Last Steps

This is part four of the Steps Series.
We entered year four with a new name, a new place to meet, and a “pocket full of dreams.”

Many things seemed to fall into place at once. Onsite storage at the Rec Center, great relationship with the city, a new family who came on [...]

What Kind of Music Does God Like?

[This post is part of the Worship Series.]
Worship isn’t music. But often, discussions about worship get most heated when talking about music. So let’s go there first.
Sometimes churches make statements along the lines of, “It doesn’t matter what people like or dislike when it comes to worship music, the real question should be,‘What [...]

Worship Series

I have avoided blogging about the topic of worship for a long time because for some reason, it causes some people to have conniptions. That, and I am also usually surprised to hear that Christ followers are even still yapping about this.
It’s certainly an important subject, but generally speaking, most Christians should probably [...]

Journal Journey

Allow me to share something with you from my journal.

First, some words from Scripture (NASB):
Psalm 62:1
“My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation.”
Psalm 62:5
“My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him.”
Psalm 62:7
“On God my salvation and my glory rest; the Rock of [...]

Surgery

Many of you know that my lovely wife, Leona has had trouble with her neck for several years. Well, she’s now scheduled for surgery on February 19th, 2007.
She’ll have an overnight stay at the hospital, but there will be 2 weeks of recovery followed by several more weeks of healing time. She’s [...]

Night At the Door

Last Saturday night, I took my oldest son, Matthew, to hear the band “Disciple” at “The Door” in Dallas. It was something he really wanted to do for his 17th birthday.
[Whoa. Gotta pause and let that "17th" part sink in for a minute....Ok, I'm fine, now.]
Matthew (Matt to friends at school) brought along [...]

Broad Steps

This is part 3 in the “Steps” series.
Here’s a “big picture” time line of the life of Compass Church, in terms of movement and major turning points.
Year One - Started with 6 adults, added four more and “launched” public services in a meeting place that was hard to find in an area that was [...]

First Steps (Part Two)

This post is the second in the “Steps” series.
When we first arrived in the Alliance, Texas area, it was a place full of promise. There were new neighborhoods being built everywhere, and just a glance at a master plan for the area made it clear that this was the place to be. [...]

First Steps

* This is the beginning of a series in which I’ll be “unpacking” my experience thus far as a church planting pastor and how we arrived where we are. It won’t be a voluminous anthology or anything, but by necessity the posts will be a little long. “Popcorn” posts on unrelated stuff will be scattered [...]

Fresh Coffee; Fresh Starts

It was time for a change.
Other aspects of my life and ministry are currently in transition, so it was only natural for me to change my blog as well.  WordPress seemed to be the best move for me to make, so here I am.
I thought about just moving the old blog here in [...]