Where I Worshiped - The 2nd Sunday

Today Gretchen and I left the "peace and comfort" of our hotel room and made the 90 minute drive through winding roads and interstate to Parkside Church outside of Cleveland Ohio to worship with Alistair Begg and his church family.

This is a view from the backside of the church property.

Here is the worship center.

The worship team did a fantastic job of blending traditional and contemporary music together.  Their music has a very Irish feel to it.  If you would like to take a listen, click on the link below.

Here is a view from our pew.

Pastor Begg preached a terrific sermon from Romans 8.  Click on the link below to hear him read the scriptures in his Scottish accent.

If you are interested in hearing the sermon, you can access it for free by clicking here: Parkside Church and then clicking on the play button on the picture on the right side of the page.

It was a wonderful time of worship, and definitely worth the drive.  One of my favorite parts was being able to worship and sit beside my wife for an entire service. 

Dialogue, Date, Depart

Today is day two of my time away with my wife.  Wednesday we delivered two of our children to Grandma.  Yesterday the other two were delivered to Mamma.  Then off we went for our get away.  We decided to stay somewhat close to home and opted for the Amish Country.  Far enough to feel like we are out of town, yet close enough to not be weary after a long drive.

Our time away reminds me of a principle that Gretchen and I learned early on in our marriage, and have to this day, tried to practice.  Sometimes more successfully than others.  Long time pastor Ed Young taught us many years ago that in order to have a successful marriage, you must "dialogue daily, date weekly, and depart quarterly".  Gretchen and I have not been alone for an extended period of time together since May, so this is our quarterly departure.

We have a couple of other descriptions for it, like:  white space, margin, quiet, rest, and a time to reconnect.  The Amish Country is a perfect place to "depart".  This morning there was no extra noise.  Just the sound of horses moving down the road.  There are no cell phone signals.  Just me, my wife, a quiet room, and our books.  Pastor Young knew what he was talking about when he gave his prescription for a successful marriage.  Thank you Pastor Young for the great advice, and thank you to those who made this "departure" possible.

Read-O-Rama

I spent day eight of my sabbatical focusing solely on reading and note taking.  Cole's football game, the holiday weekend, and my travels left me behind a little bit in my reading schedule.  So today, instead of splitting my study time between reading and working through some pastoral training material, I immersed myself in some fantastic books.  I read and took notes on eight different books.  To see what I am reading look to the right of today's post.  Tomorrow Gretchen and I hit the road together for a few days without the children.  Stay tuned for more updates.

Where I Worshipped Last Sunday

Last Sunday (September 5th) I left home at 5:50 am to make the drive to Covenant Life Church (click on church name to go to its website) in Gaithersburg, Maryland.  I chose to attend Covenant Life because I've been blessed by writings and sermons by the church's former pastor C.J. Mahaney and its current pastor Josh Harris. I recently recommended a book by Josh Harris to our church family called Dug Down Deep.  It's well worth your time!

It took about 4 hours to reach Gaithersburg but it was a perfect morning for a nice quiet drive.  Jane, our family's GPS, took me right to the front door of the church.

I arrived a little early for the second morning service.  After finding a parking place (the parking lot was almost full), I had a chance to look around and check out the church facilities.  Shortly after the first service ended, it was time for the second service to begin, so I made my way to the sanctuary, which seats almost three thousand people. 

The service lasted approximately two hours, and was filled with music, scripture reading, prayer, and expositional preaching.  It was a lively service, and I was glad I made the drive.  It was well worth my time and effort.

Following the service, the lobby was filled with tables full of fresh brewed coffee, and couches and chairs for people to sit and share together.  At the back end of the lobby, the church has a wonderful bookstore, where all of the titles in the store are handpicked by C. J. Mahaney.  After perusing the store for a while, I made my way to the cash register to pay for my treasures books. 

 While there, I had a conversation with the lady checking me out.  She found out that I was a pastor visiting the church on my sabbatical, and she gave me two John Owen books that I had chosen for free!  Worth my trip to church--ha! 

The people at Covenant Life Church were so warm and kind.  The music was terrific, the preaching was enriching, and the bookstore was spectacular.  If you are ever in the Gaithersburg, Maryland/Washington D.C.  area, you should worship with this church family.

Tomorrow I hit the road again...stay tuned for more updates.

Day Three

Today I listened to disc three of a pastor training series that I started on Wednesday.  The teaching covered The Pastor and his Faith, The Pastor and his Family, The Pastor and his Flesh, The Pastor and his Friends, and The Pastor and his Frustrations.  There were many great principles and questions to reflect on.

I also continued reading "The Trellis And The Vine", as well as several other books I have started since Wednesday.  So far, most of my reading has dealt with the ministry of the pastor, and the ministry of the church.  My potential reading list is long, and covers many more topics.  I will probably be adding more books into the reading cycle in the next few days.

These first few days of sabbatical I have spent at home.  Here are a few observations from "being at home" all day:
1.  My wife deserves a sabbatical.
2.  I miss out on Kate saying very funny things throughout the course of the day when I'm at work.
3.  Molly is very quiet and can bring destruction very quickly.
4.  Cole needs a brother.
5.  Megan is a fantastic big sister.
6.  Sony headphones plugged into the computer block out a great deal of noise.

This weekend I will begin traveling.  Stay tuned....more to come.

Day Two

When I began planning to take this sabbatical, one of the most fun, yet most challenging tasks was choosing the books that I would read.  Over the summer I got a Nook e-reader with September in mind.

 This nifty gadget is able to hold up to 1,500 books at a time and is roughly the size of a 5x7 photograph.  The screen is much easier to read from than reading on a computer and it is much easier to carry a Nook about with me than to lug all of my books!

As of yesterday, I have 41 books loaded on my Nook and 11 "paper and ink" books stacked on my  the kids' school table.  

Today I began reading a book that, upon its release at the end of 2009, met with spectacular reviews. 

Mark Deaver is one of the pastors whose church I will be visiting this month and he had this to say about this challenging book:

I've read a few chapters and already my thinking has been very challenged.  I'm looking forward to seeing more of what the authors of the book have to say.

Finally, did you know that today is the opening day for college football season?  Enjoy it.  We actually observed a moment of silence in our home this evening in honor of the season that is to come! (It was mostly a silent moment...as silent as it ever gets around here anyway!)

Day One

I begin this time of rest, reflection, and refueling with some very vivid pictures of my church family that I will hold in my mind while I'm gone from them.  This Sunday was an important one for many reasons: Molly's dedication and my final Sunday in the pulpit for a four week period.  My family and I were blessed to be able to ask a dear friend, a member of our church family,  and a fellow minister of the Gospel to perform Molly's dedication.

 What a blessing to have Pastor Jay as a part of our church body. He did a super job and we are grateful for the sincere words he shared with us and the church family during the dedication.

 Another picture that I cherish from last Sunday is of the congregation.  During the sermon, I said something to the effect of "look at verse..." and as I looked out at the congregation the majority of the family wasn't looking at me they had all dropped their gazes to their Bibles in unison!  I was so excited to see my church family in the Word together.  I wish you could have seen it along with me.  There were also many who shared kind words and testimonies that I continue to reflect on even today.

I spent this morning listening to audio CDs of one of my mentors.  The topic was "The Pastor's Fatigue." One of the most helpful things I learned was that fatigue causes you to "go through the motions" of ministry, and when you "go through the motions of ministry" you lose your passion.  When you lose your passion in ministry and for ministry you are in trouble.  I am once more reminded of the privilege of this sabbatical season which will help me to combat such struggles as I rest and learn.

I close this post today with a quote that was shared in the lesson from a counselor to a pastor:  "Everything you do you do to give away, you don't keep anything for yourself, and if you are always giving, you have to have time to replenish.  When you open a book every page has margin, when I look at your life I see no margin, there are words everywhere."  A good reminder for us all.