Back in Business

Well, I know that there are many people who have been really frustated and unfulfilled that I haven't blogged in about three months. First of all, let me say that I am sorry and beg your forgiveness. I have had a really busy summer (not to make excuses, although you should know what they are anyway) and am now just getting over an incredibly busy August. Here are some good highlights of these busy times I would like to list for you, so that you, too, can be happy:

(1) CABC has started a children's church during the "message" time. Although I am still struggling to find myself in the arena of "preaching", this seemed like the best time to make this move. We were very fortunate to have a young lady volunteer to do this, although we are now in the process of rotating different workers in to help her with this endeavor. (2) My brother Marc and his family have moved to Atlanta, have joined the church, and have started a youth group. It is meeting now only on Sunday mornings, but they have actually had one activity and are in the process of spreading the word. (3) CABC had a successful Vacation Bible School that attracted about 25 kids from the neighborhood. We have been in the process of following up with some who made spiritual decisions during that week. Along these same lines, we owe a debt of gratitude to Henry Baptist Church in McDonough, GA who oversaw the whole process, as well as donated tons of workers, resources, and hours to make it what it was. (4) CABC voted to allow a classy, up-scale restaurant and pub to open across the street from us. It may seem like a strange "good" thing for those who still struggle with the concept of Christian liberty, but our leadership believes it was the right thing to do for the sake of the gospel of Christ and the glory of God in this community (more on this later). (5) CABC (from here on referred to as "we") participated in the Grant Park Summer Shade Festival, where we were able to provide a baby comfort station for mothers changing their baby's diaper, nursing their baby, or just needing cold water, rest, and/or some sugar via our snacks. It was really awesome for us, because we were able to meet and talk with literally hundreds of people, as well as provide this service for hundreds as well. I hope to see us involved with more missional services like this, as we seek to become more of a "go and do" type church, versus a "come and see" type church. (6) We have now completed work on the flat roof of our educational building, and are almost ready to begin renovations on our steeple. These are all very important things for us to get done, as are others we are trying to complete, in order to make our facilities to be more effective in their use for our touching the community. (7) We have, also, partnered with a wedding business for the purpose of their using our facilities for their weddings. (8) My friend Sam (who is now a fellow blogger who accused me of being a nerd for starting a blog, but I'm not bitter...) is about to launch his church called The River in Milton, Florida. We will actually visit with them in a couple of weeks, for the sake of taking a break from the busy summer (and yes, we will be at the beach every day).

I know this has been a boring ramble about some of the happenings of my life, but I felt like it was important for me to justify my own shortcoming of not blogging (which I am thankful the Apostle Paul did not do). Anyhow, talk with all of you later, and I promise it won't be three months this time, because I have some thoughts I need to flesh out soon. I know you'll be waiting by your keyboards until then. See ya.