Sunday Night Speak!

* Another great nite at our gathering! Karla and the band did another TIGHT JOB! Great worship set, too:

- I Know Who I Am - Houghton
- O Praise Him - Crowder
- Indescribable - Tomlin
- At the Cross - Hillsong

* Kicked Part 1 of the Dark Knight message, The Great Exchange: it was Communion Sunday, so we wanted the message to center around the cross. So, we rolled with a "substitution theme" from the movie, highlighting the end of the movie where Batman "took on the sins" of Harvey Dent. Of course, that's a good illustration of what Jesus did for us... however, the BIG DIFFERENCE being that Dent's died while being venerated a hero... and his crimes were unpunished (Batman took the blame... he also took flight). But Jesus didn't run... he was "crushed for our sins" (Isaiah 53). Dent died and for all intents and purposes was pardoned, but the crimes weren't punished. Jesus was punished for us AND pardoned us! He took our death, and gave us His life! What an exchange!! :-)
* Next week, DARK KNIGHT, Pt. 2: "True Faced" - Being a Person of Integrity. Whoo-hoo! Can't wait!! :-)
* 9 first-time guests out tonight... and more RETURN GUESTS from the last few weeks... major!
* This Saturday (and again on Aug 23), we're giving away free Rita's giftcards between 1-3pm to the first 150 customers! Rita's is an "ice water/slushy/smoothie" place that does MAJOR BUSINESS in the warmer months. The lady who runs the store in College Park is a believer, and is excited to participate in this with us! We'll also be raffling off a free iPod on both Saturdays... should be fun!
* Trying to get my messages done earlier in the week... I'll be at the Willowcreek Leadership Summit (satellite) this Thurs & Fri, so hopefully I can be done by Wednesday!
* Loving our Media Team... these guys are puttin' it down every week! They're learning... but they're learning quickly and without murmuring or complaining. Love you guys!
* I'm watching Run's House reruns as I type... LOVE that show! I honestly don't know about Rev's theology... but I love the way he interacts with his kids!
* My oldest son starts middle school in just a few weeks... on the same day that my youngest starts Kindergarten! I'm stressing... don't know if I'm gonna make it.
* We usually don't keep movie channels on cable, but I've GOT to order HBO for the Hard Knocks series that starts this Wednesday! The show will be covering my Cowboys while they're in training camp. NFL, baby! It's here! :-)
* I talked a little about the OT sacrificial system tonight... and I freaked myself out, likening it to the slaughter of roadkill. UGH! I hate that stuff!! I'm getting shivers, thinking of dead possums and gophers... can't imagine having to slaughter a goat or rip apart a bird! AUGGGGHHHHHH!
* Started following another blogger this past week... for any speaker or communicator out there, you've got to start hitting Jason Curlee's blog! Jay is one of the lead campus pastors for Bay Area Fellowship in Corpus Cristi, TX. He's a BAD BOY!! :-)
* Just finished up a pre-release copy of Mark Driscoll's latest book... review coming this week!