General

LifePoint turned six months old last weekend. We held our first public worship gathering on September 11, 2005, and it has been a wild ride ever since. Starting a new church is so much different than working in an established church. In our previous churches, there was a certain continuity -- the ball kept rolling on its own. I could drive in the parking lot on any given Sunday and expect a certain number of people, and know that most of the volunteers would be there. In a new church, you have to be comfortable with a high level of uncertainty. We don't know from week to week who may or may not be there. As a church that sublets our worship space, we also don't know what new stuff may mysteriously appear. We've shown up on Sundays and found choir risers (which we don't use), professional lighting racks, missing…

Here are a few graphics I've been working on lately. Some are finished, others just drafts.

Last Saturday it rained cats and dogs, with my apologies to cats and dogs. We're talking serious rain, not the light sprinkle that most San Diegans confuse for a downpour. At about 9:00 AM I got Hannah and Hope together to make boats out of Tupperware and we sailed them along the curb. It reminded me of a similar time in my own childhood. We were visiting Grandma Hensley in West Plains, Missouri, and it thunderstormed. My cousin and I improvised boats out of old milk cartoons and set sail. Grandma lived on a steep hill and the boats often went faster than we could run.Good times ...

After being called back for day two of jury duty, I was unceremoniously excused by the prosecutor. I think he felt that since I am a pastor that I might be reluctant to convict someone. I got that idea from the question that he asked me. Surprisingly, he didn't ask me my convictions about drinking. What kind of world are we living in?

The jury pool has begun to shrink. I'm not seated among the first 24 so I'm not sure about my chances. In my mind there are several I would strike. It's a DUI case involving an old lady - 2 counts.