It's Not Supposed to be Easy.

It's a crazy time in my life. I'm learning how to deal with two kids (I'm told the jump to two is harder than the jump to one and I believe it), keep my marriage strong and work through all of the stuff (good and bad) at church.

On top of that you may have noticed (if any of you still read this) that it's been almost two months since my last post.

I'm not going to lie to you... the things that have been the hardest to deal with all come from what's happening at church.

Before you get mad hold on, because that's exactly what I have had to do. It is really, really easy for me to get mad and just throw up my hands and write people off.

It's easy to just dismiss negative and hurtful comments without looking at why they have been said. It's easy to hold up the positive comments and declare "we're doing a great job!"

What's not so easy is realizing that it's not supposed to be easy.

Like Karl talked about forgiveness last week, sometimes it's hard. Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes Christian life is hard. And I think it's what God has been trying to say to me through all of this.

Michael Lukaszewski, pastor of Oak Leaf Church in Georgia said this on twitter tonight...

"Christians need to stop acting like God just wants their lives to be easier."

That's hard to hear because in my heart I know it's true. A life that follows Jesus isn't going to be easy. I have to spend every waking moment fighting against my flesh and strive to listen to the Spirit. I have to hear the hard things from my Christian brothers and sisters, even if I don't like it or think it's true. I have to accept that I might not be right in every situation. I have to understand that while my feelings are real they might not be based on truth.

And so do you.

We all do.

Every day.

But don't take my word for it. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

The old life dies. Death is not a comfortable thing. We deal with pain when people in our lives die. It's stupid of us to think there won't be some pain when our old life dies.

There is this also... Proverbs 27:17 "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."

For one piece of iron to sharpen another they have to be rubbed across each other. Each scraping off pieces of the other as they develop an edge. That is not comfortable.

I cannot help someone walk closer to Jesus without getting my edges scraped too. It's stupid to think I can make you more like Jesus without being uncomfortable.

All this is to say that it's not going to be easy, and we are fooling ourselves if we think that it will be or that it's only someone else's problem and I'm good the way I am.

I need you push me, and you need me to push you.

At times it will hurt, and we will need to forgive each other.

We may not even like each other from time to time.

But we cannot give up on each other because it's hard.

I'm choosing not to give up on you, please don't give up on me.

Live Blogging the Pastors Retreat Session 3

Live Blogging the Pastors Retreat Session 2

Live Blogging the Pastors Retreat

Anticipation!

So I am up at the annual Pastors Retreat that our region hosts. It's always a good time.

I like being able to reconnect with some of my pastor friends from around the northwest.

So look forward to notes from the speakers and other good stuff over the next few days!

Isaac is Here!

Little boy, Isaac Matthew, was born today at 10:48 a.m. 19 1/2 inches long and 7 lbs 8oz.

We will be in the hospital overnight but will be home tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for us!

Here is Isaac...

What Shoes are You Wearing?

I like shoes. I have major foot problems.

Now that you know those two things about me I'm sure your wondering where this is going.

There is a lot that is happening in my life right now. A death in the family, my wife about to give birth, my son turns two, I have to decide whether or not to fly to Oregon on short notice. Add to that all of the things that are happening at church this week and it makes for a lot.

To top it off, because of my flat feet I am starting to do ligament and nerve damage in my left foot. That equals pain and numbness almost nonstop.

Sounds like I'm complaining huh? Maybe I am am but I'm really trying to set you up.

Part of my therapy for my foot has to do with my shoes. I had just recently bought an awesome pair of grey canvas Chuck Taylor's. They were cool. They looked great with jeans, slacks, shorts, you name it. When I went to the doctor he told me I needed different shoes.

Ugg... I just bought these! They're cool... you need new ones.

So I went shopping after a few days. See I thought I could hang onto them and I would be ok. The more I wore them the worse the pain got.

I bought new shoes. I followed the doctors' directions and got a pair of running shoes. They're Pumas (so that makes me a real worship leader now!). But they fit all the requirements and they make my feet feel better.

They aren't as cool and I can't wear them with a suit.

Then this happened.

What shoes are you wearing? from Aaron Floyd on Vimeo.

Now Micah can run and crawl, and he loves to jump. But he can barely walk when he is wearing his daddy's shoes.

And then it hit me... I've been trying to wear God's shoes.

I have all of these things going on and I've been trying to be in control. God gave me the ability to run and jump and I am barely walking because I have shoes on that aren't mine.

I have had to take them off. It's been hard. But I've felt free again the last few days. I know that I have a lot going on but i don't need to control it. God has it, and his shoes are bigger than mine.

So who's shoes are you wearing? Are they yours? Are they God's?

If you find yourself barely making it, I would suggest you look at your shoes.

Will you be there?

Sunday night is going to be really important. You should want to come...

To what you ask?

I'm glad you asked...

VISION NIGHT 2009

6 p.m. in the Worship Center

We will go over the great things God has done in the last year as well as what he wants to do in the coming one.

It's going to be good.

Be there!

Just do it!

Link for the Wedding!

OK. We are going to be live from Victoria tomorrow, Saturday August 8 at or around 2:45 p.m. (PST).

For those of you who couldn't make it to the wedding but still want to see it.

Click HERE.

It's going to be a hoot!

I will also attempt to embed the video stream here if you would prefer that!

Wedding from Canada

Hey,

Some of you may know that part of my vacation will be in Victoria Canada where our Student Ministries Director Chris is getting married on Aug. 8.

I know there we a bunch of you who wanted to go but couldn't so we are going to do our best to broadcast the wedding here online.

Once we have the details finalized I will post the link here so you can watch.

Stay tuned for more and block out some time starting about 3:45 p.m. Mountain time on Saturday August 8!

Time for Vacation

I am relieved that it is finally time for a vacation. It's been a while since I was able to get away and I get to do this with my wife and little boy for two weeks!

I won't be at FBC, but I will be in church.

I won't be in Pocatello, but I will stay connected.

I won't be working, but I will get things done.

I am really looking forward to the whole thing, except for the 10 hour drive there and back.

Oh Well. It's worth it. So updates will happen but not often. Until then, I won't see you until August!

Things your brain forgets when you don't sleep

Micah has chicken pox. What that means is he is really unhappy and daddy doesn't get to sleep. As a result there was one really important thing that I forgot to mention yesterday!

Vision Night

Sunday, August 16

6 p.m. in the Worship Center

You need to be here for this. We are finalizing the new years' budget and will have that for you to vote on, we will also have updates from the elder team about the new governance and several other important things. There will be some time for your questions too!

It really is important that you be here for this. We need you to help us and to communicate with us so that we all call accomplish what it is that God has out there for us to do!

I'm going to be there. Are you?

Teach Me Lord, Teach Me Lord, To Wait

It's the middle of summer. I know it hasn't been very hot yet, but it's the middle. School starts in a little more than a month (I know, I know), and I haven't had a vacation yet, (can it be summer without a vacation?). It's not even the dog days of summer. And I still feel like I'm just tired out.

Maybe it's because I played/worked so hard at the beginning of summer, I don't know.

Does anyone else feel that way?

It's in these moments that I think it's really important to remember God. We look to God when things are bad, we always get reminded not to forget God when things are good, but how often do we remember God when things just are?

Read Isaiah 40.

Did you read it?

Be honest now.

What an amazing picture of who God is. I don't know how you could read that and not feel a sense of awe and wonder. But here's the thing that gets me.

At the end, after this majestic portrait that's laid out this is what Isaiah says...

"He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall feel exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:29-31 (ESV)

What we need is for God to teach us to wait. Maybe that's where you are, I think that's where I am. I am learning to wait. And when the time is right I will be able to run and soar and the glory will go to God in that moment because it will come out of my exhaustion and weariness.

If that's you, let's wait together. Don't quit. Even though you're out of energy. Don't give up.

Ask God to teach you to wait. And then do it.

At some point His strength will come, and then watch out!

(Bonus points if you know the song the title comes from!)

4th of July Parade

Wow. Parade done. It's always a physically draining morning for me. We meet at the church at 6 a.m. to start setting up, hang out until the parade starts, play like crazy for 45 min, break a little, play 15 more minutes and then back to the church to tear down and in this case set back up for weekend services tomorrow!

I get tired after all of that. But you who aren't on the truck have the bigger job.

My job is highly visible, lots of people see me. But at this event you guys, who are in the park and on the street, make the biggest impact.

I can't talk to people. I don't get the chance to shake a hand, give a popsicle, or share a hot dog.

But you do. You're the front lines of the ministry.

And I want to thank you for it!

Thanks!

I also want to hear your stories. I get a few pieces here and there, but I know that there are a bunch more out there. So share! Post here in the comments, send me an email (aaron@fbcpoky.com) catch me on twitter (@floyaaro) grab me in the hall. Whatever.

But make sure you share your stories somehow.

I look forward to hearing them and seeing you tomorrow!

Ouch!

Saw this on twitter and wanted to share...

Once the Bible is less than God's Word Jesus becomes less than God & sinners become less than sinful. The Bible is highest authority. - Mark Driscoll

What do you think?

3 Questions, 3 Suggestions

Okay, so I know I'm not old. But I feel older than I used too. It's taken a day and a half to get over this trip and I still don't feel 100%. However, I wanted to give you a few more things before my official DCLA blog tour is done.

Three Questions:

As you talk to your kids (you do talk don't you?) here are some questions to ask. These questions we're asked of us each time we got together in the big room.

1) What? - What did God teach you? What stuck out the most?

2) So What? - What does that mean to you?

3) Now What? - What are you going to do about it?

These are good questions and should help you get a better understanding of the work that God is doing in the life of your kid!

Three Suggestions:

I am not smart enough to come up with all of this on my own so I wanted to share with you what Mark wrote on his blog about students coming back:

When your camper gets home, I suggest you do three things:

1. Let them sleep. Let them sleep a lot.
Fatigue is an enemy and they'll be at their best when they have had some rest.

2. Don't tap the brake.
Fight any temptation you may have to "temper" their enthusiasm for Christ. Even if they make bold and unusual statements like, "I'm going to win all my friends to Christ," or "I'm going to start carrying my Bible to school with me." Even then, don't yield to your temptation to suggest they calm down, slow down or lower their expectations. Let them dream. Let them step-up to a new level of devotion and commitment. Let them feel your support - even when they're attempting something that can only happen if Almighty God steps in and makes it so. (Because Almighty God just might!)

3. Say, "That's great," or "That's awesome," a lot.
When they tell you a story about camp, say, "Tell me more about that." When they talk about the steps they took toward Christ, say, "That's wonderful. I'm proud of you." Your encouragement means more to them than mine. Your encouragement means more to them than the encouragement of their camp counselors. Encourage them - and watch them grow!

That's good stuff there! Anyway keep on the lookout for more rewind info as we get it put together and if you get a chance ask someone who was on the trip those questions!

Pivotal Days

Every conference I've ever been to has what I like to call a "pivotal day."

It's a day when everything changes.

It's a day when people finally let go of their hang ups and worries and dive into what God has fro them at the event.

It's a day when all of the work that has been poured into them starts to bear fruit.

Here in Los Angeles, with your kids, I believe TODAY is that DAY!

We've had a day and a half of great classes and worship experiences. We've had a great week of bonding and laughing and disagreeing and just being together in a group. The ground work has been put down. And I believe that today will be the day when the work that God has been doing will begin to blossom.

What can you do?

Pray...

Seriously...

We need you to be praying for your kids.

Because as part of our church family even if their not YOUR kids their your kids.

God is doing some amazing things. We are seeing leaders being raised up, relationships healed, lives opening, maturity happening, and a bunch more.

Prayer is the key to unlocking it's full potential. We are going to be rolling back with a bunch of students who are going to be ready to live as integrated followers of Christ. We need to lift them up in prayer.

We've already had major attacks in getting here and I don't believe that they will stop when we get back. In fact, I would imagine that they will get stronger.

So pray for your kids, pray for kids that aren't yours, pray for the leaders and pray for Chris.

Something big is about to happen and I think it's happening today!

DCLA Update

Well we made it.

It took some phone calls and frustration but we finally got a ride to the Convention Center Yesterday. Our original bus was fixed and got to the hotel shortly after we left.

It seems that everything is smoothing out now that we are here. The opening session was very cool. A great blend of motion graphics, video, teaching, drama and music. It was very creative and engaging and gave me some good ideas to try later.

The students are doing great. They've held up under the stress of not having a bus and the fatigue of late nights and early mornings. Fortunately we don't have to be up early the next two days.

Several of our students were chose to lead groups of other students during portions of the event. Growth is happening.

We are going to do our best to put together a recap for all of you who aren't here with us. Look for it on this site and on Chris's blog.

Brakes or not!

So in case you didn't hear yet we've hit a snag.

We lost the brakes in the bus going down a hill this morning as we were leaving for LA.

No injuries, no damage. Just a jumped curb some ruin vines and a shaken up crew.

Needles to say the plans for today have been changed. We'll miss out on the Dream Center but we should still be able to get to the convention center in time for the start if DCLA.

As the week goes on it becomes more and more obvious to me that we are being fought against. The enemy seems to have a vested interest in keeping these students away from this event. His biggest problem is that he is not in charge. He can throw all kinds of issues at us but we are being watched a guided by the one who is really in charge!

The enemy has nothing that our God can't handle.

What you can do is pray for us and with us. The things that God has in store for each student on this trip is out of this world.

I will keep you updated as I am updated.

Welcome to California

We made it. Long bus ride and cranky people aside we are now in Southern California.

I don't want you to be jealous but we are a bout to roll to In-n-Out for lunch.

Today is a day of refreshing after a fourteen hour bus ride. A chance to rest and play as we get ready for the incredible things that God is going to do in our lives.

I've already read two book and written some new song lyrics, so look out.

If you think about it pray for our teens as they walk into this conference on Thursday. I feel like this is the start of something big in the life of our church, and it's important that we be praying about it so we don't walk into it blindly.

I will keep you updated as we go, and hopefully we'll get some live blogging during the conference.

Check back often...

Prayer Night Recap Part 2

Yesterday I gave you a list of some of the things we can be thankful for. Today I wanted to give you the list of things that we prayed for on Sunday night and that we need to continue to pray for.

• DCLA trip
• Project House
• 4th of July Parade
• Church Finances
• New Ministry Year
• Small Groups @ FBC
• New Families/People who are attending
• Habitat for Humanity
• Adoptions
• Vern and Carol Fraire
• Summer Weddings
• Parents Health
• Family Relationships
• Employment Needs

Our God is bigger than any of these things. We need to make sure that we remember that. It can be easy to let our problems become so big that don't give God the room to work that He wants. So join me in praying for each of these things and lets give God the opportunity blow our minds!

Prayer Night Recap

Ok so I know it's been a few days since the prayer night but I wanted to give you guys a recap in case you weren't there. Here goes....

We started by looking at Philippians 4:4-7

Next we took some time to thank God for the things that he has been doing!

Here's the list...

• 11 baptisms
• 2 new student workers
• Jobs
• Kids being discipled
• Provision for DCLA
• Marriages restored
• New babies
• I Saw the Lord
• Women's Bible study
• Personal witness
• Student Ministries
• Restored health
• Financial protection in our valley
• Rain
• Portneuf Gap Project
• Church Leadership
• Spiritual growth
• Prayers answered
• Stepping into service
• Madatchurch.com
• Regional growth
• Project house
• DCLA

Wow! God has been doing a lot of different things. You should take a second and give up some thanks for each of these things and anything else that isn't on this list.

Tomorrow I'll post the list of things we need to pray for...

Time to get this real!

Are you Brian? Will you be the realtor? Watch this and decide...

BRIAN HEAD WELCH - I AM SECOND from BRIAN HEAD WELCH on Vimeo.

Learning to lead better.

As a leader it can sometimes be difficult to find ways to grow. Lets face it, after so many books my brain just wants to shut down.

Conferences are great. But if you hadn't noticed most of them are not here and not cheap. That's one of the reasons why we have been trying to get more things here. (More on that in a future post)

However, I just got invited to be a part of something both very cool and very challenging. I'm going to be participating in a Creativity/Leadership Coaching Network with Carlos!

I'm really excited for a few reasons...

• I get to hang with some great people
• I know that God will use them to challenge me
• You will get some of the rewards of my growth
• I will be able to learn how to leverage online interactions for community building
• We may be able to transfer some of this to the region

There are a lot of other things I probably don't even know about yet but I'm still excited.

Starting in October I'll be meeting with Carlos and four other creatives from around the country once a month, and with just Carlos once a month.

It should be awesome!

The Green Bottle

This is exciting. I've been a dad now for 19 months and this is the first time I get to post something like this here!

Yesterday my son, Micah, was cranky. Not like the "I'm a little boy and I'm tired" cranky but the "I'm a little boy and I want you to do what I want to do so I will be happy" kind of cranky.

I love my Micah. I want to do things that make him happy but I also know that I need to do things that are good for him. We all know that those two don't always go together.

We were playing downstairs. I needed to go upstairs. Micah wanted to come, but he was holding his blankie, his milk, and a bottle of aloe (because it was green). I asked if he wanted help, he said yes. I took the blankie and the milk but he wouldn't give up the aloe (did I mention it was green?). I went upstairs and he tried to follow. The problem was, though, he couldn't climb the stairs and hang onto the green bottle. I asked if he wanted help he said no. He sat on the bottom step and cried because he couldn't get to where daddy was without letting go of the green bottle (it really is a cool color of green).

After a few minutes of crying I went down and took the bottle out his hands. This did not make him happy.

Then he looked up and saw his blankie and milk. He took off up the stairs and never looked back.

Then God said to me, "Do you want help?"

"You need to give me your green bottle (which is a cool color)."

So I am letting go of the things I'm holding onto that prevent me from getting to where "daddy"is.

It sucks in the moment. But as soon as I look up and see my blankie and milk I know I will forget about my green bottle.

Do you need to let go of your green bottle?

I'm just askin'

I want to pray for you.

Do you have space?

It sounds like a simple question, but the answer is very important.

This post by Brad started a line of thought in my head about it. (If you're tempted to not read Brads post stop right here. Don't go on until you've read it!) Where is the space in my life? How is that affecting everything I do and everyone I interact with?

It's that space that says, "I need drums and guitars to worship."

It's that space that says, "I can only worship in quiet and solitude."

It's that space that says, "I don't like it when you challenge me."

It's that space that says, "If it doesn't look/sound/feel like I think it should it's not really worship."

It's that space that says, "I can read a few blog posts and watch a few videos and know another persons heart."

It's that space that keeps us from being honest with other people.

And most importantly, it's that space that keeps us from being honest with God. Even though he knows exactly how we feel and what we're thinking the space makes us think we can get away with it. The Bible (Jeremiah 17:9-10) is clear that it's difficult for us to have a clue about or own motives and desires.

I know I have that space. I know that I am disobedient. I know that my life doesn't look like it would if God REALLY owned all of it.

I want that to change. Do You?

Change isn't going comfortable or easy though. As I get closer to who God wants me to be the things that are in that space are going to get squished out. Disobedience and God cannot occupy the same space, and I want God to win that one!

So you pray for me as I squish the space and let God really own me and I want to pray for you. 

Post in the comments the thing I can pray for you and everyday this week I will pray for that. 

God wants all of us and I want to help you... 

Creativity on a....

And people worry about Twitter and iPhone in church services...

Who am I?

This post from Brad made me stop and think about how I live my life during the week. 

I wonder if it will help you think about your day-to-day experiences also?

Beautiful

This is amazingly beautiful. It makes me wonder how close we get to others without actually connecting.


Parallelostory from impactist on Vimeo.

Something New

Hey all, so I have an idea for something new for us. I know that there are several of us here at FBC who take photos, I also know that there are several who take really good photos! 

I've been trying for a while to come up with a way to access and outlet all of the creative photogs that are running around this place, then Carlos started something at his church in Atlanta and I thought, "Maybe we could try it here."

So here's the scoop. Let's call this the official start of the discussion about the Pocatello Photography Project.

Sketchy details...

• Open to anybody
  
• We would have a different project three or four times a year (relationships, power, moments, etc.)
  
• We would take photos that center around the project theme
  
• Photos would then be submitted and chosen for display and other creative uses
  
• We would build community together by meeting at the beginning of each project
  

It's just the start of the idea. 

What do you think?

I've already been approached by one local artist (who goes to church @ FBC) about using his work in our worship services.

The creative opportunities are nearly endless.

This is something we are going to do... but I want your input as we start.

Let me know what you think and if you want to be involved.

Technologicality or something like it...

When it comes to culturally relevant technology there are no shortage of options. Ipod, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and many more. The big question is how can the church use them to be more effective? Perry Noble said this,"What we allow to distract us can often be the very thing that eventually destroys us!" The funny thing is that he said on Twitter. Which can be distracting...

I've been mulling over ways that I can use these technologies to spread the Gospel of Jesus. I have some ideas but I don;t know if they will work. I recently had a conversation with some pastors about Twitter and how I use it. They had some good questions but the one that kept coming up was basically "why do I care if Perry Noble likes ice cream?" 

See, their idea of how Twitter is used leads them to a particular place of thought. Now I happen to know that Perry does indeed like ice cream, but that's not the main way he uses Twitter. Through his blog, and his twitter, the people in the church he pastors as well as others around the world get a better picture of who Perry is. That's what we've been trying to do with the staff blogs here. We use them as a way to communicate, encourage, and be known to all of you!

I want to see some of these work but only if they make sense...

More of us blogging and connecting to each others online life

Twitter as a communication tool for teams

TokBox as a way to do small groups, and training

Some others that I don;t have figured out yet...

I want them to be used technologically. They need to make sense for us. 

What say you?

Does any of this make you excited to try it?

I'm serious about this.

Let me know

I'm Broken

I'm broken. I know that you don't hear that kind of thing very often from people. It usually comes at the point of recognition of a major problem. Addiction, financial ruin, etc. But here's the deal My major problem is me. I'll admit it, though it's only recently that I would. I am my biggest problem. 

I find myself doing and saying things that I will tell myself i didn't mean, but, when it comes down to it, if I didn't mean it I wouldn't have said it. See, that's the issue. I doesn't matter what I want because what I do shows who I really am. And I can't change that! Sure, I can alter behavior patterns for a little while, but I've never seen lasting change come from myself. 

Maybe you see this too. It could just be me, but I don't think so. The truth is that I can't change me. I just can't. Maybe some of you have been able to, but I can't. That's why I am so utterly and desperately thankful for Jesus. Because of his sacrifice, I can be changed. 

Things I have struggled with don't tempt me anymore. They don't have a foothold in my life. Not because I wanted to stop doing them, because I did, but because my life has been and is being transformed by Jesus. I'm not perfect. Never will be. However, as I let go of trying to affect change in my own life and let Jesus create change in me I see the way I act, think, feel, speak, all of these get better and better. 

If you already know Jesus, do you see that transformation in your life, or not? Take a good look. 

If you don't follow Jesus yet, come check him out. Easter is a great time to do it. 

Sat. 11th @ 5 & 7 p.m. and Sun. 12th @ 9 & 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church, 408 N. Arthur, Pocatello. 

Transformation is possible. Jesus wants to create it in you. 

Sunday's Gonna Rock!

Hey just thought I would drop a note to everyone. In case you were wondering Sunday is going to rock! Jesus has some awesome plans for us and I don't want you to miss them! Bring a friend and come ready to encounter the Savior!

Round Midnight - Creativity on a Monday Afternoon

Great musicians, and one of my favorite tunes...

Worship Workshop is Here

Last week I told about a workshop we had coming. Well it's here! WE are a go!

Carl Albrecht, Leann Albrecht and Ed Kerr will be with us in southern Idaho for a day and a half of worship and teaching. It is going to be awesome! For all of the info go check out the site and register!

Here are some highlights though....

• $45 per person - You can't beat that!
  
• Friday night and Saturday - Use what you learned that weekend!
  
• Beautiful Burley Idaho - My home town!
  
• The King Fine Arts Center - Wait till you see it!
  

Number one though.....

wait for it....

It's the best...

Our KING, REDEEMER and GOD will be there! Worship is going to happen!

I hope to see you there.

Mad At Church?

Are you mad at church? To be honest I get mad at church. I know that this might seem like a trick question because Bill talked about anger and Chris and Karl talked about bitterness. But it's not.

There are people who are mad at church. Not mad at A church (although I would wager there are those too!) but mad at THE church. Let's face it, we haven't always and continue to do things the wrong way. Even Jesus got pretty mad at the church in His day! 

So this is where we are. As you drive around town for the next few weeks you're going to see billboards that say www.madatchurch.com. You should check it out. Seriously! We are really stretching out here because we feel like the things that Jesus talked about are important! 

We've screwed stuff up and it's time that we own our mistakes and set things right. So if you are a part of the FBC family then get ready because we need to do this. If you're just checking this out then I would encourage you to come on out on a weekend and see what we're talking about.

There will be more updates coming and invitations for you to hand out soon! 

The Abacus is here!

Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll. Based on your recommendation I have now received my abacus and am trying to learn how to use it!

Ok, so I didn't really get the abacus, although I did have a few people ask me if it was a new line of computers that they hadn't heard of yet. For those of you who don't know what it is! What I did end up getting though is the MacBook Pro.

After much research I'm convinced that the Mac and Windows machines are exactly the same when it comes to the hardware. The only real difference is in the OS. There is a new version of Windows coming out this year and it looks pretty neat, but I needed something sooner than that.

So I went ahead and got the Mac. I have to admit it does look very cool. But coolness aside, it is just a tool. In fact all of the cool things that I have are only tools that Jesus has given me to help point to people to Him! I have to remember that otherwise I just get to wrapped up in my stuff. I would bet that there are some of you who need to do that today! You need to recognize that your stuff is only yours because Jesus wants you to use it in a way that brings glory to Him.

I'm not saying don't enjoy it. I love playing my hand-built, custom electric bass. But if I only used it for me then I would be wasting it.

The Mac is cool, but I hope that because I am able to have it someone, or many someones, will get to know Jesus, who, by the way, is way cooler than Mac and Steve Jobs any day!!

Workshop in Idaho!

Hey bloggers,

Just wanted to let you guys know about a little somethin' that's coming up. On May 1-2 (Friday night through Saturday) we are hosting a workshop that you are going to want to be a part of. Carl Albrecht, his wife Leann, and Ed Kerr are going to be with us to clinic and lead worship. We don't have all of the details yet but I can tell you this...

• It will be in Southern Idaho - so you don't really have to go far!
  
• It will be less than $50 - if you sign up early!
  
• It will be awesome!
  

Seriously I've seen each of these guys teach and worship and they are amazingly gifted and humble. Please take advantage of this opportunity to learn and grow!

There will be a few more things on the agenda so check back in for updates!

If you want to receive info about the Clinic let me know, drop me an email, aaron@fbcpoky.com, or call me at the office 208-232-6305.

As I have more info I will post it here so check back often!

It's hard to blog when you don't have a computer!

If you can't figure out why it's been so long since my last post you should read the last post. I've been bouncing around from computer to computer and space to space the last few weeks. Good news though, the office space is almost finished. I get my cube back but new and improved! The insurance is going to cover the replacement cost of my laptop and I was able to get most of the data that I needed off of it!

Here is my conundrum though... I haven't really decided what kind of computer I should get so... if you have any recommends let me know...

Hopefully I can get something quickly and then I can get back to regular work. We have some big things coming and it would sure be nice to have a computer to work on them!

Let me know what you think in the comments or take the poll.

Of Drowned Laptops and Overflow

Greetings from vacation. I may be the only person on staff who blogs on vacation but you will just have to deal with that.

So you should check out what Bill had to say about Thursday, but I wanted to focus more on the overflow. In case you didn't know we did something on Thursday that, as far as I know, has never been done in the 100+ years of FBC. We had simultaneous, multi-site, service!!! It was far from perfect, but it allowed us to increase our seating capacity by another third. We had 235 people in the main worship center and 98 in the family room! We need to give a big shout out to Darwin for getting us hooked up with an awesome screen and scaller! I hope to learn a lot from him. Just you know, that this is not going to be a one time thing, soon we are going to need this every week. It is going to take some investment of both money and time but if we need it because we are out of room it is the right problem! Just a side note, if you were in the overflow I would love for you to let me know what you thought, saw, heard. We need to make it better and the only way we can do it is to hear from You!

To go along with that, I poured almost a pint of water out of my laptop on Friday after the ceiling leaked water on my desk! I'm currently posting from Janaye's laptop in Midway, UT. I tell you, a forced hiatus from all my files and projects has been good but scary! I managed to get it up enough to start a backup of the things that I need but it will never function fully again. Sad music here. The lesson in this... BACKUP YOUR DATA! Do it now. You never know when the roof is comin' down and your computer is going for a swim!

Is this you?

This is NOT me.

Hope.

We've heard alot of talk about hope this last year. We were told to hope for change, hope for the best, hope that tommorow will be better. But lets face it. Sometimes we don't really "hope"

Many times we treat hope just like wish. I wish things would change, I wish things were better. They sound kind of the same.

Here's how dictionary.com defines hope: v. to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.

As followers of Jesus we have much to hope for. This is way more than a wish. We should have hope that He:

• will return
• rescue us from our sins
• provide for us
• guide us
• comfort us
• prepare a place in His Kingdom for us
• call us to great things
• restore us to Himself

But what makes me do this job more and more is the knowledge that here in our valley there are literally thousands of people who will go to sleep tonight without that hope! That messes with me. The closer I get to Jesus (and I've got a long way to go) the more I hope to have the chance to shout hope to all of them. That's why we do what we do on Sunday. WE shout hope, the hope that only Jesus can bring. I want to shout it louder and to more people than ever.

So my question to you is this. Does it bother you that there are people in our community without hope? Does it bother you that there are people in your life without hope? It bothers me and I am trying to do what I can to let them know that there is hope! Wanna Play?

Just went live!

Hey,

We got to try something new today. Live Webcasting! So it's not that new but we've never done it before. You can check it out here.

Now, I know that the quality could be better. Here's the facts. We need a better camera! There is one in the budget. BUt we can't spend money we don't have, so we do what we can with what we've got.

Look for more live coming soon!

You Want In?

Whoa. It's been way too long since my last post.(bad blogger, bad blogger) Anyhoo, I took some time off and actually didn't touch my computer for FIVE DAYS STRAIGHT! It was awesome! I would recommend you try it some time. So I was trying to figure out what I should say since it's been so long. It can be tricky sometimes to come up with things to say.

However, after Bills message on Sunday I thought it might be a good idea to let you guys know about some volunteer opportunities that you might want to check out. Seriously, these are all things that make a huge difference in the life of our church and the lives of people who come to our weekend services. So if anything sparks some interest drop me a line! aaron@fbcpoky.com

• Sound Engineer - This is an on the job training kind of thing. If you'd like to check it out we can provide you with what you need. Janaye, who leads this area, is awesome (and not just 'cause she's my wife!)
• Multi-Media - These people take care of what you see on the Big Screen during the services. Seriously, if you can push a button you can do this!
• Video - I know we haven't had video announcements in a little while but if YOU helped out we could do it every week with no problem! Video is more than just announcements though. We've go big plans for this team and need people to write, produce, direct, edit, engineer and a bunch of other stuff.
• Musician - Instrumental or vocal. We would love to have you in our band! If you play or sing or play and sing let us know.
• Web - Oh the web! You may have noticed that from time to time our website is out of date. Does it drive you nuts? Do you want to do something about it?
• Design - If you have any graphic design experience you might not know that you can use it to let people know about Jesus. We need designers to build thing for promotions, invites, and many other projects.
• Communications - There are a lot of things that we want to do with our Communications here and we need you to step up and help make them better. There are some great things coming but they will only work with your help.

All right, I sure hope that you was something that you might want to check out. Here's the deal, I promise that you won't get stuck in something and never be able to get out of it. Give us a test drive. Experience something new. Let me know (aaron@fbcpoky.com) if you want to get in the game!

Now there are many other things that you can do here at FBC, but... these are a lot of fun! (I'm just kidding, other things are fun to)

So whatever you end up doing, do SOMETHING!