I’m heading out to the C3 conference this week and I couldn’t be more excited about it!  I’m going to miss my family as always but, honestly, I’ve been running on fumes lately and  I need something like this to recharge me.

Early last week I didn’t think I was going.  It just wasn’t in the budget so I told God that if He wanted me to go He would have to provide a way.  Well, within two days, everything was taken care of.  First, Greg Rohlinger, pastor of Palm Valley Church, contacted me and offered me a free ticket and a free hotel room!  Then, the very next day Pat Gillen called and said that his church had decided to send me some money to “go to whatever conference I wanted to attend.”  Neither of these guys knew anything about what the other was doing but the end result is that everything for this trip has been paid for.  I’m so thankful to the both of them, and their respective churches, for their generosity.  Ultimately, I give thanks to God for making this happen.

I’m really looking forward to hearing the speakers at the conference.  I’m also really excited about having a chance to reconnect with Greg and all my twitter buddies that are going to be there.

Please pray for me to find a balance with my time while I’m away.  I feel like God wants me to connect with a bunch of folks but, at the same time, I know that I want to spend a good chunk of time alone just seeking Him on some stuff too.  I’m weird when I get to a conference.  If God starts speaking to me I just want to go back to the hotel room and spend time unpacking what I’ve heard.  It’s just the way I’m wired.

Anyway, the whole thing is such a God thing that I can’t wait to see what develops.

• The energy at Fusion the past couple of weeks has been amazing!  God’s definitely up to something.  You can just feel it!
• The band has been doing a great job and I’m really digging some of the new songs we’re doing.
• We overdid it with the smoke today.  :)  Hopefully, we’ll get that dialed in next week.
• I’m so proud of my wife.  She was a real trooper and rocked the bass even though she was sick.
• I’m not going to lie.  I think I butchered my sermon this morning.  I wanted to do so much more.  Still, given the fact that I felt horrible yesterday and this morning,  I guess it was okay.
• Sermons are sort of like landing an airplane…Any sermon that you can walk away from is a good one.  :)
• One highlight is that I used a flip chart today on stage.  How cool/geeky is that?
• I know that the sickness in our home was just the devil.  I need to start tracking how often someone in my family gets sick on Saturdays.  I think it would be an eye-opening chart.
• I need to enlist a group of people that will commit to pray for me, my family, the staff, their families and the church in general every Saturday night.
• I’ve got a couple of friends that are really hurting right now.  It breaks my heart.  I can’t stop thinking about them.
• A bunch of people from Fusion stepped up in a big way yesterday to help some folks in need.  I’m VERY proud of you guys!  Thank you for being the church yesterday.
• I think this Whispers series is exactly what God wants us to be studying right now.
• This is the first week for our growth groups to base their discussions on the sermon.  I wish I could be at every group to listen to all those discussions.
• I got a lot of flack about saying that peanut butter M&M’s are better that Reeses Pieces on twitter the other day but it’s true and I won’t back down.
• The sickness in our house this weekend ruined all our Valentine’s plans.  Amy and I ended up having a “romantic” dinner in the dinning room while the kids ate in the kitchen.  It didn’t matter that much though because any meal with my wonderful and amazing wife is a treat regardless of the circumstances.
• I mentioned distractions today during my message.  I know that the enemy has been trying to distract me a lot lately.  Please pray that I focus on the right things.
• BSG (Battlestar Galactica) is getting really, really good.  I’ve been watching in on Hulu in bits an pieces when I have time.
• Facebook is driving me nuts.  I don’t know how much longer I can take it.  At the same time, I don’t want to disconnect from all the Fusion folks that are on there.
• My blog has been suffering from neglect lately.  I’ll try to blog more soon.
• I used a Amazon gift card I got for Christmas to buy a Wii Fit last week.  I really like it but every time I step on it, it says, “Please, one at a time.”  What does that mean?  :)
• Later.

I’m so excited about our Fusion One class tomorrow morning.  If you’re interested in joining Fusion (or just learning more about the church) this is the class for you.  It’s always a fun and exciting class AND it’s not too late to sign up.  Just contact the church office today and we’ll save you a spot!

• I’m getting this out so very late because things have been absolutely CRAZY in my life lately.
• Church was great Sunday.  I love it when God changes lives and Sunday was just one of those days when God changed lives.
• I am SO pumped about our growth groups right now.
• It looks like we’re about to unleash the power of community in our church like never before!
• The Group Connection was amazing!  We had a huge turnout and it looked to me like all the groups were starting to gel by the end of the evening.
• We’ve had more people sign up for groups this semester than at any time I can recall!
• I truly believe the new format of our groups is exactly what we need right now as a church.  These groups are going to absolutely rock!
• I’m also really pumped about this coming weekend.  Can’t wait to see what God does.
• It’s funny how God leads us through our lives.  My life never goes how I think it’s going to go.
• I think we’re finally starting to shake the sickness in our house.  Yeah!
• Christa Sellers is one hard working woman.  Her passion for groups really shines through and God has certainly blessed her efforts.
• If you ask me, Michelle Lee earned her Wonder Woman shirt on Monday night.
• Nathan Lee also worked hard and he deserves a better shirt than the one he was wearing on Monday!  :D
• I sense that we are at a pivotal time in the life of Fusion Church.  Please be praying for her.
• I’ll say it again.  I think my days on facebook are numbered.
• If you’re not in a group at Fusion yet, there’s still time to join.  Just call the office or sign up on Sunday.  Don’t miss out on this great opportunity.
• The two Community Experiment messages are up on our podcast.  If you didn’t catch them, be sure to listen to them so you’ll understand why community is so important.
• The more I work on my Mac the more I like it.  There is, however, absolutely no good Bible software for Macs, IMHO.
• I’m still trying to figure out if there’s any way on earth that I might be able to make it the C3 conference this year.
• I’m listening to some Motown-era Jacksons.  I’m telling you that Michael Jackson was amazing and all he had to do was not get weird and people would have loved him forever.  Unfortunately, he got real weird.
• I’ve sort of got a bit of writer’s block with my blog.  What would you guys like to see me talk about here?
• Remember to bring your Bible with you this weekend, if you’ve got one.
• Later.

This weekend I’m going to be talking about how to hear from God.  The series is called “Whispers” and it’s going to be great.  You know, of all the topics I get asked about as a pastor, I’d have to say that hearing from God is at the top of the list. Folks, this is one of those “divine appointment” messages.  Do whatever you’ve got to do to be there and bring every friend you’ve got.

I’m also asking everyone to bring their Bibles with them this weekend.  Please spread the word.  BRING YOUR BIBLE! (If you don’t have a Bible, we’ll be providing free ones at the door but if you own one bring it with you.)

Don’t miss this weekend.