The Holidays are upon us!

Well it has been a month since I posted last. Not sure who really reads these anyway. So we are right in the middle of the holiday season. Is anyone getting tired of people wanting to take Christ out of Christmas? I am not talking about the whole "X-mas" thing, I won't get into the X standing for Christ in the Original Greek.... oh yeah I just did. I am really talking about people at Wal-mart and other stores not being allowed to say "Merry Christmas," only "Happy Holidays." You can say Happy Holidays on New Years, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July...etc. They are all happy holidays. How many of you have a holiday tree? We have a Christmas tree. It only comes out at Christmas. We refuse to bring it out for any other holiday. Although I guess that could be a new selling point for "those" trees. So if they are a holiday tree, why do you only see them in stores over Christmas? I expect them to be in Wal-mart on July 4th. I may want one then.

Sorry about the rant...just wanted to fill a post (haha). 

So for the holidays we are headed to Escondido to see my family for Christmas and then off to Long Beach for the Tsunami Student Conference. This month just flies by with Christmas parties (2 adult parties, 1 youth Party, 1 children's party, 1 office party (Michelle's), not to mention the school things, Scouts, parade, the list goes on.) Michelle and I were asked just this Tuesday if we would lead a couple Hot Topics at the Tsunami Conference the 27th. We have taught one entitled "Balancing Marriage and Ministry" before and I was pondering it again. That is until I notice my already frazzled wife getting more frazzled (if possible). Then God hit me with a 2x4. "Hey dummy, do you really think it would be good to lead a seminar on balancing your marriage and ministry at the expense of your wife's saneness?" Okay, so it wasn't audible, but I got the point. I am trying to not take on more ministry things at the expense of my family. When all is said and done, they are more Important to me than the ministry I am called to. You can agree or disagree with me (comment if you want), but I believe I am to honor God first in my relationship to Him, then my family, then my "Job" (ministry). Fortunately I have a pastor that agrees with me. So we are doing Tsunami with our students, but we are going as a family and spending some quality time together while we are there.

It is a busy time indeed, but don't forget to take time out to remember the real meaning of Christmas, and also spend time with the family. 

Just Checking In

So it again has been a while sense my last post. It seems every time I commit to keeping things updated, I get busy and it stops again. Hmmmm...kinda like the Christian walk and beginning a quiet time. Oh well, had to throw that one in, I am a pastor and all.

So I am back from San Diego and the fires. I was there with 3,700 other youth workers for the National Youth Worker's Convention. I love this time at the convention. Lots of seminars to fill your day, great worship (Crowder was awesome), late night options, basically you could be involved in something from 7am until midnight everyday of the conference. So what did my schedule look like? Sleep in until at least 8am...head to breakfast, sit in a seminar (maybe) or walk around the nice hotel and spend time with just God, then head to the early worship time, then lunch, then again hit a seminar or go to the Fashion Valley Mall and just chill at the Apple Store, back to the conference center for dinner, it the late worship time and then back to my room to read or watch some sports game. That was it, except for the one day I headed up to Escondido (my home town) and see my family, played golf with my brothers (how's your game Tony?) and have dinner with my mom. Like I said, I love this convention. It is a great time to just relax and unwind from a year of ministry and sometimes stress.

So this past week on Halloween, I am driving my car to pick up my boys from school and I hear on the radio...CHRISTMAS music???? In October???? Don't get me wrong, my sons and I sang along to them all the way back to the church and then on the way home, but Christmas music in October? Then it came out of the mouth of my youngest son Nick (6 years old), "Dad, Doesn't all the music on the radio station we listen to talk about Jesus?" I said, "yes Nick." No wanting to bust his bumble the occasional time I hit the classic rock station. Then Nick says, "So then they play Christmas music all the time Dad, because they are always talking about Jesus!" Okay, so shut my mouth. I guess in many ways he is right. You gotta love it when you are preached to by a six-year-old. Can I get an Amen?

Now our church is doing its annual "Thanksgiving Celebration Dinner" this Friday. We have made some changes to it with our new pastor...that being the celebration part. We are not just coming to eat and do a raffle anymore (YEAH). We are now coming to celebrate what God has done in the life of the church body throughout the year. We are having testimonies, instead of cheesy barbershop quartets. We are preparing for the new year and what God has planned, instead of doing a cheesy raffle to win something you will place in your next garage sell. I am actually kinda looking forward to it.

Hope to hear from all of you soon!

Ducks and For Sale Signs

Today is Wednesday and I am already exhausted. I have had late night meetings the past two days and it is catching up with me. Okay, so maybe my late night exploits on Sunday night have a little to do with my tiredness. Let me share with you a little about Sunday.

We went over to some friends house to watch the Cowboys stomp the Giants (sorry Eli). While over there we were sharing college & high school experiences of TP'ing, forking lawns, etc. So we (my friends and I, all over 35) decide that we need to do something to our new pastor's house. Since he moved into a new development the trees have not grown much which doesn't provide much for TP. We decide to set out pink Flamingos in his yard, but we don't have any. We head to the Super Wal-Mart (open 24hours) to shop. After browsing the garden department we find no pink flamingos. We ask an attendant, she tries to get us to buy the giant inflatable snow globe with Santa (why is Christmas stuff is out so early? That is another blog). We decide to head the Fishing and hunting area. We find 2 boxes of a dozen duck decoys. We then buy a For Sale sign, a couple "No Hunting" signs, we are in the Boonies. I find a jackle Lantern that is a Giant Golf ball. We make our purchases and head tot he pastors house. After writing on the for sale sign his name and cell phone number, we spread out the ducks and put the for sale sign and no hunting signs in his yard.

Monday the pastor comes into my office several times and doesn't say anything about the ducks. After a couple hours, Todd comes in and sits down. "So, you wouldn't happen to know anything about a flock or 24 ducks would you?" He thought I had a late t youth event and they were the guilty ones. When he finally found out who was involved he busted up. He now wants to know who else in the church we can get. What a Pastor!

Bob

New Computer & Stuff

Well it has been a while since I posted last (what else is new) and I am surprised my sister-in-law hasn't chewed me out yet. Lots of stuff has happened since my last blog. 1. Michelle wrecked our van (see her post). 2. Went to Vegas with my brothers and their families. We had a blast, played golf in 100 degree heat, went swimming, gambled a little...okay a lot! haha, just had fun. 3. Went to children's camp with my oldest son, Nathanael. 4. Went to youth camp. 5. Currently going through Vacation Bible School at our church. 6. Got a new Mac Book Pro Laptop. Not the 15 inch, we got the 17 inch babies. Yeah, that's right, finally joined the Mac family. Still trying to figure it all out, not that it is hard, I am just not a fast learner, haha. This laptop is awesome. Just as we were ordering them from Apple, they were just coming out with the new updated version of the laptop, so we held off a few days and were able to get hooked up good. We (Senior Pastor and I) also each received 80 gig video iPods. So, cool to have a pastor that cares about his staff. Looking forward to posting more, making videos, podcasting and anything else I can learn to do.

Well VBS ends tomorrow with a big tailgate party in our parking lot. We are having bounce houses, bbq hotdogs, and a dunk tank for the pastor and I to get in. I told him we needed to make that a fund raiser. I am sure there are several members that would pay a load of cash to throw a ball or two. Should be interesting.

Saturday, Michelle, the boys and I all fly out to Dallas at 6am to see her parents. We should have a great time. She hasn't seen them since they moved their in March and is looking forward to seeing them and their house. I ont he other hand helped them get settled and moved in, and it sounds like they have a few more jobs for me to do...curtain hanging and stuff. That is the job of the son-in-law...hehe. I will be happy to do it...really...no really!

See ya soon,
Bob

Quitter

Okay, so my loving Sister-in-Law calls me a quitter because I haven't posted in the past 2 months. So here I go with catching up.

We now have a new Pastor and he is all moved up here in beautiful Yuba City. We are now starting to really get busy on ministry. In summary, I have painted every classroom in our children's center (not just walls, but painting stripes, bright colors, painting the doors, ceilings, baseboards and wooden furniture), I painted the nursery rooms as well. We have started working on upgrading our sound equipment (wireless head set for the pastor, working on wireless mics for the praise team, new speakers), we revamped our media computer to handle Media Shout better (more RAM, better graphics card), we are looking at getting the staff some Mac computers (yeah). I am looking at a Mac Book Pro laptop.

Personally, I have began playing softball again, however, it takes me longer after the game to recover. I am also trying to get out at least once a month to play golf (miss ya Tony). We are starting to gear up for a busy summer. This year Nathanael gets to go to Children's Camp (CentriKid at Jenness Park), starting to feel old. I will be at CentriKid and CentriFuge, helping with VBS, working on Brazil trip for 2008, planning some sort of family vacation in there.

Well, I am heading to a Memorial Day Service in a few, I will write more at a later time...really I will.

Bob

Heading to Texas

Well I am hanging out at the Sacramento International Airport awaiting my flight to Dallas, Texas. I am on my way there to help Michelle's parents get all moved into their new house and help set up things like internet and surround sound. Michelle and the boys dropped me off last night at the airport hotel. I don't know how some people can leave their family so often. I hate saying good-bye even for a short time. Michelle is going to be the strong one having to deal with both boys and getting them ready for school each morning.

I have to say, I love technology. I received an email from a former church member that lives in Italy. She has neighbors there that are moving to Yuba City to be stationed at Beale AFB. They are looking for a church and she mentioned ours. They have a teenage son and he has already checked out the church website and the student ministry site, he has submitted his contact information into our database and i am already having some cool theological discussions with him and he is looking forward to the move to our area. Sure brings a whole new dimension into evangelism and outreach!

Well I am about ready to start boarding. I will try and put more here over the next week while in Texas. Maybe even a picture or two of the greatest football team's stadium...GO DALLAS! yeah whatever.

Bob

A Long Time Ago...

So I just realized that I haven't posted in well over a month. So let me get you up to speed.

We have called a new senior pastor (yeah). Hopefully that means I can concentrate on more of the things I am responsible to do. I am looking forward to working with our new pastor. He is 39 and has a ton of great ideas I hope, let me rephrase, I pray that we can accomplish through God's direction. Our desire is to move to be more specific in reaching the younger adults, youth and children. That is going to be a huge change for our church where the average age is well over 50.

I had talked with my Mom the other day (she will be 82 in May). She had an opportunity to attend Sandals Church in Riverside, CA where I got my niece and her husband to start attending church. So my Mom went with my brother, his wife and my niece and her husband. I was waiting for feedback from my Mom, so I finally asked her what she thought of Sandals. She told me she really liked the music (and she didn't bother to pick up ear plugs), she enjoyed Matt's message and got a lot out of it. So I asked her what her favorite part of the worship service was. Mom's response to my question, "Getting to sit and worship with my son, daughter-in-law, niece and her husband in the same worship service as a family!" Amen Mom, preach it!

I am so tired of the worship wars that rage on and on in the church. It shouldn't be about the music, it shouldn't be about the style of preaching, it shouldn't be about the pews or chairs, it should be about God and us drawing closer to Him and each other. What an awesome thing for my Mom to be able to attend the same service as her son and grand-daughter. I am thankful for what Sandals is doing in the lives of people and the fact my niece and her husband love to attend.

Well, after that preachy stuff. I was able to get out last week a couple days and hit the links. It had been awhile since I chased the little white ball around the golf course. I also was able to get my two sons (age 8 and 5) and my wife out to the driving range to whack some balls. Must say that it is a good thing that on driving ranges they have metal fence barriers between golfers to prevent deflected balls from killing unsuspecting golfers. My sons are deadly.

Later,
Bob

Long TIme No Blog

Well I have only been blogging for a few weeks and already I am slacking off. Reminds me of my spiritual life at times. Did I just say that? I am supposed to be a "pastor." We aren't supposed to struggle with our spiritual lives are we? Give me a friggin break. Anyone that thinks pastors don't struggle with spiritual things or life in general needs to spend a week with me...heck spend a day...no make that an hour. I won't generalize every pastor, but I personally struggle with sin issues on a minute by minute basis. It could be dealing with other peoples attitudes, my attitudes, sexual temptations, you name it, I probably have been tempted with it and maybe in some form or another given in to some of them. One thing I hold to is that Jesus never leaves me, I may turn away from Him, but He is always standing there with His arms open waiting for me to turn around. More times than not, He goes the extra mile and keeps nudging me, tapping my shoulders, or jumping in front of me to get my attention. I battle daily with letting Him really be Lord of my life, I mean truly Lord! Not just the verbal affirmation, but the whole enchilada. That is why the tattoo I got over a year ago is Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

That is my life verse and what I strive for daily. Those of you reading this, please pray for me to fight the fight and keep the faith. If you respond to my blog, I promise to say a prayer for you too!

Oh by the way, my sons and I were having our usual just before bed football game in the living room last night. My 5 year old comes running full bore into the living room, only to be taken out by the door jam of our bedroom. He totally slammed his little toes (barefoot) into the jam and then did a face plant on the floor before screaming in agony. I picked him up and held him while my wife checked his toes. The awesome thing that happened was his big brother of 8 came and knelt at his feet and prayed for him. Why can't I do those things more often? By the way, Nicholas is fine and still running crazy, and Nathanael is doing great, just wish he would be open to praying before meals more (haha).

Keep it real!

Have It your Way!

So I am reading the "Appeal Democrat" which is the local paper here in the yuba City/Marysville area. I read on the front page of the "Appeal" the following article, "Meth bust made at burger drive-through." It appears that the on-duty manager of the Marysville Burger King restaurant (Is a fast food place really a restaurant?) was selling methamphetamine from the drive-through window. Brings a whole new twist to Burger King's slogan, "Have it your way!" "Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, special sauce and oh yeah, add meth!"

Five grams of packaged meth with a street value of $400 was found at the restaurant. It appears that the female manager had been selling the meth from the restaurant for several weeks. Drug customers called the manager ahead of time, then came to the drive trough, ordered foor and paid for it. The manager would have the customers pull around and wait for their order, then she would go outside with the food and drugs.

I knew there was a reason I had stopped eating at Burger king, but I though it was to try and eat healthy. In case you weren't aware, Yuba Country is the meth capital of the nation pretty much.

On a brighter note, 50 pounds of unstable dynamite was found in a house near Marysville. The bomb squad will be blowing it up tomorrow. How cool is that? Getting to blow things up as part of your daily job can be pretty cool.

Well have fun at the drive through next time and remember to store your dynamite safely! I live in Mayberry.

"I Don't Know"

So I am here at the church trying to finish up a few things before heading out to meet the wife. I have both boys with me (Nathanael age 8 and Nicholas age 5). Nathanael has finished his homework and is now reading "Prince Caspian" the fourth book from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (his 4th time reading them through since he got them for Christmas 2005). Nicholas is doing what he does best, playing with balls in the student center, bugging his brother, and asking Dad for a bottle of water. So I get him his water and he proceeds to try and pour water into the cap from the water bottle, spilling it all over my desk and some of the papers that were sitting on it. Nicholas has this puzzled look on his face like, "uh, did I do that?" When I ask him why he was trying to pour water into the cap instead of drinking from the bottle, the only response I get is..."I don't know." I am instantly thinking of Bill Cosby's "Himself" video. That response is repeated thoroughly throughout the movie. If you haven't seen that movie...you should rent it or spend the few bucks and buy it. I guarantee you will laugh and laugh. Over Christmas my sons enjoyed quoting from that movie with their "Papa," so much so, they annoyed Grandma.

So, I ask you, why o we do things like pouring water into a cap of a bottle to drink instead of drinking straight from the bottle? Why do we respond to questions with "I don't know?" Do you think God gets annoyed with us responding to him with "I don't know?"

So what is Nicholas doing now? Trying to see if he can stuff a ball the size of a softball into the sleeve of his long sleeve shirt. Why you ask? "I Don't Know!"

Just a quick catch up

Well it has been a couple days since I posted...it has been a busy weekend that's for sure. Friday night I took our deacons to a 2-day training on how to "deak." We got home kinda late and then needed to be up and out Saturday morning for the remaining training class. After the training the deacons and I met with our interim pastor, yes we are still without a senior pastor. I finally got home around 4pm. I was able to take Michelle and the boys to Chico for dinner at Outback Steakhouse (thanks Mom & Dad Green for the gift cards), then we headed to Barnes & Noble to spend gift cards from Christmas. It is always a good thing to go out for dinner and shopping and it only cost me gas money. Sunday was a busy day with church and meetings and things. I finally saw Michelle and the boys around 6:30Pm.

As for us, we are doing pretty good. We are waiting to see what the new year brings and trusting God to direct our way. I however am a little upset by the fact the Dallas Cowboys are out of the playoffs and then the Chargers blow it too. Not sure where any of you are at with the whole football thing, but this past year has not been a good one for "Bob's Teams." However I will say, thick or thin I stay with my teams. I am not a fair-weathered fan.

Well I will write something possibly more interesting next time.

Bob

A Guy Through And Through

Well I am not sure about you, but for me, I received some money for my birthday (in December) and for Christmas. I decided, like most guys, i needed a new toy to play with. I started researching GPS (Global Positioning System) units. I finally decided on the Magellan 3050T. The cost wasn't bad via Amazon, so i figured i would make the purchase in the next week or so. Today I went to return a couple Christmas gifts to Target and decided while I was there to check out their selection (and to just play with electronics). I noticed they didn't carry the 3050T, however they did carry the 6000T. My mind raced...the 6000T is a better model with more features than I really need. I then noticed something that brought tears to my eyes...it was on SALE! Normally the 6000T runs about $600 anywhere you look. I bought it for $299. That is cheaper than Amazon had the 3050T. If you are in the mood or market for a GPS and want a deal, check out Target.

So with all that said, let me tell you my first experience with my GPS that I guess may sound ironic to many. While shopping today with my wife and youngest son, I decided to see how the GPS worked. I told it that I wanted to return home from the store we were at. The GPS worked quickly to figure the route to take (many options available: shortest, fastest, least freeways, etc.). I began heading as it spoke directions to me. When the second turn came up I decided I didn't want to go that way, so i continued straight. The GPS or Maggie as I now call it, recalculated and gave me the next turn to take, still I didn't take that turn. Each time I made my own choice Maggie quickly adjusted the directions to match. After finally arriving at home I had to laugh, even with a GPS System, I still don't follow directions easily...I guess I am a real guy.

I do like my new toy and think it will come in handy when I travel to places like Texas or Ohio to visit my wife's family, or we just decide to take a trip somewhere. Maybe next time i will actually listen to Maggie. It is a good thing that Maggie is just a computer programmed GPS unit and can't yell at me for not listening.

What about the rest of you? Anything fun for Christmas? Any GPS stories?

Bob

First Blog of the new year and ever!

Well, I have finally given in to the peer pressure of blogging. Well okay, I have actually done a little on our church site and a couple other places, but this is really going to be my first real attempt to "Be a blogger." We will see if people really read this.

So what has the new year brought? Well while I was away for Christmas, the student center at the church flooded an inch under water all over. Luckily there were willing servants to remove all the furniture and by books from the student center and my office. The water was sucked up, the carpets cleaned, the tile waxed, and the base boards re-installed. So last week and this week I have been "Moving" back into my office and bringing in all the furniture back into the student center. I guess I needed to redecorate my office anyway.

Our church in still without a senior pastor so that means I'm all it! Yippie! NOT. It has been a real learning experience to say the least. I have really had to rely on God for strength in dealing with people. I want to give a huge thanks for the support of my loving wife Michelle http://gods-work-in-progress.blogspot.com/ . you are awesome and I can't put into words how much you mean to me.

Well that is it for this first post. I want to give thanks to Larry Bubb for the title of my blog... "Log-eye" is a song by Larry. If you have never had Larry to your church, you should. Larry is a gifted communicator and song-writer and God uses him in a great way for revivals and other events. Check him out at www.larrybubb.com/ .

Bob