A couple of questions

I know that there aren't a ton of you who read this, but I'll take a chance anyways. I am doing a talk this weekend and I have a couple of questions for you.

What is your general feeling about the New Year?

What kinds of things are you hoping to change in your life next year?

What was the most memorable thing about 2005 for you?

THX!

Josh

Good News

Some good friends of ours have some good news! If you haven't heard of Mosaic Church, you will soon. These guys are pregnant in more ways than one! They are getting ready to give birth to a church in January that is going to change eternity for lots of people in Charlotte. Congratulations Naeem, Ashley, and Asher.

A Donkey, A Trash Can, and A Baby Jesus

Wow! What an incredible day! We just finished up with our Christmas Eve Services and it was quite an adventure. I haven't heard from any of the other campuses yet, but at Longpoint we did 5 services and had roughly 6,000 people celebrate the birth of Jesus.

It didn't come without some adventure though. We thought that having a live nativity scene out front would be the primary source of excitement for the night, but we had a little bit more. During the 4:00 service I heard a loud bang come from the back of the auditorium so I went to check it out. Although I didn't see anything at the time, I found out later that a teenage girl passed out and hit her head on one of the trash cans. Then at the 6:00 service, during the message, a ten year-old who had obviously had too many cookies and hot chocolate, threw up all over himself and the floor. I was very impressed with our facilities team as they hopped right in and got it cleaned up without making too much of a stir. All in all, it was a great Christmas Eve.

I just got done wrapping my last presents. Better get to bed soon, I think I hear Santa coming! Merry Christmas

Writer's Block

As evidenced on my blog over the past several months, I have had some trouble with writing here lately. I've come up with some excuses though.

1. Not enough time...although I have spent many hours reading others' blogs and occasionally commenting.
2. Lack of inspiration...I don't really think that is true either
3. I've been too busy shopping for Christmas presents...if you know me you know that's not true
4. When I was in school, I always wrote my term papers on the night before they were due...and some things just don't change.
5. I'm afraid I might write something offensive because I am still bitter about Randal's behavior on the Apprentice finale.

I am hoping to turn over a new leaf though. Someone gave me Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, which is a guide to writing more effectively. I guess you will know whether it helps much or not as we head into the new year.

Merry Christmas!

How to Handle the Critics

With all of the talk of the "controversy" of churches not having services on Christmas Day, I have found a great post over at Monday Morning Insight about handling critics. For the most part I think this is an excellent guide.

Let's stop fighting and continue on with the mission that God has given us!