Third Anniversary

I bet there were some awesome naps taken yesterday afternoon after our Third Anniversary Celebration in the Sprung building. Our volunteers did an amazing job of getting the facility ready for bringing Glory to a Magnificent God. At 10:00 Saturday night, there were still no drain pipes on the bathroom sinks and there was no nursery whatsoever (no dropped ceiling, no carpeting, no nothing). Men and women of God got all of that done about 2:30 Sunday morning (and we just thought we were finished with early Sunday mornings), and then the band arrived from Jeff City at 3:00 am and just stayed up through the night getting the sound and video right.

Our building was completed mostly with volunteer labor. We subbed the concrete, the heating and cooling, the plumbing, and the tape and mud. Other than that, it was all God's people acting like God's people. It is quite a story that we now have 18,000 square feet (soon to be 23,000 when God gifts us with some more money to finish the second floor) that was all built for less than a million dollars. Our federal government could learn some lessons about rolling up their sleeves and really working rather than spending. This facility would have cost more than 3 million dollars if we had used tradition building styles and just hired it all done. I am very proud of what God has done. Pride is usually a bad thing, but I don't think so this time.

Everything came off without a hitch yesterday except me. The 9:00 service was a train wreck during the sermon as I missed my cue and forgot to let the 'Fearless' video run before I stood up. Then, when my battery went out on my microphone and we did an audible, I came back up from the "melt your face" guitar solo and left almost 3 pages of notes out of the sermon. People were sweet and said that it made some sense; only God could have made sense out of that debacle.

It is an honor and a privilege to serve this church as lead pastor. I don't feel qualified, but look what God did through 'knees knocking' Gideon -- maybe He can ever use a messed-up dude like me.

Here we go church. Year 4 with our own facility -- this is going to be quite a ride for God's glory and your health.