Just a couple of major things going on here in the Brandon brain:
- This weekend my brother, Eric, earned his newfound nickname (Triple-Shot) and delivered a POWERFUL message to wrap up the ALL IN THE FAMILY series. I got so much out of this series as my brothers and my father shared their thoughts on how to have a healthy church… incredible!
- WHEW!!! Today was a GRINDER. I taped 12 teaching sessions in preparation for this Community Group semester curriculum. My voice feels as though I’ve been gargling with razor blades, but I’m absolutely THRILLED about the direction our groups are taking this Fall… the best ever. More on that later.
- YOU ASKED FOR IT is coming this weekend! I’m tackling the topic: ‘How do I stop habitual sin?’ I am being ROCKED to the CORE as I’m studying this week and can’t wait to share God’s message for Keystone!
- Next week I’ll have some ‘YOU ASKED FOR IT: Blog Edition’ topics that we’ll address. Looking forward to it.
Say hi to SHAMU.
Well… YOU ASKED FOR IT!
You have submitted a ton of questions for our August series and then voted for the topics you would love to hear addressed.
I’m THRILLED to talk on the following topics… (drum roll please!)
- How is Christianity different from other religions or belief systems? (Buddhism, Islam, Scientology, New Age)
- How can a loving God allow evil & suffering in the world?
- How can I know God’s plan for my life?
- How do I stop habitual sin?
ALSO… I will be addressing some of the other questions right here on the BLOG… keep your eyes open!
This week the Keystone Staff took a ‘ROAD TRIP.’ I used to call this annual event our ’staff retreat’ but then I heard someone say, ‘our staff never retreats’… I immediately was convicted of my vice and went about dreaming of another name for our yearly pilgrimage – STAFF ROAD TRIP!
Each year we try to accomplish a few things:
- Relax, have fun, build relationships as a team
- Work on the leadership of Keystone and the strategies for the next 6 months
- Plan the upcoming message series for the next year (woa)
Well, we’re on our last night… how is it going?
We have fought, slept in, argued, and gotten nothing done.
Obviously just kiddin.
HUGE SUCCESS!
- It’s been comical, fun, and very, very crazy as we’ve hung out without the normal duties and distractions – I feel RECHARGED as a team! (imagine me playing ‘disc golf’ and Brian eating at a very cool sushi place… very entertaining on both accounts… now the guys are playing the wii – ha ha ha)
- We have made MASSIVE progress on our leadership plan for the next 6 months… and so many of you are part of it!!! GET READY!
- We not only planned (always leaving room for God to change our plans) the next year, but we got on a roll & planned the next year and a half!!!
I love this church – I love this staff – I love being your pastor!!!
I usually have Mondays off. After speaking 3 services, Monday is my Saturday. I usually hang out at home, pay bills, go to the grocery store… you name it.
But, today I’m in the office… writing.
That’s right – writing.
Remember that book I’ve mentioned a few times here on this blog? Well, I’m really working on it! If you think about it, please pray for me as I commit to this process. I have a real perfectionist streak in me, which is a weapon the enemy uses to lull me into inactivity on a project at times. You see, if it can’t be perfect, it’s very difficult to share with others… it’s as if it’s flawed. All I can see are the failures.
I know this is wrong, and would keep me from achieving ANYTHING in life. I’ve conquered this temptation so many times before as I wrote my doctoral project and began Keystone. But, this is really new, so I feel that new temptation of perfection once again! Thanks for the prayers!
Over the past two weeks we saw many, many lives changed at WILD WEEK. Because of our commitment not to turn anyone away at the door, we had two identical WILD WEEKS! They were incredible. We saw so many kids from the community as well as Keystone kids cutting loose as they celebrated a great God.
MAJOR: 24 KIDS BECAME CHRIST FOLLOWERS!
This is only our 2nd year to do WILD WEEK, and I PROMISE we will continue to dream of creative ways to introduce ALL KIDS to Jesus! It begins THIS WEEKEND as we create a new set in Camp Keystone… Check it out this weekend!
WILD WEEK PICS:
