THE NET'S NEWEST MEMBER!

We are officially growing the church from the INSIDE OUT! Selina is pregnant!! Up until today we had only shared the news with our immediate families and a few friends. Today we announced it to the Seacoast staff. And now... the world!

How we told Selina's family - we gathered with them in Georgia for her grandma's 75th birthday a few weeks ago. Near the end of the party, I distributed gift bags to each member... including my wife, so as to not cause any suspicion. On my go, they opened their respective bags which contained buttons that said, "Proud [Aunt, Uncle, Papa, Momo (our "grandma" name for Selina's mom), etc.] of the Mayby (our name for a May family baby)!"

How we told my family - on Thanksgiving I had the honor of praying over the meal. I opened in usual fashion and then closed with, "...and dear Lord, thank you for the little baby growing in my wife's belly. Amen." Then everyone opened their eyes, waiting to hear that we were only kidding. But, alas, we were not and mom then shrieked in excitement.

How we told the Seacoast staff - At All-Staff, Greg opens the floor for people to introduce newcomers to the team. I took that opportunity to say, "Well, this is my wife, Selina, it's her first time here. And we would also like to introduce someone else to you, but right now he's a little hard to see, since he's only 2 centimeters big and in my wife's stomach." More shrieks, a lot of clapping, and many congrats followed. Oh, and the start of a song by pastor Greg to the tune of Happy Birthday, only substituting the word birthday with conception... I think you had to be there...

Anywho... we are extremely excited and looking forward to adding a bit more pressure to the move to Chattanooga and the start of a new church. And now we are just trying to figure out all the important things, like what the baby will call his grandparents, how much extra money we'll need over the next 18 years, and does SkyMall magazine sell a change-less diaper.

FELLOW CHURCH PLANTERS

While in Indiana, we took Friday afternoon to visit with Shane and Rachel Frazier who are starting a church in Lebanon, IN on January 13th. We met Shane and Rachel during our ARC assessment a few months ago. We had a great visit and enjoyed hearing about how God has provided for them leading up to their launch date. We look forward to seeing what God does through this amazing couple.

CHURCH, WITHOUT A CHURCH!

Yesterday evening we went to visit my long-time friend, Adam Sessions, and his family. During our time together Adam's mother, Sandy, told us about a home bible study group she started attending with some other ladies in the neighborhood. Sandy has not attended a church in many years, nor does she attend one now, but here she is, growing in her relationship with Christ within the comforts of her own neighborhood and among her own friends. Sounds like church to me!

I asked her how the group got started and she said that one lady decided to start it and made some calls and then those ladies called some more ladies and before you knew it, 10 or so women were meeting for the study every week. I told her that was a perfect example of what we would love to see happen at The Net Church... people gathering on their own and extending an invitation to their network of friends. That's how the gospel grows... one by one, intentionally, through relationship.

Author and researcher, George Barna predicts in his book Revolution that home groups like this, that are not a part of a local church body, will continue to grow. I do believe the local church holds value though and my hope is that instead of trying to compete with this trend, we will make it our goal to marry the two. This will require the church to be a place that's relevant and a place that home group members will want to attend. By God's grace we will be known by these characteristics and be able to watch the church grow!

GOBBLE, GOBBLE!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Selina and I flew into Chicago last night and are spending the holiday in Indiana (we agreed early on to alternate years between the two families). While watching the Macy's Parade this morning, to our surprise, the Ooltewah High School Band made an appearance! They performed in full-on clown garb. I watched with pride, knowing that this time next year we will be residents of the city of Ooltewah, Tennessee!

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FREEEEEEEDOM!!!!!

Tuesday I got the priviledge of playing William Wallace, parodying a scene from Braveheart. This picture is of me and my buddy, Jim Miles, heading to the shoot.

The video was for the Seacoast Volunteer Gala. Last year was our first year doing a gala and we were commissioned to produce 5 videos to introduce an award for each purpose represented at Seacoast. This year we are doing 6 videos and a live musical number. In addition to being William Wallace, I also got to play Gollum from Lord of the Rings, Yoda from Star Wars, and Rose from Titanic... yes, you read that right. I have a feeling few church planters are going through the things I'm going through for the Kingdom... or would want to, for that matter! :)

The videos are currently in post production and should be available for viewing mid-to-late December. We'll keep you posted!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

This past weekend, Selina and I headed to Chattanooga. It was an unscheduled trip, so we only gave the team about one week's notice that we were coming. But, they made time for us anyway. We got together for a lunch on Saturday with 10 others... already I can see this will be successful by the food that was brought! Thank you, God for a team that knows how to use an oven!

The meal was great, the fellowship was great, and we officially revealed our website to the Chattanooga-extension. The countdown clock is ticking and there's no turning back! I have complete confidence in God's hand on this church... I have never felt more alive and part of His plan then I do right now. The city will never be the same and neither will we!

God Bless!

TRICK-OR-TRADE

Last night our small group got together for a game night. We normally would have taken in another chapter of the study we are in, but knowing it was Halloween and our doorbell would be ringing incessantly with trick-or-treaters, we decided to back off the study. And yet, this night turned out to hold a few great lessons in spirituality.

It started when Heather, one of our members, vocalized her desire for a Baby Ruth candy bar. Our pot of candy for the kiddies held a good variety of treats, but no Baby Ruth's. So, we got an idea. When the next trick-or-treater came to our door, we would make them a trade offer... 1 Baby Ruth in exchange for 2 of whatever we had to offer.

Soon after, a swarm of treat-or-treaters arrived. Throwing open the door I said, "Does anyone have a Baby Ruth?" Without pause the girls at the door began searching through their bags for Baby Ruths. I then told them the offer: 2 of our candies, for each Baby Ruth they could give me. They each had one and willingly handed them over.

As they ran back toward the street, I heard them yelling to other trick-or-treaters, "They're giving 2-for-1 for Baby Ruth's!" We got a good laugh out of their enthusiasm and went on with our night. Later, our guests left and we turned off our porch light, calling an end to Halloween. But, to our surprise, about 30 minutes later someone knocked on our door. When we opened it, we were greeted by the 3 girls that had made the original swap. In their hands - 3 more Baby Ruths. We didn't have anymore candy, so we offered them some individual-sized Dorito packs. They made the trade and headed out again.

I thought about that night. Then I told Selina, "You know there's real spiritual application here [the the widows offering in Mark 12, the story of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22, and the parable of the talents in Matthew 25]. I'm going to preach a sermon series someday about this evening. And I'm going to call it: Everything I know about Jesus I learned from Halloween!"