Since We Talked Last

It’s been about two weeks since I properly posted…just needed some time for Denise and I…even took a couple of Sundays off. However, it is now time to get back into the thick of things…time to reflect…time to move on. Before I begin this “catch up” post…I just wanted to say a heart felt thank you to everyone for the emails, hugs, comments and messages concerning the baby. You will never know just how encouraging and uplifting your words were during a very dark time in our life. I will post a little more later about the baby…and our future plans. Now let’s get caught up…be warned…the post is long (hey…I’ve been dark for a while).

1. WiBo was an amazing…and LONG day. Kyle and I got up around 3:00 am…flew up that morning…flew back right after the conference…got home around 11:00 pm…we were only in Reston for about 12 hours!!! Let me say this…Ben Arment and his team did a wonderful job!!! The sessions were great…the diversity in speakers was amazing…the flow of the day was awesome…the networking was some of the best ever…but God really used a bunch of pastors to speak to a bunch of pastors. I didn’t get to sleep until 3:00am when I got back (yes…I was up a full 24-hours…no sleep on the plane) trying to process everything.
2. I finally got to meet Jonthan Herron in person…I just love the heart of that guy!
3. I can’t begin to describe how valuable and treasured that Kyle Bridges (our Executive Pastor) is becoming in my life…and life of Compass Point. BIG changes coming in leadership structure…and my accessibility…over the next few months.
4. I didn’t really miss blogging…kind of enjoyed not having the hassle…seriously consider killing the blog.  In the end will make some changes in what I blog and what I Twitter.
5. Been going through a reading stage…just finishing up “Breaking The Discipleship Code” and “The Reason For God“…getting ready to tackle Vince Antonucci’s “Lousy” book next.
6. The blogger’s lunch at WiBo was a blast…so cool to finally get to put faces with people…and make some new friends. Props to everyone that helped sponsor it…you guys ROCK!!!
7. Getting pretty anal about time management and organization!!! Will be changing my cell phone number again soon…very few people will get it this time….will seriously maim those that give out the number without my permission!!
8. Vince Antonucci (whoa two mentions in the same blog post) really got me pumped with his talk at WiBo. I had read it before on his blog…but his personal presentation made it so much more powerful. Compass Point has always done a pretty good job at shark fishing…but we are at a critical time in our history where it will be too easy to be satisfied with grouper.
9. Dropped a bunch of blogs from my RSS reader…only left on folks that I have week-by-week friendship with…or churches that are similar to Compass Point.
10. Thank God for Chunks Corbett and his suggestion to read this book. It is beginning to change the way we do meetings at Compass Point…and is slowly beginning to increase our productivity.
11. Was at a church a few weeks back that everyone around here is always talking about. They’ve seen explosive growth…are raising funds to build a facility…and the pastor speaks at many conferences each year. The problem…they are a “grouper” church. I was completely shocked by the complete lack of concern for people far from God…not even a goal. My talk with the leadership just left me totally unimpressed…and disturbed!!!
12. I got the most hateful email I’ve ever seen from a discernment blog freak telling me that we lost the baby because of God’s judgment on our lives because I was helping to “spread the apostasy”. I have no clue how they got my private email address…but I never came so close to blowing a wad of cash on an airplane flight to go whip someone’s ass in all my life!!!
13. “One Prayer” is going to be a crap shoot for us…anxious to see how the video thing goes over with our people…anxious just see if we can get the videos to work.
14. The past six months have been the most spiritually growing time in my entire life.
15. Last…and most importantly…the past month has shown me just how much I love God and Denise…they are the two greatest things that have ever happened to me!