I read the following in my new Bible before going to bed last night.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.  --Acts 2:42-47

That is my prayer for Revolution Church. For any of you that have kids or have been around kids for any amount of time... Kids fuss and fight with each other... As a father, it disturbs me that my children, who I took part in creating, can't always get along.

Ohhhhh... but when they do (see picture), it brings GREAT JOY to a father's heart.

When I fixed this cup of chocolate milk for Sam... Emilee and Jacob wanted to have some, too. Sam could have said, "It's mine!" but he didn't. He let them get a straw and join in! Awww... JOY to a father's heart!

Our Heavenly Father feels the same way about His children. Just as the kids, drinking from the cup together, had the enjoyment of that milk in common... We should all, drinking from The Cup, have Jesus as a commonality.

I pray that we will always seek Jesus and have Him as a common thread. Through that, we will experience God together, do life together, and turn Florence, SC up side down together!  And through that... many will come to know Christ!

For all you basketball fans: Patrick Ewing Jr. does one pretty awesome dunk!

FYI: I am currently 49th in the Church Planting Bloggers Tournament Challenge. I have Kansas winning it all... we will see...

Finally... our family is over the sickness! For those who don't know... My family has been sick since March 19th. Susanne started it! It has not been fun... Today, we appear to be over it. Praise the Lord... Hallelujah!!!

So, in the spirit of celebration... we went out on the town for family night.

1. Went to the Waffle & Grill for some pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage, waffles, and water... Yes Priscilla, that is on the diet and it is good for ya. It was low fat bacon. hehe
2. Went across town to Books-A-Million. (yup... you guessed it.. to get my Bible) It was a hard choice between two ESV Bibles.

   ESV, Personal Size Reference Bible (TruTone, Chestnut, Crest)
   vs.
   ESV Thinline Bible, TruTone, Charcoal, Celtic Cross Design, Red Letter Text

   The ESV was my choice... hehe... I took the advice of a wise young man.
3. While at Books-A-Million, Susanne got a new Bible too! A pretty pink one.
4. For what I am about to say here... you might better sit down. It will be HARD TO BELIEVE!
   I have been coffee free since March 13th! I am a serious coffee drinker... I even give coffee to my house plants. It makes them GROW like crazy.(see here & here) The picture is one of me TONIGHT getting a Caramel Macchiato from Joe Muggs. It was da' bomb! I think that was the longest span I have gone without coffee in 10+ years! What was I thinking?!?! Every time I would think about coffee, I would go get a cup of water. I think water is the only thing that makes you pee more than coffee!
5. Well, my wife decided to wear one of my gray T-Shirts to sleep in tonight. She is way hotter than that coffee ever thought about being. Man, after that sentence, my mind is not thinking about blogging anymore... gotta go!

Everybody sing...

B... I... B... L... E...
That's the book for me!
I stand alone on the Word of God
B... I... B... L... E...

Ok.. enough singing... (you will be singing that the rest of the day).

I want need a new Bible. I have a New King James Study Bible, which I love... It is a great Study Bible but is HUGE!

The Bible I take to church is a smaller NKJV but it is coming apart.

So, I am looking for a new Bible. Considering ESV, The Message, or NIV translations (leaning toward ESV).

I even found this great tool (mybibleversion.com) to try and help me... Still unsure...

I would love to hear what my subscribers/ blog guests use for their Bibles.

Requirements:

• A Christian Bible
• Physical Bible... no electronic stuff or Bible on CD/tape
• One that reads well (so King James & Young's Literal Translations are out)
• Either personal or thin-line sized
• Leather/ imitation leather (soft back)

Please leave me a comment if you have any good suggestions. (and please explain why).

Emilee, Dad, & Jacob. Isn't that a great lookin' bunch of ball players!?!?

Monday:

I was tired from a long day at work. Mondays are always fun (can you read the sarcasm?). 4:45 PM... had to leave early to make it to the Astros' scrimmage game by 5:30 all the way across town. We had all the kids show up ready to play! They were throwing, catching (sometimes), and really HITTING that ball! Several of the kids hit their first home runs! Everyone was smiling the entire game. After the game, we always "take a knee" for coach to player talk. They were still beaming from excitement... After a little praisin' on the kids... they all said almost at the same time... "Can we do the Goooooooooooooo ASTROS!!!!" And we did.

God showed me how those kids  lift me up and encourage me!!!

Tuesday:

I had my hair cut at 12:30. On the way there, I realized I was hungry. (you may think that is funny... but sometimes I get so caught up in work... I forget to get hungry.... sometimes...) I thought I would stop at Checkers, before I get my hair cut, and get a good nutritious Cheese-Double-Cheese Burger, two apple pies, and a cup of water. Ya see... I only had 2 dollars in my wallet... 48 cent in my cup jar in my truck... I ordered... Grand total... $2.48

God showed me that He is in control and He will provide!

Wednesday:

I was praying about ways that Revolution Church can minister and serve Florence, SC. On the way home from work at one of the busiest intersections in town (2nd Loop & Cashua @ 5:00 PM)... I notice waaaay up ahead near the light there are cars swerving into the median and then back into the lane. As I got closer (4 light changes), I noticed a car was broken down in the left lane and every car for the past 8 minutes just passed right by and sometimes even stopped beside them. NO ONE helped these two little ole' ladies. I jumped out of my truck about the same time another guy jumped out of his and commenced to pushing the car to the median out of the way. They were thankful and then I drove off. I did not loose one place in the long line of cars or miss a stop light.

God showed me that we can serve the widow in Florence. God will provide ways for Revolution Church to serve and show the love of Christ to Florence! God also showed me He can control the stop lights!

Thursday:

Nope... This one does not start out about me being on the way home from work. In fact... I was on the way to work. I just dropped my middle child off at school and started a sermon on my iPOD of J.R. Lee preaching on Loving Others. I found myself praying for chances to love others... low and behold... In front of Carolina's Hospital... more cars swerving around a broken down car. I eventually got up to the car and went to help. A guy, his wife, and daughter were in the car. The guy got out and we started pushing... UP THE HILL... Cars BEEPING their horns... Cars not wanting to stop while we crossed the road... even a school bus about hit us... (I guess people were just in a hurry to get to work) My legs turned to jelly but we got the car moved out of the road... The guy with tears in his eyes told me "you are a good man" and then gave me a BIG OLE' MAN HUG. WOW... I started to tear up too.

God showed me people need to know people care! It is up to us to show them that through Jesus Christ, we care! God also showed me how crazy it was to try to cross a busy street on foot pushing a car!

I can hardly wait to see how He blesses me tomorrow!

I have the great honor to head coach my son's Pee Wee Baseball team at the Greenwood Baseball Complex! 10 Awesome little guys and one awesome little girl! They are such a joy and I am so glad I have the privilege to coach them. It is going to be a great season!

Here is our schedule. (For anyone interested)

I decided to play the NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket Challenge. Thanks Passion 4 Planting... but what was I thinking???

I hate basketball... Football or Baseball... That I can do! But basketball... just can't get into it.

How do my brackets look you ask... well... um... not so good.

At this point... My goal is to finish higher than Chris Elrod! What a goal!

Currently... I am 75th, and Elrod is 85th (out of 135).

I think a few people have figured out a way to change their picks after the results came in... There is no way they could have known Siena, San Diego, Western Kentucky, and Davidson were gonna win!

• It was great to be able to go back to Unleash Conference at NewSpring last week, the place God put His calling on my life. It was 53 weeks ago that God called me and Susanne to plant Revolution Church in Florence, SC. It was very emotional and a moving time in my life to have my wife and 2 dear friends pray over me at Unleash this year. One of the best memories of my life! It was also great to have my pastor there with us. It was also cool to see Clayton King's face while talking with him and his wife Nancy. I, like Clayton, have a lot of love for Howard Allen.
  
• My friend Jay Hardwick spoke to me through his Move On post. Last week as many of you know, I took the weekend off to Be Still. I think my being still was out of desperation to hear from God. I was second guessing myself. I am sure that Jay and I are the only two church planters to EVER do that... I am sure!
  
  "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring today...the Lord will fight for you; you need only be still." Exodus 14:13-14
  
• "Some people pray like they know how to pray.  He prayed like he knew the One he was praying to"
  That is what I want people to say about me. God challenged me to talk to Him and to never doubt Him through Steven Furtick's post about Cliff Barrows.
  
  "David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished." 1 Chronicles 28:20
  
• One of my new friends J.R. Lee challenged me to never say "that’s just who I am" and to always look for ways improve myself with this post.
  
  My prayer is that, "this is just who I am" never get’s in the way of "this is who God wants me to become".  --J.R. Lee
  
• I so enjoy Easter. It is a time to dye Easter eggs with the kids, spend time with family learning about Jesus' Resurrection (we use Resurrection Eggs, great for 3-8 year olds), and to remember & celebrate that Jesus is alive and the tomb is empty!! ...It is also a  great time to amaze the kids by blowing eggs (no, that is not me)!
  

After a great weekend of resting, relaxing, no email, no blog reading, no book reading, no working, no "gotta do this"... nothing but enjoying my family. Saturday, I did venture out of the house to the baseball field for our first scrimmage with a great group of kids on my PeeWee Baseball team (Go Astros!).

I want to share this video with you all... Susanne told me, I know you are taking a blog break... but you have to see this...

So glad I did... Has God put a burning passion for your town in your heart?

If so, what are you doing about it?

I am writing this after one of the busiest weeks in my life. I have had one emotional roller coaster ride this week: I have been on cloud nine, had "brain cramps", experienced awesome closeness with God, and several other emotional rides... and had to somehow work today.

Plain and simple... I am physically, mentally, and emotionally tired.

My accountability partner, Jeffery Allen, called and told me I needed to read the Feb 22 entry from Oswald Chambers' book My Utmost for His Highest.

The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance

Be still, and know that I am God . . . —Psalm 46:10

Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for— love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men— will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.

If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, "because you have kept My command to persevere . . ." ( Revelation 3:10 ).

Continue to persevere spiritually.

A little while later, I received an email from one of Revolution's prayer warriors that offered these words...

I'm writing to tell you I love you, I care, and am revving up the prayer power.

Satan attacks us hardest when we' re tired

...Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.... the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.  ( I Cor 2:9)

For My thoughts are nor your thoughts nor are your ways My ways declares the Lord. (Isaiah 55:8)

When possible, be still and quiet, rest, eat right, so you'll be strong and ready to do the work God's ordained for you.

And this one from another prayer warrior...

"Let the peace of Christ Jesus rule in your hearts deciding with finality all questions that arise in your mind." ( I Col 3:15)

Tomorrow, March 15th, will be the one year anniversary of the call that changed my life forever. So this weekend, we are going to be still, and know that He is God! I will share some of my experiences over that past week... next week.

I don't plan to check my email or blog comments this weekend. I may not even get on the computer at all. I want to enjoy the family that God has so blessed me with.

Please pray that I will "Be Still." That is hard for me to do. If I am still with nothing to do, my tendency is to find something. Pray for my wife that she will force me to be still without sedation.

I hope that these words spoke to someone else too... Remember that God loves YOU.

Today... My wife, Mrs. La-La Music (my terminology for the "soft" music she listens to), did something totally not herself...

Which is why I think Jesus must be coming soon... She Threw Up Her Rawk Fist! She typically does not care for much of my music... but she "caved" today and celebrated great music!

"Rawk Fist" is a song by one of my favorite bands... Thousand Foot Krutch.

So in her spirit of PRAISIN' HARDCORE... I thought I would share a little into my personality... Here are a few of my favorite bands with a few of their songs/videos...

• Project 86
• The Spy Hunter
• My Will Be A Dead Man
• FlyLeaf
• All Around Me
• Fully Alive
• Thousand Foot Krutch
• Move
• Rawkfist
• Kids in the Way
• Apparitions of Melody
• We Are
• Daughtry
• It's Not Over
• Home
• Red
• Breathe Into Me
• Let Go
• Seventh Day Slumber
• Awake
• Caroline
• Mat Kearney
• Nothing Left to Lose
• Undeniable
• Chevelle
• The Red
• Vitamin R
• Pink Floyd
• Wish You Were Here
  

Ok... Pink Floyd was not too "Praisin' Hardcore"... But they were one of the greatest bands ever!

And to my 9th-12th grade class... ALL THESE ARE BETTER THAN SKILLET!

To everyone that reads this blog. Most, if not all, of you know that Susanne and I were called to plant a church here in Florence, SC.

That church is Revolution Church.

Next week, I will be attending Intensive Church Planters Training (ICPT) on Monday, March 10th through Wednesday March 12th. This will be three very intense days (hence the name) preparing me to plant God's church.

What I need are some dedicated prayer partners. I would like to ask each and every one of you to commit to pray for Revolution Church and me during those three days (every day is appreciated).

• Pray that my family will be strong in my absence next week and be safe.
• Pray that God will make clear the Vision He has already placed in my heart.
• Pray that I would get a lot of the answers to questions that are unanswered about church planting.
• Pray that I would receive new questions without answers for more growth.
• Pray that I will never stop growing and always be open for new, innovative, and different ideas to reach people with the love of Jesus.
• Pray that I will love people more and more.
• Pray that I will never be judgmental and always be a good listener.
• Pray that I will become the best husband and dad a man can be.
• Pray that I will love my wife and kids more and more everyday and always tell and show them that.
• Pray that I will never knock or criticize methodologies for reaching people for Jesus Christ.
• Pray that I will not be uneasy when I first encounter a crack addict or professional stripper when they visit Revolution Church.
• Pray that I will be the best friend I can be to all whom I encounter.
• Pray that I will learn to be the best leader I can be.
• Pray that God can turn this Stupid Programmer into a great Church Planter.

My family and I would greatly appreciate your prayers during the next week, and for this entire adventure!

Will you be our Prayer Partner?

As a reminder of what Jesus did for me as a stupid, unworthy nobody...

I am so thankful for that Sunday!

(Follow link if you cannot see the video above)

Thanks to Jimmy Britt for sharing...

What a day!

• Early this morning, I met my friend Bryant Calcutt at South Florence Baptist to run some fiber (not the kind you put in your drink to make you regular)... This is computer stuff... In case you did not know... my SIL (Sister in Law) Karen calls me "Computer Club". Oh yeah, and Jeffery (Student Pastor), I hope you are happy now... That was too close to being like work!
• Next I was off to the Greenwood Baseball Complex with Jacob for our first baseball practice of the season. It was fun. I am head coach this year and have a great bunch of kids that are so excited to be there! Go Astros!
• Then we decided to have a family outing to La Bamba... Mexican is quickly becoming our favorite food! Let me share three quotes from the kids while we were sitting eating our chips.

"The people in here are so nice... momma, do you know why they are so nice... Chinese people are very nice!"  --Emilee Reeder

"American sauce... girl... how do you know about American sauce... you don't even live in America!"  --Jacob Reeder

"Mrs. Russell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" --Sam Reeder
FYI: Mrs. Russell is his teacher which he loves more than me I think...

• Now it is time for a movie with the kids... The Game Plan with The Rock!
• And after that... ya never know... Susanne and I may even have "dessert"