The following is not original with me but is something that I have taped up by my computer:

The winner is always part of the answer; the loser is always part of the problem.

The winner always has a program; the loser always has an excuse.

The winner says,”Let me do it for you”; the loser says,”That is not my job”.

The winner sees an answer in every problem; the loser sees a problem in every answer.

The winner says,”It may be difficult but it is possible”; the loser says,”It may be possible, but it is too difficult”.

The winner listens; the loser just waits until it is his turn to talk.

When a winner makes a mistake he says,”I was wrong”; when a loser makes a mistake, he says,”It wasn’t my fault”.

A winner says,”I’m good, but not as good as I could be”; the loser says,”I’m not as bad as alot of other people”.

A winner feels responsible for more than his job; the loser says,”I only work here”.

• It is just after 11pm – watching We Are Marshall and typing this post.
• Today was a long day and a day well spent in ministry.
• Participated in a small group after church. Enjoyed our study and the sloppy joes
• Then had a late lunch with a new family in our church.
• One more meeting and one phone call later and it was time to head home.
• Phenomenal weekend of worship at Parkview – if you missed it YOU MISSED IT!
• Great response to doing life in the context of biblical community.
• Great to see some new families connecting with our church.
• Met a really nice couple who visited for the 4th weekend in a row.
• Met a pastor from California.
• Seth said he wanted to hang out in the lobby instead of go to Son Zone today – that was a new one.
• So many of our people serve faithfully!
• So many of our people attend faithfully!
• THANKS to both!
• There is ALOT to be said for faithfulness!
• Everything we do is for the sake of LIFE CHANGE – ours and others.
• If you are not interested in LIFE CHANGE – beware, because that is our focus.
• Loved the Summer and now we are ready for the Fall!!!
• Next week our text is in Proverbs and I am really looking forward to sharing a principle that I have never preached before!!!!
• Some people will be sharing their stories next week in the service – totally looking forward it!
• You will hear about Life Change!
• On a different note, Denise and I have a family decision this week that we need to make – sure would appreciate any prayers on our behalf.
• This week look for opportunities to invest and invite. Invest relationally with others and invite them to experience Christ at Parkview.
• God is good all the time and all the time God is good!!!

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance.  The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”  C.S. Lewis

Beware - this post will be convicting!!! Do not read unless you are willing to take personal inventory!!

Had a great weekend celebrating Denise’s 40th birthday!!!  With the weekend being over I can honestly say the sin burden has been lifted – I can now go back to telling the truth and not being deceptive.  For a few weeks I had been having conversations behind her back, deleting phone calls off my cell call log, deleting emails and flat out lying.  In the end, she said that she knew her parents would come but she had no idea about the surprise party.  I also lined up this guy to take our photos at the beach in the afternoon.  If you see a photo or two in this blog it means I figured out how to insert it, if not, well then you know I couldn’t figure it out. O.K. I just got some help via the cell phone and got one of the pictures on this post. I have a busy day and need to run. Be blessed and have a great day!

Amidst all of the economics upheaval, less than a year ago our elders and finance team decided it would be in the best interest of the church to phase our construction project. The project was moved into the following  phases: 1) double the parking on our campus and get “pad ready” for our new building. In essence, we will put a parking lot in the back similar to the one we currently have in the front.  In between the two parking lots it will look like a soccer field and that is where the future worship center will go. 2) put in an additional entrance and approximately 100 parking spaces on the city property that joins our property to the north. We already have a signed contract with the city. 3) Construction of our new worship center. Phase 3 may become phases 3 and 4. In other words, we could make the balcony and all ancillary space phase 4.

Our desire was to begin construction of phase 1 in March. It is now August and I don’t even care to calculate the difference in days.  For some time we have had a signed contract with Dimare’ Construction and we secured our financing. As far as financing goes, we have approximately $200,000 of the $265,000 phase 1 cost in our building fund. We will borrow all of the $265,000 because we can borrow it at 4% while earning 2% on our $200,000, which is a 2 point spread. Borrowing money at a 2 point spread and there being in essence no closing costs (only 1,400 for doc. stamps) it was a sound financial decision during these times when cash is king. Now, I want you to understand something – I am no financial wizard! This is the decision of our finance team – which is an INCREDIBLY gifted, experienced (including an accountant and banker) and talented team. A couple of these men are responsible for over 100 million a year in their companies. I support these men, as do our elders and the finance team is led by one of our elders, Chris Dawson. Also, do not let the term finance team fool you – these men love the Lord and are extremely committed followers of Christ!

So, if we have a signed contract with Dimare and have secured our funding, what is the hold up? RED TAPE. From our engineer and contractor’s perspectives, we were required to jump through an excessive number of hoops with the city. Then nearing that completion, we discovered that our Saint Johns River Water Management District permit had expired 4 days earlier and actually needed to be modified for our project anyway.

All the above being said, our engineer sent everything to SJRWMD today and they have promised us they would expedite the process, because they are aware of all of our delays.  It should only be a matter of days before we get approval from them.

Last week I had breakfast with our City Manager, Jim Landon, who is a friend of mine and a friend of our church. He was unaware of the situation and I had withheld from calling him because I did not want to leverage our friendship in that way. He told me I should have called and he would push this project through once we were cleared up with SJRWMD.

Ultimately we know that everything is in the Lord’s hands and the Lord’s timing, so after typing all the above, I simply sigh. My sigh is a sigh of relief knowing that God is in control. I also recognize that these are “normal” experiences with construction.

Church, God is blessing Parkview in amazing ways as we guide people to Life Change!!!!  I am looking forward to the Fall. I am also reminded that parking lots and buildings are only tools to reach more people. The church is the body of believers, not some building that will one day no longer be in existence.

I want to thank you for your faithfulness! I also want to thank our staff, elders, finance team, small group leaders and ministry leaders for all that you do to make Parkview what it is! God has blessed our church with a great spirit and I give Him glory! I guess in the back of my mind I know the devil will fight what we have and we must protect it.  Our church has no junk going on behind close doors or amidst some “clique”. But I want to be certain not to give the enemy an opportunity and I want all of us to be careful of his devices as we seek to guide people to Life Change in Jesus Christ.

In the next day or two I will talk about our giving, budgeting and how these economic times are impacting us as a church.

Long post, think I said everything I needed to – I’m out. Be Blessed!

That screeching sound is my vacation coming to a halt - it has been tremendous. We had an awesome time!!  I will be arriving home tomorrow, Friday the 10th, and am looking forward to getting back in the saddle!  For a couple months I have been praying about, studying, reading and planning for our new series, Shattered.  Can’t wait to preach this weekend and launch our series.  I am also looking forward to our new service schedule for several reasons. Please attend Sat at 6 or Sun at 9:30 if at all possible!!  One bonus for the weekend is that we will be celebrating communion. We will now be celebrating communion every other month at all of our weekend services. This is an exciting new element that will further help us “guide people to life change in Jesus Christ”.  Come to church a few minutes early – you won’t want to be late!!  By the way, we are going to take some steps to change the culture that it has become acceptable to show up to church late. The more I think about this weekend, the more excited I get!!! Don’t miss it!!! See you soon!!!

Our workers are the best!!!! It has been a phenomenal week and many hearts have been eternally touched. Thanks Heather, Robin and the 7o phenomenal workers that made this all happen!!!!!!!

On June 22, 1991, in Garland, Texas, I married Denise Renee Dunlap. Today, we celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. It was really nice to celebrate Father’s Day yesterday and our anniversary today. We went to the Columbian restaurant in St. Augustine for lunch and had a great time!  We spent some time and reflected over the years.  We talked about the following:

• our 3 best vacations – #1 was the Disney cruise the church gave us for our church’s 10th anniversary
• our 3 best homes – # 1 was our fist place, the ’60′s duplex for $285 a month
• our 3 best meals – #2 was our first visit to the Cheesecake Factory in California in 1994.
• our 3 best cars – #3 is our current Honda Pilot.

Now let me give you 18 reasons I love being married to Denise

1. because I choose to even on the bad days (learned that at the Fireproof Marriage Conference)
2. because she loves me beyond reason
3. because of her heart for God
4. because she is a phenomenal mother
5. because she is an absolute statue of beauty
6. because she is very passionate
7. because she loves serving the Lord in ministry
8. because she is a tremendous pastor’s wife
9. because she completes me in so many ways
10. because she is totally supportive of me in every way
11. because she is always thinking of me first
12. because even though I have thrown her under the bus on more occassions than she or I care to remember, she is still forgiving and loving (I am working very hard to not throw her under the bus)
13. because she is extremely flexible
14. because she loves the people I love
15. because she is modest
16. because she is totally committed to making our marriage work
17. because she is a great cook
18. because she weighs almost the same as the day I married her ! Believe it or not I am more than 50 pounds heavier – I was ridiculously skinny then and 15 pounds overweight now. 

Just a few quick highlites from the weekend:

• I love being Seth’s Dad!!!
• He gave me a new pair of silver cuff links for Father’s Day. Wore them at church today. Denise gave me a beautiful leather journal cover.
• We grilled out at my parents today and had a nice time with the whole family.
• The guys watched the U.S. Open.
• I fell asleep and took a nap on the sofa. Don’t remember the last time I took a nap, but it made for a perfect Father’s Day afternoon.
• Had a fantastic weekend at church.
• 6 people trusted Christ as their Savior!!!!
• Loved preaching on the life of Elijah the last 6 weeks.
• Closed with Elijah being taken in a whirlwind to heaven.
• Elijah left behind a legacy for Elisha.
• Everyone leaves a legacy!!!
• I talked about how funerals exist in extremes and there rarely seems to be anything in between. Funerals are either Caviar or bologna.
• Everyone leaves a legacy – what will yours look like?