe - and even being proud of what we stand for - into what we do - and how we live!

**This has seemed to be a very big emphasis at VL as we spent 6 weeks in our "THE VIEW" series - dealing with what we believe - and ending with THE VIEW of the Church - and how it calls us out - The Church (PEOPLE!) - to now DO something with what we "say" we believe!

It's interesting that this issue - like others over the last several months of my life - that have been heavy on my heart - are on the hearts and lips of others as well. This tells me that it is truly God doing something - and it seems to be very apparent in this generation of church leaders.

One proof of that is something I just listened to over the last 2 days in my car on my iPod. It was a Catalyst interview (I HIGHLY recommend listening to the entire interview by going to the Catalyst Podcast and this one was in October of 2006) where Rick Warren said he was praying for a 2nd Reformation of the Church. He said, "the first one was was about creeds, the second one needs to be about deeds - the first was about what we believe, the 2nd one needs to be about how we behave"

In this interview Rick also challenged me GREATLY by talking about the issue of AIDS - and correlated it to back in the day when Christians seemed to be silent about keeping our African American brothers in slavery - and now we seem to be ignoring this terrible epidemic.

Along the same lines - I am sensing a great challenge for the "Church" to stop thinking that our "worship" is attending a church service each week - or really even being a greeter or parking lot attendant or preschool volunteer - but that God is more concerned about our lives outside of those walls.

I believe that through God's prompting, our generation is tired (and should be) of attending church - and we are being (and should be) challenged to BE the CHURCH!

New Series at Vinings Lake

The new series at Vinings Lake is called Transformers. We are learning that "I am a Transformer - when my life is being changed by God and witnessed by others."

This begins with our relationship with God - and yet it includes our relationships with others. It deals with who we are on the inside, but it must extend to how we live on the outside - there needs to actually be a "transformation".

In Romans 12, there is a true call from the apostle Paul to give ourselves to God - our bodies, mind, and our will - and we must offer ourselves to be changed and then allow ourselves to be changed.

We will be in this series for 2 more weeks - ending on Father's Day.

Give Time to what you Value

Do you and I really put priority to what we "say" we value? I think we can be guilty of this in many areas - our families, our beliefs, our actions, and also in the church world.

I was challenged by reading something in a book called "Jim and Casper Go to Church" - where a Christian hired an atheist to travel and document experiences at churches around the country. I have only read portions of this book, but in the end, Casper (the atheist) asked a very compelling question - "Jim, is this what Jesus told you guys to do?" His point was that when they visited churches - the "stage time" was given to the preaching, singing, offering, etc. Jim shares in the book that there are many other things that are going on "behind the scenes" but they are not talked about or shared - this challenged me - and especially if we say we "value" certain things - then we must give priority and time to them.

At Vinings Lake, one of our "core values" is Celebration. We came to a close to our first semester of Community Groups and yesterday Brian (our associate and Community Groups Pastor) shared a summary and celebrated this first semester. We also showed a video testimony of a couple in our church that has become more connected and has experienced growth through being involved in a Community Group. We also talked about some specific things that took place during the "community outreach" events that some of the Groups were involved in during their semester. Here are a few to highlight:

• One Group had a block party this weekend - about 60 people (lots of young couples and kids!) in their neighborhood came out for games, food, and a time to hang out. - we celebrate that!
• Another Group handed out bottles of water on the Silver Comet Trail with invitations to VL - someone who recieved one came yesterday! - we celebrate that!
• Another Group ministered to a nursing home. - we celebrate that!
• Another Group ministered to some High School kids at a foster care center in the community. - we celebrate that!

I think possibly - the most exciting thing to me as the pastor - about these events is this fact: The Church is truly BEING the Church! The Church is DOING what Jesus told us to do until He returns - according to Matthew 28:16-20.

Destin, FL

Our family had an awesome time in Destin at the beach the week of Memorial Day!

Here are a few pictures - Hollie and Addie riding a bike, me and Hope on a canoe, and my 2 little princesses in their matching dresses!