Week # 2 in 2 Peter

Tomorrow morning is our second week in the book of 2 Peter in the message series titled: Reminders.

We'll be finishing up chapter one talking about our growth in Christ.

Dublin Pastor's Round Table

This morning I had the pleasure of hanging out with almost a dozen local area pastors. We got together for a few reasons. First to connect and get to know each other better. One way we did that was by telling our faith stories of how we came into relationship with Christ and when/why we were led into full-time ministry.
Another reason we got together was to share ideas of how we see Christ using us to reach the communities we live and minister in.
Some of us have established church bodies with land and buildings and others rent schools or industrial buildings to meet in weekly.
I know for us at Encounter, we believe our ministry is more de-centralized in nature. That is to say that 99% of our following Christ happens outside of the weekly gathering we have at Eli Pinney Elementary. Assembling together for a church service is vital no doubt, but is sometimes over emphasized in our culture. Christ has sent each of His followers to be on mission for Him wherever they find themselves.

Scioto Boys Volleyball Banquet

Tonight was the end of the season banquet for our three Scioto HS boys volleyball teams. This was the third year I coached for Scioto. My first year I was the JV-B or Freshman coach and the last two years I've coached the JV-A team.

Coaching is something I've really come to enjoy. It takes up a lot of my time but the season is short (mid March to early May).

This evening we got to thank all those who've helped during the year and highlight the guys.

We ended up with a 5 - 5, win/loss season this year which is a far cry better than my first year of coaching when we lost every single match.

It's been nice to coach along side the same guys for multiple years. Doug Arden (2nd from right) is the Varsity Head Coach and Patrick Callicotte (right) is his assistant. Ben Wenger (left) is the JV-B coach who also helped me with my guys.

We'll see what happens next year. If my son Zach plays, I'll coach for sure (if they let me :-). If he doesn't play I'll have to really think about it.

My Twins Turned 11 Today

If you know anything about my kids, you know that they are allergic to dogs, cats, horses...pretty much anything with hair or fur. They also happen to be huge animal lovers. So we've had to be a little creative when finding pets. We tried birds for about two years. PTL they're gone! Now we've moved on to reptiles.

This morning we presented to our darling twins their new bearded dragon. Why would we purchase them such a creature you ask? Well, while visiting the Creation Museum over Easter weekend we saw a reptile presentation and heard bearded dragons are excellent pets. "Alfred", as he was dubbed this morning, will grow to approx. two feet long. Thus the incredibly oversized terrarium. Needless to say they were delighted with their gift:-)

New Message Series - 2 Peter

This Sunday I begin a four week series in the book of 2 Peter titled: Reminders. The idea to teach/preach from it came during my devotional reading of the book a few months ago.
Last Sunday I challenged the congregation to read through it three times before this coming Sunday. Before you go thinking that's a big task, realize the book is only 61 verses long:-)
This week I'll give some background on the book by talking about Peter and his 1st century audience and outline the three chapters.
I'm really looking forward to it. For being such a small book it packs a big punch. Kinda like the book of Titus did when I preached through it back in the Fall of 2009.