The Banquet - Luke 14:15-24

This past Sunday I had the great honor of preaching at TrueNorth Church. This entire summer we have had one series: Short Stories. We have basically been teaching Jesus' parables. These have been great sermons and Steve has hit a home run with everyone. So Walter had big shoes to fill. How did I do? Not going to say you can see for yourself at www.truenorthchurch (and catch up on all the TNC sermons).

I will say I personally felt good about the sermon. I pray the main point that we have all been invited to the banquet table of God and that it is by His grace we sit there came across. This week - The Lost Sheep. I have never had to bat two innings in a row! Usually I am a pinch hitter once and out - hopefully I didn't set the bar too high!

Busy Couple of weeks

Here is what is going on with Betsy and I:

Last week:
Big Stuf Camp
Preached Sunday (The Banquet - www.truenorthchurch.com)
studying for Bar Exam

This week:
Betsy takes Bar Exam (praise Jesus!) - in Atlanta Tuesday and Wednesday.
Moving Friday
Preaching Sunday (The Lost Sheep - come and see it live! The second show is completely different than the first...Don't forget to tip your waiter or waitress)
Family dinner Sunday (guest in NA)
Sunday afternoon head to Chuck Town (Charleston) for 1 year anniversary!

Post Big Stuf Blog!

Yeah! We made it back from Big Stuf. What an amazing experience for our students. For many of them this was their first experience with a "youth camp". They loved it. The beach was awesome. The speakers rocked the house. And the worship bands were unbeliveable. Plus God was all over the place. It is cool to see students just through a couple days of focus in their lives get a few steps closer to God. To know that Christ is showing up a little more in their everyday lives is truely a blessing. And for me that is what it is all about.... to see those kids growing, building a solid foundations. Some are farther along than others, but it is still neat (who says neat) to watch it build block by block.

Big Stuf Bound

Saturday at 7am we ship out for our second trip of the summer. This adventure takes us down to Panama City, FL to Big Stuf Camp. This will be my first trip to Big Stuf, but from everything I have heard in the past -this will rock your socks off. And the peeps who have already been this year said this years is the best YET!

Needless to say, our 24 students and I are pumped about spending time at the beach together and worshipping our God in an amazing atomsphere. They may have wireless - if so I will try and post to let everyone know how we are doing. If there is no internet....until next week! Pray that our students will meet with God and hear his voice.

Cultural Relevant

Ian Wilson has a great article on being "Culturally Relevant." Here is a clip from it:

"Knowing pop-culture is not relevant.
Wearing "random t-shirts" is not relevant.
Smoking cigs and throwing back brewskies is not relevant.
Swearing now and then is not relevant.
Even listening to U2 is not relevant."

We at TrueNorth consider our church to be one that tries to be Culturally Relevant. But I agree with Ian in that being Culturally Relevant isn't about a look or music we listen to but a way that you look at your life. The Church for the past several decades has created a Christian sub culture to protect ourselves from the evil "secular" world. This isn't what we see Christ do, he criticizes the church of His day for separation of those who were lost. To me being Culturally Relevant is about looking at the culture we live in and sharing Christ's love, not creating a holy huddle.
Way to go Ian...that seminary degree looks to be making you a regular Christian theologian. But I do wear "random t-shirts".

New Words for Websters

1. Bling-bling: n - flashy jewelry worn especially as an indication of wealth;
2. Unibrow: n - a single continuous brow resulting from the growing together of eyebrows
3. Himbo: n - an attractive but vacuous man (Betsy had never heard of this word)
And the most interesting word added in my option:
4. Google: v - to use the Google search engine to obtain information about (as a person) on the World Wide Web.

Five years ago who would of said that the world google would be a verb in Websters Dictonary. Betsy says I make up words all the time....maybe I should start writing them down and send em' to Webster.

Nooma Videos

If you haven't heard of NOOMA, you are probably in the majority of the world. NOOMA is a company that has been set up to produce short films (10-12 minutes) that deal with God issues. I first found out about NOOMA two years ago and fell in love with all their videos since -13. The main communicator is Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill in Grand Rapid Michigan - I thought he was the only communicator, but I heard that other communicators are soon to join Rob at Nooma.

What does Nooma mean?
The name NOOMA is an English phonetic spelling of the Greek word pneuma, which is commonly translated to “spirit” or “breath”. Pneumatology refers to the study of spiritual beings, particularly the interactions between humans and God.

Where do I find Nooma Videos?
Nooma videos can be order and watch (small clips) at www.nooma.com and they have been picked up by Zondervan and can be found at Family Christian Bookstores.

Why am I writing about Nooma?
Well - before this week my favorite noomas were "Sunday" and "Bullhorn". But my new favorite is number13- "Rich." Not so much in scenery and camera work (which is awesome in all of the brilliant short films) but the content. AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME! I have watched it twice in three days. This issue has been on my heart for several months - GIVING (not so much money, but our lives...time, sweat, energy etc)
The conversation (Rob Bell and you) starts with a bummer sticker Rob saw "God Bless America" and Rob tells how God has already blessed America -

• The USA makes up 6% of the World's Population and uses 40% of its resources
• Only 8% of the world's population have cars
• Over 1 billion people don't have clean drinking water
• 800 million people will not eat today & 300 Million are kids
• Around a billion people in the world live on a dollar a day (if we get a dr pepper for a dollar we are lucky!)
• Experts say to give EVERYONE in the world basics of life (clean water, food, shelter and even electricity) would cost $20 Billion....that is how much Americans spend on ice cream in ONE YEAR!

How rich are we? We take clean water for granted. We take our cars for granted. We take our food for granted. We are SO RICH! Everything we have is a gift. Lets start sharing the gift. May we as children of God help take care of those who need lifted up. Not so that we feel good about our selves, but because God has called us to. Commanded us to.

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with EVERYTHING for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." 1 Timothy 6:17-19 NIV

"Moving on Up to the Eastside."

Betsy and I have started packing up our current rental home in Thomson, GA to make the move to another rental home in North Augusta, SC (this is to get us closer to the TrueNorth). In doing so - I came across this old pic of my old roomie when it snowed in South Carolina!

Loved the pic - so I posted it for all the world to see! I am sure in the next week or so you will see all sorts of random things we find packing.

Post Go Camp Post

This past week we took 24 students to Columbia, SC for our first mission trip. The camp was called "Go Camp". The idea for the camp came from Dustin Willis, Chris Barrieau and myself less than a year ago. Dustin is the pastor of Midtown Fellowship in Columbia - who sponsored the camp. Midtown set up all the sites the students worked at during the week. Dustin and the Midtown Crew did an amazing job of setting up this camp up. The Chris Brown Band lead in worship and ROCKED the house!

You see this wasn't a trip where you go work in the day and chill in the evening. Our students (and others from three other churches: trinity United Methodist, Hampton Height Baptist, and First Baptist Gray - 60 in all) worked in the morning and afternoon. Came back and had free time - then amazing worship and teaching and tons of fun during the nights!

This was a great trip for our students at TrueNorth Church. Many had no idea what to expect, and came anyway. I truly believe our students have started understanding it is not just about them. Dustin did a great job during our teaching time to explain sacrifice, service, and obedience. Our students lives were changed. They are ready to go into our community and put into practice what they have learned. Now it is my job to continue that passion and excitement for mission and service in North Augusta/Augusta. It is awesome to see the lights come on with students understanding: less of me and more of You.

Visit the Go Camp MySpace at www.myspace.com/gocamp

The Phad (that's pad with a ph)

Sorry ladies these STUDS are taken! Martha Ann, Betsy and Sally are three of the luckiest ladies in THE WORLD to have such manly men! These are two of my college roomies - Casey Callahan and Ian Wilson. Both are in seminary - I was the only one graduated from Clemson and escaped from the classroom! "Strength and Honor!"

David Crowder Band

MSN music has David Crowder listed as a nominee for artist of the month! They are running against: Nelly Furtado, Frankie J, Busta Rhymes, and Neil Young. You can vote by clicking on the link below.
http://music.msn.com/music/artistofthemonth

I believe this says how far Christian Music has come! That the leading Christian Band who writes a huge amounts of songs sung in today church, be considered "talented musicains" in the world's culture. Nelly Furtado, who has a new single out, is getting beat by some crazy looking Christian group from Wacco. Jesus ROCKS!

Element Student Ministry

This good looking group is our high schoolers after playing kickball and dodgeball last Wednesday.
This week is Ulitmate Fribee! In the words of Toby, "My skillz aren't as good as they once was, but I'm good once - as I ever was."

Grillz

Inspired by Nelly's song "Grillz", Betsy got herself a nice grill for her top row! Bets has more Grillz than George Forman.

(Old picture found from Ski Retreat this past year!)

Is Jack Bauer a Type of Christ?

Post from Mark Driscoll (Pastor of Mars Hill in Seattle)
"With the fifth and arguably best season of the hit television show 24 now concluded, Jack Bauer can take a much needed shower, get something to eat, and power up his cell phone battery which magically lasts forever. At the risk of sounding blasphemous, I would like to offer the suggestion that perhaps 24 is incredibly popular because Jack Bauer is a lot like Jesus, as the following correlations indicate:

• Jack and Jesus are both dudes who worked in construction.
• Jack and Jesus have disciples and Jack’s disciples have names like Chloe, Michelle, Bill, and Tony.
• Jack and Jesus do not lie and can be trusted to accomplish whatever they promise.
• Jack and Jesus both oppose evil and seek to bring forth a glorious shalom world, free of tyranny and evildoers.
• Jack and Jesus were both betrayed by a close friend who ended up dying as a result of his sin.
• Jack and Jesus are both saviors willing to lay down their life for those they love.
• Jack and Jesus were both resurrected from death; Jack was essentially put to death to fool the Chinese government and then resuscitated. "

This year Betsy joined me on the bandwagon of "24". I was hooked after watching Season 4 last year, and now Betsy and I are offically Jack supporters. With Season 5 over, we have been going through withdrawal of our "Jack Bauer Power Hour." So we did what anyone would do...joined Netflixs and now have finished half of Season 1. AWESOME STUFF.

Thoughts on D Day: June 6, 1944

Today, 6.06.06 , is not the end of the world as some would have you to believe. It is the anniversary of one of the most important days in WW II - D day. In honor of that, I and a select few spread out across SC watch "Saving Private Ryan" every year. The WW II vets who saw "Ryan" said that it couldn't have been more accurate unless you had a camera on Omaha Beach.

We often forget that freedom comes with a price. Freedom as a nation and freedom from sin.

Paul reminds us, "For you were bought at a price..." 1 Cor 6:20a
The price Paul talks of was death on a cross, and the freedom from sin was our reward. May we always honor Sacrifice for freedom is never free.

New NBA and Barry Bonds 715*

This years playoffs are the most NBA basketball I have watched since the Jordan Era. I will have to say that I do believe the NBA is on the move back up after spending the late 90s and early 00s at its ultimate lows. The "Thug" years are offically over and the Nash-a-nator winning two MVP shows the times they are a changing. With Allen Iverson and "Star"berry on their final years, the new blood of the NBA has a ton of potential.

It is King James league and the rest are just playing in it! LeBron is sticking amazing and actual has a good head on his shoulders for a 20 year old with millions in the bank. D-Wade is another awesome young gun who is shining in the playoffs - 69% from the field are you kidding me. And young Dwight Howard in Orland (#1 2004) is an awesome Christian.

Here is to the new blood of the NBA - keep it up young ones, keep it up!

Barry Bonds
My boy Ian Wilson is a much better writer than I so I will just send you to his link on his thoughts on Barry Bonds and his 715th homerun. I support what Ian says: "Barry Bonds is a cheater!" Click here to read Ian's Blog.

Men's Weekend

In the beginning of May I took part in a reunion of Clemson/Blue Ridge. It was a mixture of guys who either went to Blue Ridge, went to Clemson and Blue Ridge, or just Clemson. I fell into the "just Clemson" category. A majority of us all knew one another from previous events or just hanging out together. All in all we had 12 guys in our weekend.

We stayed in an awesome cabin outside of Boone, NC. Shout Out to Casey "Kat Phat" Callahan for finding with sweet cabin and setting the weekend up. It was full of old stories, lots of red meat, hikes in the woods, old stories, poker, ESPN, lots of laughter, and few more stories.

The scary thing is that we are grown ups! There were ministers, seminary students, engineers, salesmen, doctors, and all sorts of real job having people there. But when placed in a room together it is official we all become little boys. All the sounds, smells, jokes, and behavior of elementary boys made up the majority of the weekend. Except when the OLD MEN wouldn't play ultimate Frisbee!

until next year in the wise words of Waynes World- "Party on Wayne, Party on Garth."

Post Beach Report

Betsy and I decided to come back!
It was tempting to just stay down at Fripp Island. We looked at purchasing one of those small houses down there and just live, but then we woke up and realized our $1.5 million didn't exist!

It was a good vacation. Very relaxing and energizing. Both of us got very toasty. Betsy learned that just because she has become a Tanner doesn't mean her skin will become "tanner". HA! I kill me - yes these are the jokes Betsy lives with.

Lots of time on the beach, lots of time "attempting to fish", and of course lots of seafood! It is good to be back. Stay tuned for Pics.

Graduation and Beach

Well, I finally graduated from Law School this morning (Saturday, May 20). The ceremony was a bit long and the gowns were hot, but the point is that I am completely finished with school. It is hard to believe that I know have a law degree. I pray I will use it wisely. To celebrate, we (Walt, me, my mom and dad, and my nephews--Blaine and Cade) are headed to Fripp Island for a week at the beach!!! Woo Hoo!!! See ya in a week when we will come back nice and tan (or red).

Da Vinci Code Review"

Betsy and I went to see Da Vinci at the 3.15pm showing on Friday afternoon to beat the crowd. We both had listened to the book on CD (since we drive long distances) about 6 months ago, so we knew the story. After reading the book and hearing that they were coming out with a movie I was 100% saying this would be a great movie.

I WAS WRONG!

It was a good movie, maybe even a shade on the better than average. But it definitely goes under the category of the book was better than the movie - MOST BOOKS ARE! The movie was choppy and did not tell the story in a comprehendable way. We followed because we knew the story and maybe my judgement was tainted because I knew the story, but I felt like it fell short of my expectations (which were set very high).