I have felt out of place over the last two weeks. Last week, our power was out for a couple days and cable/internet was down until last Saturday…not to mention a huge tree was down in our backyard. This past Monday I left for North Carolina for the week which means I’ve been out of my routine for about 13 days. Since I am comfortable in a schedule, life feels a little confusing right now…I feel lost. Speaking of feeling lost, Leah and I got sucked into watching season 1 of LOST on DVD which proved to be fun, yet frustrating. If you have ever seen the show you know it leaves unresolved issues at the conclusion of each episode…so it is complicated to quit watching. Any other LOST fans out there? 4 8 15 16 23 42. Don’t you dare leave spoilers in my comments!

During this whole transition period we also switched cable and internet providers – we finally abandoned Time Warner Cable for AT&T U-Verse and Roadrunner for AT&T. Anyway, I am looking forward to Monday. Hopefully I’ll be back in my routine and accomplishing the things I enjoy doing all the time.

It has truly been an eventful three days around our house and community. As we left church on Sunday night at our main campus, we noticed that the wind was pretty extreme for an Ohio evening. People were being carried across the parking lot by the strong winds…not really, but it sounds dangerous. As I later discovered, Ohio was experiencing the remnants of Hurricane Ike which had made landfall in the United States a few days earlier. I’ve got to be honest – I didn’t think too much of the high winds, after all I have survived Hurricane Hugo and Hurricane Opal. I consider myself a part-time hurricane expert. Again…not really. Our family arrived home and we were sitting in the room located in the rear of our house. Without warning this loud cracking sound caused me to immediately look out the back sliding glass door only to see a massive seventy foot tree crash to the ground. Luckily the tree did not damage our home. My kids became absolutely petrified that another tree was going to crash into the house, but thankfully no other trees fell. About thirty minutes following the tree incident, our power went out. We’ve lived in this particular home for over nine years and the power has never been out for more than an hour or so; however, we were not so lucky this time.

Electricity was not restored until Tuesday night and I have to admit that being without power was pretty tough…even frustrating. After feeling a little angry about the power outage, I met a man on Monday morning who was doing some work for the cable company around our house. Looking at the huge tree which had fallen in our backyard he said something like this, “Just think of it this way…your house is safe, your family is safe, and you have a lot to be thankful for.” He was right. There are many things I could complain about, but I need to learn to be satisfied with what I already have.

My power has been out due to the wind storm on Sunday, September 14 (along with thousands of other people). The electric shut down at 8pm and just returned this afternoon (Tuesday). I have lots to write about after everything is back in order. A gigantic 70 foot tree fell in our backyard and many other crazy things happened. I'll write soon. Leave a comment if your power has been out!

Here is a link to an article which appeared today in the Massillon Independent.

http://www.indeonline.com/lifestyles/x55303313/Churches-right-at-home-in-local-movie-theaters

Each week I am going to make the attempt to give you a little preview of my message for Sunday. Since we meet in a movie theater, I thought I’d call it Before the Show but if you have a better title let me know – I am open to suggestions! So here we go.

A man is pretty worn out from a long journey so he stops for a drink. As he sits down, a woman comes to where he is to also get something to quench her thirst. The man and the woman strike up a conversation…he knows everything about her, but she knows nothing of him. I know what you are thinking…he is a stalker. Good guess, but very far from the truth. The man asks the woman to get him a drink, but she becomes confused because most people thought of her as an outcast and wanted nothing to do with her. This woman’s past was marred by shame and broken relationships; in fact, she had been involved in five failed marriages and now was living with another man. Her self-confidence had been shattered and there seemed to be little hope that she would ever find true love. Could she ever be restored? Could she be forgiven? Would her life ever change? The answers to these questions and more will be answered on Sunday at 10:15am at the Regal Cinema in Green, OH. Regal Cinema is located at 1089 Interstate Parkway right off I-77 and Arlington Road. Visit www.greenmoviechurch.com for more information.

See you Sunday at 10:15am. Come early for coffee and food.

I was in a staff meeting at the church when we received an emergency phone call. On the line was the wife of one of our pastors. She was explaining that an airplane had crashed into the side of one of the twin towers in New York City. As she was trying to make sense of what had happened, another plane slammed into the other tower. We listened as she told us what she was hearing from the news reporters – we are under attack. Our entire leadership staff rushed to a television only to be horrified by the repeated replays of both airplanes crashing into the buildings and just a few minutes later as both towers came crashing to the ground. Over the next few days I stayed glued to the news to find out all the details of what had happened. During the countless hours of television viewing I listened to stories of people and discovered the selfless acts of heroism in everyday citizens.

It is hard to believe that was seven years ago. Today I pulled up some old news coverage on YouTube and relived the emotions of what I felt that day. Images of innocent people jumping from the burning buildings and falling to their death are something I cannot seem to erase from my mind. I was scared, angry, and fearful of what the future held. In the days and months following these horrific attacks, our nation came together as I have never seen in my lifetime. Everyone seemed like they cared about their neighbor and the person across the street. For the first time in my life, the well-being of others was so much more important than me. I miss those days. It is kind of weird how tragedy brings us together, but then time begins to pull us apart…shame on me for forgetting.

Reality TV has forever changed the face of television – normal, everyday people can become household names overnight. Now if you are not familiar with reality TV, where have you been over the last decade? Wikipedia defines it as a “genre of television programming which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors.” Over the past couple years one of the reality shows I have enjoyed watching is Survivorman. A Canadian named Les Stroud is dropped into a remote location where he documents (by video) his survival without food, water, or shelter for seven days. He must live off the land. His journeys have taken him to some crazy places and resulted in many precarious situations. You may be asking, “Why would someone want to push themselves to such extremes for the sake of television?” Les often says that he is just trying to help people who may find themselves in dangerous circumstances…although I’m sure there is an entertainment factor as well.

What extremes are you willing to go to for the sake of helping others? There are so many people we pass everyday who are trying to survive a failing marriage, a financial crisis, an abusive situation, a spiritual struggle, and many other difficulties. Who needs your help today?

When I got home from work today I had to mow my grass. I usually enjoy this point of home ownership, especially at the beginning of spring and during the first half of the summer. It is my tradition to do some thinking and listen to my mp3 player while mindlessly pushing my mower back and forth. I went to get my player out of my car. When I pulled the door handle I discovered it was locked. You are probably thinking I locked my keys in the car…wrong. Luckily my window was rolled down so I just reached in and flipped the lock and bingo…I threw open the door. As soon as I did, I was greeted by a continuous ear piercing beeping sound…it was my car alarm. I’ve got to be honest – I did not know I had a car alarm. I kind of freaked out because I am one of those people who think car alarms are annoying, especially when a person sets one off and is clueless as to how to shut them off. Today, I am that person. I started running around wondering, “How do I shut this stupid thing off?” My neighbor is now certain I am an idiot. He has finally confirmed what I have known about myself for many, many years! Talk about not knowing your own car.

Let’s rewind to last week. I took my car for an oil change at one of those “fast food for cars” places. I drove into the bay and stayed in my car while they changed the oil. The first thing they asked me to do was pop the hood. I pulled on something that I thought was the hood release, but ended up busting off the cover to the fuse box. I quickly admit my ignorance to the attendant. I pulled out the car manual and looked up “trunk release.” I know…I am an idiot – hood release, not trunk release! Finally one of the guys came over, opened my door, and pressed a button below the cover I had just busted. The hood popped open. I’m sure all of those guys were laughing at me when I finally left. Needless to say, I will be finding a new place to show my face next time I get my oil changed.

Have you ever felt like there were so many obvious things you were missing (like a car alarm or hood release)? I find myself feeling this way when it comes to understanding God. There are times when I discover something written in the Bible about Him and think, “I can’t believe I missed this before – it seems so obvious!” But then I remind myself that understanding God is a process, not an event. Each day is an opportunity to discover new things about God or how He relates in my life. When I think about it, many things are a process of discovery – marriage, parenting, a new job, relationships, and other things. What we love, we will continue to discover. If you love God, you will learn to cherish each new discovery about His character and ways. Understanding who He is will certainly open your eyes to more exciting discoveries.

I've got to say that I didn't know what to expect for our launch day at The Summit, but I was overwhelmed to share in worship with over 160 people who were curious enough to show up. I was testing my wireless mic about 20 minutes before the gathering began and I had only seen about 3 or 4 people. About 15 minutes prior to start time, people starting filling the theater and by 10:15am the auditorium looked full. Good thing we were able to secure a larger theater a couple weeks back. The band threw down a get worship set with the likes of Marvelous Light, Mighty to Save, and others. I also began a series entitled Truth or Dare, a risky look at Jesus Christ in the Gospels. One of the greatest things I was impressed with was the friendliness of people. I was able to talk with many who came from diverse backgrounds, but came out of curiosity of this new church beginning in their community. For those of you who showed up this morning, you're awesome! Our launch team has been praying for months that God would send along the right people. Thanks for taking a chance on us this morning. I hope you will join us this coming Sunday at 10:15am for another gathering...this time, bring someone you know. Invite a friend from work or a family member. I am looking forward to another great week. Hopefully later this week I will have a chance to preview our topic for Sunday morning - you will NOT want to miss it! I have attached my notes from this morning's message. I usually have more in my notes than I cover in the service so these are great if you are looking for further study.

My dog is really annoying…I mean really annoying. She is a nine year old German Shepherd whom we have owned since she was six weeks old. Leah and I made the mistake of purchasing an animal before any of our kids came along. For the first year of her life she was the child. The following year our first child, Ty, was born and that dog was never the same. She became withdrawn and was mad at us for bringing competition into her life. We tried our best to involve her in the process of having a new child in the home, but she wanted nothing to do with it. Marley just moped around and pouted. I have zero tolerance for whining so I immediately allowed her to stay in her depressed state. Over the years she has gotten used to the fact that there are five people in our family, including her, but she is not the same dog she used to be. Now I tolerate most of the annoying things she does, but there is one thing she does which irritates me to no end. When I tell you what it is you’ll think it is normal for a dog, but she uses it to the extreme. Marley barks all the time. She barks at squirrels (they tease her), birds, cats (she hates them), other dogs (especially small ones), people walking, people running, people crawling (I’ve never seen this but I’m sure she would), people riding their bikes, rabbits, skunks (I’ll save that for another day), and anything else visible or moving. I know she knows that I hate her constant barking. Every time I am home and she starts one of her barking rages, I go to the back window and stare her down until she sees me. She stops until I walk away from the window and then starts again. Since this has been going on for years, Marley will start barking and then look over to the window to see if I am standing there. Now it’s just a big game. She probably thinks I watch every move she makes awaiting her to do something wrong so I can punish her.

Some people view God in the same way my dog probably views me. They believe God is up in heaven just waiting for them to mess up so He can dish out punishment. If you think like I used to think (because of scary sermons), God’s punishment would involve killing someone in your family, striking you with cancer or a fatal disease, ruining a relationship, or putting me in a bad car accident which would paralyze me for life. Ever heard those illustrations used in sermons? Don’t misunderstand me, God does bring judgment for sin; however, I also believe He is pretty patient with us – all of us. As soon as Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God punished them but also promised deliverance from sin. God is not out to get us, but He chastens in order to bring holiness and righteousness into our lives (Hebrews 12:6-11). If you had a good example of a human father (like I did), he only punished me so I would learn to do what is good and right, not because he was awaiting a chance to get me.

Do you feel like God is staring you down? He’s not. He loves you more than you’ll ever know and desires you to reflect His image in your daily life.