Happy Thanksgiving

Man I love Thanksgiving, all that food and football!!! I hope everyone has an awesome Thanksgiving. Let me also say a big thanks to all our volunteers at C3. You guys truly make C3, C3!!! Have a great weekend and I'll see ya on Sunday - You're not gona want to miss it.

Sunday

On a little more of an upbeat note from yesterday’s blog, what an awesome day we had on Sunday!!! I started the day with Discovering C3. I love these classes, I get to meet so many people who are jacked about what God is doing here at C3 and just want to be a part of it. Then we had the 2nd part of our Great Adventures. This is a class for children who have prayed to receive Christ and want to be baptized. I’m so proud of these kids, they have done a great job learning more about what it means to be a Christ follower and what it means to be baptized. We now have 6 kids scheduled to be baptized on Sunday Dec. 2nd. Then to top all of it off, Pastor Byron started a brand new series called “Barbaric Grace.” This is going to be an awesome series as we take a deeper look at why we do what we do here at C3. I’ve heard some great comments about the message and this past Sunday was just the beginning. There are going to be so many awesome stories and truths to this series and some serious surprises, you won’t want to miss a single Sunday.

Get Real

Ya know I’ve had this stewing in me for a little bit and I really just wanted to get it out. I was thinking about my last blog and the brilliant dude that met me at MGM. The scary part is that I’m not the only one this has happened to. I’ve had 3 good friends tell me about similar experiences that happened to them. Where they were just going about their daily routines (one was at work) when they basically had someone either snub them or vomit their negativity on them, just because they attend C3. What gets me the most is that some of these people who have said things to my friends have been Pastors (or their wives) from different churches here in town. This just boggles my mind. I mean really, what’s the problem dudes? I heard one pastor say; “well that’s just not the way church should be done.” Really, what is it that you don’t like? Do you not like people coming to Christ? – Because that’s happening here. Do you not like those who had completely given up on God and church coming and checking out church again? – Because that’s happening here. Do you not like people who were wrapped up in drugs, alcohol and just the crap of life getting freed from that bondage? – Because that’s happening here. Do you not like that kids and students are actually excited to go to church? – Because that’s happening here. Let’s get real here guys, if God is working and moving then maybe C3 is not what’s wrong here. Instead maybe you should read Luke 11:39-43 and take a good look at you.

Time To Let It Go

Some people can never let go. Today my family decided to go to MGM studios. While we were still in the parking lot a guy, who looks familiar, walks up to our car to tell me that he doesn’t like how I parked (I guess he has something against parking straight between the white lines) and says, “Aren’t you from Parkway?” After all the crap that we have walked through during our transition as a church I’m never sure how conversations that start that way are going to go. Anyway, I said, “Yes, I’m from C3.” Well, evidently this dude had some pent up anger toward our church and from the school closing. Somehow we get out of the parking lot without too much of an incident. But then this dude, with his kids in tow, maneuvers his way through the crowd to get to me again after we got off the tram. He just had to start pestering me again. He starts telling me how much he gave to the church and to the school; right there I knew this was going to get ugly. To make a long (really long) story short, I ended up telling the guy to take a hike (maybe not that nicely) and to just leave us alone. Ya know, God is awesome and I love what He is doing here at C3. But I know the reality is that there are a lot of people who can’t stand when God works in different or unique ways. I also know that there are a ton of people out there who absolutely hate that we transitioned our church. But seriously, I think it’s time to put on your big boy pants and get over it!!! The church has transitioned, we ain’t goin’ back, and surprise, surprise, surprise the lost are being found. Instead of being mad about how you just didn’t get your way, how about just thanking God that He’s moving and working. Seriously, I don’t like ties and organ music and all that stuff, but I don’t go around picking fights with people, especially when their trying to have a family day at a theme park. Dude, I think it’s time to let it go. Of course who I really feel bad for is the Disney workers, they had to put up with this guy all day.

Make'n C3, C3

Dude, I’m so jacked about what God’s doing here at C3!!! With all the stuff that’s been happening this past month I’ve been in a lot of different church’s and I got to say; man, I love what we do here! I love thinking how a couple years ago God began to put this vision of C3 into the hearts of our management team and there has been no turning back ever since. The guys I serve with are awesome. Each one brings amazing skills and talents to the table, but what gets me pumped is that in each one there is a relentless desire to do whatever it takes to see the unchurched connected with Christ. What I also love is these guys are so real. I’ve seen so many pastors who put on a suit Sunday after Sunday and put on this religious front. There’s no pretending or puffed up egos here, we all know we’re not perfect but we take what God has given us and we do our absolute best with it. I think Josh, our newest addition to the team, put it best when he said; “I’ve never been a part of a church where I could just be myself.” It’s hard to explain but there is a freedom in being able to be yourself here at church and it’s one of the things that makes C3, C3.

Back to Posting

Man, it’s been about 2 and half weeks since I last got on here. It has been a crazy couple of weeks. Literally hours after my last blog we got a call that Sandi’s dad had taken another turn for the worse. We flew Sandi up to PA the very next morning and the boys and I started an 18 hour drive up. You could see God’s hand all over that trip. Sandi was able to get to her dad while he was still coherent and spend some time talking with him. And, even though I was alone in a car with the boys for 18 hours we had a great time ridding up together and we made it to PA just in time for the boys to see their grandpa one last time. It was a long hard week following Sandi’s dad’s death, but her family really pulled together and helped each other through. However, just a few days after we got back to Orlando, tragedy struck again. Sandi’s closest friend lost her mom to a very short battle with cancer last Monday. She was diagnosed just 3 weeks prior to her passing and even though she was in the hospital she seemed to be doing better. In fact they were getting ready to send her home when all of a sudden her body just gave out. It’s amazing how fragile life can be. But, it is a lesson I keep thinking about over and over again. How we need to never let the day “get away from us.” In life there are so many important things to do, but we can not neglect the most important things; our relationships. God has created us for relationships. Relationships with Him, our family our friends, just remember as you go through your day to guard and treasure the time you have with the ones you love. Let me also say thank you to all those who called, sent cards and prayed for us over these last couple of weeks. Your love means a lot!

Stuff

Man it’s been a long time since I’ve been in the blog world, but there has just been a ton of stuff going on. Some stuff has been really good, like Power House. Over the last couple of weeks Don and his crew have been transforming Power House into the deep dark jungles for our new 8 week series on “Treasure Quest.” If you have kids that are elementary age they will not want to miss the next 8 weeks!!! Then Crave for our middle and high school students has been running at full steam. Our students have really gotten into investing and inviting. Over the last several weeks we have had a ton of guests come check Crave out simply because their friends invited them. Great job dudes!!! Then this coming weekend Crave is heading to Boardwalk Bowl for a little fun and of course to discover the awesome sport of “Cravebowl.” Parents, students will need to be dropped off at Boardwalk Bowl at 5:30pm and then plan on picking them up by 8pm.
Other stuff this week, however, has not been so good. Over the weekend Sandi’s dad took a turn for the worse. Her dad has pulmonary fibrosis from a job where he use to work with chemicals. Basically, what that means is that he is losing the function of his lungs and his body is unable to get enough oxygen. Over the weekend it got extremely hard for him to breath and he was hospitalized. As of right now the doctors are unsure of what is going to happen; if his lungs will begin to function enough to go home or if they will just stop functioning all together. If you think about it, please pray for him and Sandi this week.