Sunday Evening LPC Talk Soup

What a great Easter Evening service down in the keys! I got home this morning from a quick spin around Cuba with stops in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios Jamaica, and thanks to my dad had a stress free trip home from the port. This evening, Trav gave the first message in the rebel series and focused on Peter. He was a tough guy with a special constitution. I thoroughly enjoyed Trav’s sermon; it may have been the best he’s ever presented. The PK campus looks great too! Also, Tom’s testimony was great. After service, we hung out and had dinner together. Pizza, casseroles, pasta, potato salad, chips, beans and rice, and other stuff tasted delish! I was so happy to be at church tonight in a near full capacity service, and I only wish I could have been at the theater this morning.

Sunday Life Pointe Talk Soup

• This will be a short Sunday Talk Soup post.
• This morning we had two speakers continuing the New Testament challenge.
• Mark Similey spoke in the 9:00 AM service, and my dad JT spoke in the 10:30 AM service.
• The topic was forgiveness.  Forgiven people forgive people.
• Jesus said 7 times was not enough, but 7 times 70, that’s 490 times.
• Among the Thirsty led worship.  They did an amazing job.  It was the best guest band praise and worship I have heard at LPC.
• The best thing about their worship set was the way they really led LPC in corporate worship.  The music was awesome, but their attitude of worship was even better.
• All four of the band members had a heart for God, and it shined through not only in worship, but after the service while they were breaking down.
• I will see some of you guys tonight at Plantation Key for the evening service.  TTFN! (Ta Ta For Now)

Free Thoughts

-Thursday is the day I post my thoughts. It’s pretty simple, I just type whatever pops in my head.

-The shooting at Wal Mart yesterday was all the talk yesterday at work. Apparently an angry boyfriend walked into the garden center and shot his former girlfriend who had just taken out a restraining order against him. He then fled to his home where he shot himself.

-The stock market doesn’t seem to like the US move toward socialism. Our economy was sick under President Bush, Obama apparently wants to finish it off.

-Hurricane season is just around the corner. I think I am going to start getting my supplies together now. Be prepared!

-Only 2 months since football season has ended, and I am having withdrawals. I hate football offseason. The Dolphins and Canes have a lot to look forward to this year.

-We are going to be even more organized in this year’s fantasy football season.

-The major football related news right now is the boat with the NFL players and agent whose 21 foot boat capsized in the Gulf of Mexico in up to 15 foot seas. Friends of mine suggested that probably they plowed the nose of the boat into a large wave going too fast while rushing to get in, or they got sideways and were flipped by a big wave.

-Max had his little bit of masculinity removed this past Friday. It’s not bad enough that everybody mistakes him for a her, now he has been altered. Poor fella.

-My vacation cruise is exactly one month away from today. Snorkeling, hiking, and relaxing here we come.

-Marcela really hooked me up on Sunday. She made some excellent paella mixta with chicken, chorizo, octopus, little necks, muscles, shrimp, and scallops.

-I have said it before and I’ll say it again, I cannot wait for the TSP Anthems CD to be available.

-The work that Trav, the guys from TSP and the People for Care and Learning are doing for the people of Cambodia is God’s work. I’m so proud of them.

-I will see some of you this Sunday at the theater as we come together to worship, enjoy and learn from each other, be inspired, and be the church.

Sunday Life Pointe Talk Soup

• My Talk Soup posts are typically focused on the musical portion of our corporate worship service.
• This morning’s music was as good as it has ever been, in my opinion.
• Joe and Jesse led worship this morning, Julie, Reina, and Curtis (a new addition) sang back up.
• Josiah played the electric twanger, Jesse played rhythm on the acoustic, Matt played bass, Alex totally kicked tail on the drums, and I played the Roland FP2 keyboard.
• We opened with Point of Difference, next was Friend of God, then Holy is the Lord.  For communion and after the message, we sang a new song, Beautiful by Phil Wickham.
• Mike spoke on perseverance in the 9 AM service.  He did a great job.
• In the 10:30 service we had Fred Garmond as a guest speaker.  He helped explain the Anthems project and what will be accomplished in Cambodia.
• His testimony was memorable.  I loved the way he spoke of himself in the third person.  Since it was my first time hearing the testimony, I didn’t really know who he was talking about at first.  Then as he started talking about the young man in the testimony being the first to get a Masters of Divinity from the COG Theological Seminary, and then a Doctorate from Regent University, I was able to put 2 and 2 together.

For another perspective on LPC and the Sunday happenings, be sure to visit the other LPC bloggers:

Ritz

Chris’ Sunday Morning Tossed Salad

Pastor Trav

Kelly

maybe even Jesse.

Many Thoughts

-I think I am losing my voice.
-Yesterday I got a bit of a cough and today my voice is cracking.
-I sound like I’m 13 years old.
-Overtime was offered to me Tuesday for Friday, I said yes.
-Yesterday, my overtime was cancelled.
-This morning around 5 AM, I received a call offering overtime for today. Sweet!
-Last night I parted ways with my green Glock 19. I plan on purchasing a black model 17 or 19 Glock as soon as one comes in to Lou’s (5-8 weeks).
-My vacation is approaching. April 5 is right around the corner.
-I will be snorkling, hiking, relaxing, and eating.
-Last night Marcela and I went to Capri in Homestead and used our Christmas gift certificate.
-The restaurant was packed. I was surprised to see so many people.

Marcela at the Capri in Homestead.

-After our delicious spaghetti dinner, we enjoyed a real treat… Canolis! They were so good.
-I got to see my old buddy Oral Beason last night at the Dolphin Mall.
-Oral and Dee are having twins, one boy and one girl. That will make 4 for them.
-It feels like years since I have gone fishing out on the water.
-Max is going to get a puppy cut. We are taking off his long fluffy coat since he hates being brushed so much.
-Valentine’s Day is two days away. I will work that day but I have something planned.

Friday Bottom 3: Weather Events

These are the three worst weather events directly impacting my life.

#3. 2005 Hurricane Triple Header – Florida received a 1-2-3 punch combo in the Summer and Fall 2005 hurricane season. Homestead received one of its highest precipitation totals ever recorded and most of Dade and Broward counties were out of power for extended periods while much of Homestead’s power outages lasted weeks. Katrina, Rita and then Wilma had South Florida residents putting up shutters, taking them down, and repeating two more times. Just about everywhere you went standing water blocked vehicle progress and flooded homes.

#2. The Winter Storm January 1996 – I was returning to Lee University in Cleveland following Christmas break with Andrew Hoomook when an ice storm hit the east. From Atlanta north into TN, roads were closed for three days. We ended up grabbing a room for two nights in Cold-lanta to try and wait out some of the nastiness. At one point for several miles, we were slowed to almost idle speed to keep from sliding off the ice covered roads. The conditions occurred because a layer of rain froze on the road was followed by freezing rain falling on top. I saw numerous cars blown off the road by wind, people losing control and being stranded in ditches, and semi tractor trailers barrelling down the road at speeds well above the rest of traffic. It was frightening to say the least.

#1. Hurricane Andrew, 1992 – Thank the Lord I did not directly experience the wind of Hurricane Andrew. That weekend, my mom and I were in Cleveland, TN helping Travis get moved into his dorm for his freshman year at Lee University and my dad evacuated with Ron Cable (one of the HCOG church members who was working at Turkey Point with Bechtel, down temporarily from Fresno, CA). They evacuated west to Punta Gorda, FL and then traveled east to Central FL on the east coast, and followed the tailed end of the hurricane as it exited the state across Naples and into the Gulf. I stayed up all night Sunday evening at my cousins’ home in Atlanta watching the weather channel as the radar image showed that destructive storm land in Homestead while the weather people were stating that it was heading for Titusville, then Palm Beach County, and the Miami. I kept thinking they must be blind since I could clearly see that it made a direct hit south of Miami, and had been on a straight line for Homestead since it went across the Bahamas. When we made our entrance to Homestead with our family friend David Barron (he was there to help us dry in the house and salvage anything from the mess that we possibly could), it took us a couple hours just to make it the 30 or so miles from near the airport in Miami south into Homestead itself via Florida’s Turnpike. The best way to describe the damage in Homestead was ground zero of a massive bomb. The few trees that were not toppled were completely stripped of leaves, every home in our neighborhood was practically destroyed, cars were destroyed, all mobile home/pre fab homes were flattened and debris strewn everywhere, many roads completely impassable by car, boats were found miles inland, and even the grass was destroyed by driving wind and salt water tidal surge (in areas). We slept on a picnic bench outside the house for a couple nights since the house was covered with fiberglass insulation and rain water. The contents of Travis’ room was sucked out when his shutters failed, and my room was soaked from rain which fell through the destroyed roof. We were without power for 4 months, though we did have generated power for some lighting and refrigeration a few weeks into our recovery. It really was a tough but learning time for me, though I know I had it good compared to so many other people. At a later time, I can go into more details of the events, experiences, sad and funny things I saw and did during that defining time in the life of my family. I am sure my dad also has many stories to share that you may find fascinating.

Sunday Life Pointe Talk Soup

• What a great day at the theater as Life Pointe came together to corporately worship and be with each other.
• Luckily, we had plenty of extra people at work this morning, so I was able to go home without any penalty.  I know there were several who wanted to go to set up their Super Bowl parties, but this is only the second time I have gone home.
• As for our corporate gathering, we had a great time in both the 9:00 and 10:30 services.
• Travis kicked off the New Testament Challenge series, which will run through March 22.  The mission is to read through the New Testament in the next 60 days while we study what Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul and Peter had to say about the revolutionary man who is God, Jesus.
• In music, Jesse led one song (Say So) and played rhythm guitar for his tune and lead for the rest, and Matt on the rhythm guitar led “Grace Like Rain” and for communion “Come Thou Fount/Amazing Grace”, and “Nothing but the Blood”.  Alex was on the drums, I played keys, and Bill played bass.  On back up was Julie and Reina.
• Come Thou Fount was so cool, and you could feel God’s presence as people really expressed their worship.  It was pretty cool to take a hymn and put a modern feel to it.  The percussion was solid and Matt did an awesome job singing and leading.
• For “Meet and Greet”, Jesse and Matt sang DMB’s Maker with Alex kickin it on the drums.
• It was sweet just letting loose and jamming after church with Alex on the drums, Matt on the bass, and I was playing with the keys.  Matt and Alex rocked, but I thought Alex showed off a little (he’s good enough).  Then Jesse started playing some Latin thing on the piano, Matt and Alex jumped in and it was pretty cool.

For another perspective on Life Pointe’s Sunday morning at the theater, be sure to visit Trav, Chris, Ritz, Kelly and maybe even Jesse.

Monday Armchair Cowboy

Football is on hold for one week, and following the Super Bowl will be held until games resume in the Fall.  Sometimes it’s hard to let go. 😦

So, this week we have the Armchair Cowboy.  Marcela and I enjoyed the Homestead Rodeo on Saturday afternoon.  The clown was funny, but the saddle bronc riding, bull riding, and the intermission show with the two girls riding ponies beside a trained bull and rider were the highlights of a great time.

Marcela pets a trained Bull, Billy the Kid

Billy the Kid, and two pony riding little girls.

Billy the Kid, a huge saddled and trained bull at the Homestead Rodeo 2009.

Bullriding at the Homestead Rodeo January 2009

Qualifying Thoughts

• Good morning Homestead (at 2:30 AM).  I had to get up to be at work by 4 AM today for day one of Training and Qualification (T&Q).
• When I woke up, the temperature on my front porch weather station reported 43.2 degrees F.  I am not sure if that was correct because I heard that it would be in the 30’s today.  Either way, it was cooooooooold!
• Of all the days to have to be outside shooting my AR 15 and 9mm Beretta, it had to be one of the coldest days in several years.  I actually shot my night fire course with the rifle wearing gloves.  It definitely got in the way and slowed me down, but I still got a perfect score.
• I wasn’t so good with the pistol.  I took my gloves off for the pistol so I could more easily manipulate it.  My frozen fingers only allowed me to score a 38 out of 40 which was still a qualifying score (32 or higher).
• Around 7 AM, we had to perform our physical agility test.  I admit I was sweating it a bit since I had not prepared for it at all.  It’s a 40 foot climb and back down from the tower, then a 200 yard run while carrying about 30 pounds of gear.  The whole course must be completed in 2 minutes.
• One of the guys running in front of me paced me and told me to keep on his bumper.  I turned in my personal best time out of the 3 times I have had to run in over the past 2 years.  I qualified easily.
• By 8 AM, it had warmed up a little and the sun was coming up.  It turned out to be a beautiful day.
• First we shot the rifle.  Today was the first time I shot in the tactical vest.  While it made the run easier because of weight distribution, it made the shooting a little more difficult due to the pressure on the shoulders.
• I qualified with the rifle, but since I rushed several of my shots, I was not able to match my perfect score from the last time.  This time, I scored 295 out of 300.  Not bad, not great.
• With the pistol, I didn’t have a great day by many people’s standard.  I am not great with the handgun but I am ok.  I scored 225 out of 240 (my previous high was 227 out of 240).
• So the short of it all is that as for the shooting and physical qualifications, I am good to go for another year.  Tomorrow I return to the classroom for the Training portion of the T&Q.  This is the area that I don’t have much issue with.
• More good news: my vacation for the week of Spring Break was approved!  I wasn’t really expecting it since I requested it late.  Most people request vacations at the end of December.  It’s seniority at that point.  After then, it becomes first come first serve unless there is a vacation blackout.
• Even more good news: due to the fact we all completed shooting qualifications, I don’t have to be in until 6 AM tomorrow.  That means I get to attend worship practice tonight.
• I will see all of you Sunday at Flagship Cinemas for a great Sunday morning at Life Pointe Church!

Wednesday Quotable

Mark Twain was a cynical yet funny feller.  I dig his way of communicating his satire and sarcasm.  Today, the temperature didn’t break 50 degrees F until about 10:00 AM at my house, according to my weather station.  From all reports I have heard, we won’t even break 60 degrees all day.  So, it  that is actually pretty cold for those of us here in Homestead.  Here’s what Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain for those of you in Rio Linda) has to say about cold weather in an area that is notoriously hot all year.

In India, “cold weather” is merely a conventional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy.