The Update

Man, it's been forever since I posted some of my witty commentary. Now, perhaps witty isn't what comes to mind for many of you, I don't know. Well, the fact is, I just haven't got around to updating my blog much.

I've had a great week. Monday, Marc Taylor and I flew out to Dayton, OH for the AYC board meeting. I had a great time hangin' out with the guys. Fortunately, I had a few hours to run over to IHC at the Convention Center. It was awesome to be able to touch base with a lot of friends who I haven't seen for quite a while. Marc and I spent the night with Ray and Lenea at their new home in Richmond, IN. Things are going extremely well with their ministry in Centerville. God has blessed them with a wonderful congregation who loves them dearly. I was thrilled to see what God was doing at their church.

It was a thrill to get home late Wednesday evening, though. Unfortunately, I was only around for a few hours. Liberty had to jump on the bus and head to a concert in Boise Thursday evening. We were privileged to share the stage with Sandy Rios a conservative news correspondent for Fox News. She has also served as a co-host for Crossfire and a contributor to many of the major news networks and newspapers. She eloquently shared her passion for Christ and the importance of developing a biblical worldview.

Early Friday we started for Hawthorne, NV. Well, we kind of started for Hawthorne. We stopped to grab some breakfast and while we were waiting on the food, I happened to ask Royce if we had ever been to the church in Hawthorne. He gave me a puzzled look, like, what are you talking about? He said, "We're not going to Hawthorne tonight. We're going to Eureka Springs." I said, "I don't think so, Royce. We're supposed to be in Hawthorne." As usual, he wouldn't take my word for it, so he had to confirm with our logistics man, Dan. He said, "Dan, where are we supposed to be tonight?" Dan said, "Hawthorne". Royce buried his head in his arms then looked up and said, "I've just driven 2 hours in the wrong direction!" we got back on the bus and began hurtling down the highway at a high rate of speed. According to our GPS we could still make it a 1/2 hour before service. We spent the rest of the day and the afternoon traveling at speeds a little higher than the posted mph. Doran drove the last leg of the trip. He discovered the new SG station on XM satellite radio, so we were listening intently to a recap of the 2005 Singing News fan awards. In fact, Doran was listening so intently that he missed his exit. We drove on past the place about 30 miles before we could find a road that would take us back. To make a long story short we pulled up to the church about 5 minutes after the concert was to start. Fortunately, the people were as flexible and as good-natured as could be. We had about 30 guys that helped us unload our equipment. It took us 9 minutes to set up our sound system. That has to be an all-time record!

We had a fantastic concert! In fact, 9 people gave their hearts to Christ Friday night. It makes me think that Satan didn't want us there.

Yesterday, we made our way to Reno where we spent some time strolling downtown. Reno, NV is the most unchurched city in the US. 95% of the cities residents do not go to church. It's a sad statistic. We were able to walk up to the Randy Travis bus. He was inside getting ready for a concert that evening, so we didn't have the chance to meet him. Last night we were at the South Reno Baptist Church. Pastor Joe is one of the coolest guys I've met. His passion for God and his humor are evident as soon as you meet him. When he moved to this church 13 years ago, they were averaging 42 people a service. They are now running over 600. But he won't let us church get above 600 or 700. As soon as it does, he takes 100 people and plants a new church in Reno. He has planted 5 or 6 churches in the last 10 years. It's incredible what God is doing through his ministry!

We're going to be at his church again this morning for a couple of services. Well, I'm going to post some pics above. Enjoy and I'll touch base later.