Beautiful Steamboat Springs

I've just spent the last six days in one of my favorite places on the face of the earth: Steamboat Springs, CO. The view we're standing in front of here is at a turn on the mountain called Spur Run. When my daughter Robin first took it in this week, she began to cry as she looked at the beauty of it and thought, "...and God says WE'RE His most beautiful creation!"

Everywhere you look in Steamboat, you're reminded how beautiful we are to God and how beautiful He is to us! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Him for a wonderful week in Steamboat with my friends and family.

Fence building and faith

This past week I put up over 500 feet of privacy fence with the help of my brother-in-law Danny, and my friends Jamie, Mike, Chuck and D.J. We put up over $10,000.00 worth of privacy fence for less than $2,500.00! You see, the materials were given to me. One of the last hurricanes took it down. Since an insurance company paid to put up the owner a brand new one, my brother-in-law was able to bring it to me in sections. We simply dismantled it and put it back up good as new. I boasted to my friends who helped me erect the fence all week about how God has blessed me with a FREE fence!

One day, while attempting to dismantle a particularly difficult section of the fence, I beat my hands up pretty good. My knuckles, covered with cuts and bloody, provided me with a wonderful illustration to share with my friends: Just because something's free doesn't mean it won't cost you something. This is true of my fence, and it's true of our salvation. Philippians 2:12 says, As you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

This fence has been laying in my breezeway for over a year, waiting to be erected. Isn't that how we treat the free gift God's given us sometimes? Let's get to work. Let's build something with what God's given us.

We've got to make room!

This past week we had another record-breaking weekend! We had over 2,600 in attendance. In our 10:45 service we had to break out extra chairs - we had 647 people in an auditorium with 600 seats. We need our new auditorium! We are still in the design phase. Here's the latest rendering of the exterior. Our parking lot construction will begin in February. Construction on the building should follow very soon thereafter. Our architects are forecasting the project will be complete sometime in mid 2010. Until then we have to keep appealing to our church family to select a service other than the 10:45. We can accommodate another 1,000 people if the services would divide equally. We've got to make room!

Do you wear your worship on your face?

If you told someone you love God, would they be tempted to tell you that you might want to notify your face? So often our expression doesn't really "say" what we're supposed to communicate to the world. Sometimes the expression on our face says, "I don't have time for you." Or, "I don't care what you're going through."

I was so proud of Tim Tebow last week at the National Championship Game for wearing John 3:16 on his face. I hope everyone will read something similar on my face this week. I hope my face will say, Hey God loves you! This week, lets wear our worship on our faces!