Today we had a new addition to our church family. It’s 26′ long, has been used well over the past few years and with a bit of careful packing, may be big enough for most of our Sunday equipment once we make the move to The Regal Cinema, that is unable to offer us storage.

Bob McGee really helped us out here as he discovered that the company was actually willing to let it go for little more than 50% of the asking price. He also got his son – a truck mechanic – to check it out thoroughly for us.

Bob’s a great guy. I’m glad God brought him to us – and that has nothing to do with all the help he has given us this past few days. He’s just a quality person.

Spent an hour or so in The Regal Cinema today, the place that will become the center of our Sunday activities from August 19th onwards.

I have to say this new location is growing on me more and more. There are small details like the fact that the main theater looks great with the lights on – we wouldn’t dare keep the lights up where we are now, they make the place look dire.

Then there are the reclining seats, the stadium-seating arrangement and the huge floorspace at the front.

The kids area is spacious and adjacent to where Worship Central will be and the cafe area is superb.

It’s a great place.

I’m looking forward to the 19th and especially to the public launch on September 9th.

We’ll use the first three Sundays there to equip ourselves for what God has in store for the fall and to help towards that goal, we’re going to start off with a bang. I guarantee you’ll see stuff on August 19th you never saw in church before!

More than a week ago I had a scarey experience while I was in the bathroom. It has never happened before and I was certainly unprepared for it. With my eyes barely open, at some ungodly hour in the morning, I looked into the mirror and there was some old guy in there. I kid you not!

What hair remained was gray, and there was little lingering evidence of youth etched in any of the multitude of crevaces in his aging face.

What terrified me most was that I have no idea who he was or how he got there, but I avoid mirrors at all costs now in case his image jumps out at me again.

Unlike the unwelcome stranger, I am still young, enjoying life and very much looking forward to the years that lie ahead.

Today was something of a milestone for me as it was 37 years ago that I first preached as the pastor of a congregation, in the former coal-mining town of Birtley in the north east of England. It was the last Sunday in July in 1970 (the date was actually the 26th then) and it was exactly one month after my 20th birthday.

We’ve come a long way from Birtley and church today bears little resemblance to church then – which of course is how it should be in a living organism. But there is one thing that has not altered whatever, I am as pumped, wired, excited, stoked – call it what you will – about what I am doing now as I ever was back there when I was starting out.

I still have an over-abundance of youthful enthusiasm.

I still dream big.

I still plan to do major things for God.

And I’ll tell that to the old guy in the mirror if I ever see him again!

I love hearing from first time visitors to our church -thankfully those who don’t like it generally just don’t bother coming back, but those who wnjoy their visit very occasionally tell us about it.

Here’s part of an email I got a couple of days ago from someone who was with us very recently -

I went to Church at the Movies two Sundays ago – which was the 15th of July- and I must say, I found it incredibly welcoming. You see, I’m Catholic, so the idea of a service that’s not uniform and located in a “church” (much less a movie theater!) was completely alien to me.

I was even joking that I would come to Church at the Movies on Sunday if, and only if I had gone to “real church” the night before, meaning the local Catholic church.

That was all fun and games, but after going to Church at the Movies, I can only begin to describe as real. I mean, the main aspect of this church that stuck out at me was that it is just so alive. The whole atmosphere is great, what with the Bagel Cafe and things like that, and the people there are just incredibly friendly. And that’s not to mention the whole “worshipping” part. Since it was such a contrast to what I’m used to in the Catholic church, it totally woke me up and got me into the message.

We deliberatly endeavor to stay focused on doing chruch for the unchurched – and the good news is, it’s working!

Great night at Shea.

Excellent seats – field level, three rows back.

Outstanding company – my son and my two grandsons.

Mets stunk – lost to the Nationals! That’s downright embarassing.

I counted that the couple in front of us spent almost $70 on beer during the evening – I guess that’s not hard to do at $7.25 a pop! I took my own bottles of water that cost around 22c each in Waldbaums!

The site meter I added to my blog a couple of weeks ago provides me with some fascinating information – like 80% of my visitors are from the United States and 20% from elsewhere.

It even tells me which countries that 20% come from.

Makes me wonder who is vaguely interested in my ramblings in Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Holland, Canada, Wales, etc.

I know some folks in England and Scotland who check in here occasionally, but the rest are an international mystery.

Whoever you are – Enjoy! Or however you say that in your own native tongue!!!

Had an excellent pastoral team meeting this morning and covered a lot of ground as we planned the transition to The Regal Cinema.

+ We figure we need to do a lot of clearing out in the existing storage room we’re using at the UA. Will start that Sunday and continue next Wednesday. We sure have accumulated a lot of stuff!

+ Our Exit Brunch on August 5th should be a lot of fun. We talked about the menu – WeightWatchers beware!!!

+ Looks like we will have one final baptismal service before we leave. Three people have asked about baptism, so we’ve added that to the schedule for our final Sunday.

+ Seems like we have a truck lined up – 26′. I’m just not sure if that will hold all our stuff.

+ Staging is really a must. otherwise with the stadium meeting, you only see the people at the front from the waist up. While that might be a good thing in some cases, optimum visibility demans we have staging.

+ We’ll have a lot better picture of what we can do after our gift day on Sunday. We’re praying!

+ Getting a park in Ronkonkoma for a Labor Day community event has proved impossible. One doesn’t want groups bigger than 150; another doesn’t permit inflatables and the third works on a first come first served basis. If we turn up there at noon with all our equipment, we might well find another large group there ahead of us.

+ We listed 20 guys we’re going to approach to help us organize getting the theater ready each week. If we can streamline set-up and get an even larger team of volunteers, we could start the whole thing a little later on a Sunday.

+ And the big news – since we don’t have to be out of this theater until 12.00 noon, we’re going to go with a 10.00am service time. More sleep Saturday nights for all!!!

Plucked this from my friend Tony McCollum’s blog today -

Normal
I’ll say it again. Sometimes, you’ve just got to break all the “rules” and go with what you think God is telling you to do. AND, sometimes you bet the farm while you’re doing it. This is, in fact, the norm for those that seek to follow a God that routinely does the impossible.

I got an email today telling me that the signed contract for The Regal Cinema had been approved by whoever needed to approve it and we are totally cleared for our transition – which is a good thing considering we only have three more Sundays left at Patchogue UA.

Each of those next Sundays will be special days -

July 29th – Gift Day
An opportunity to sow into the beginning of the next stage of our adventure. We estimate that the new equipment we need, together with our publicity and preparations, will cost in the region of $30,000, which we don’t have. So we’ve invited folks to pray, prepare and invest in the road that’s before us as we continue to pursue our vision.

August 5th – Exit Brunch
After service we’re having a party – eating food, sharing stories and praising God for all he has done in the past four years. It’s hard to imagine we have been in the theater that long, but it was August 2003 we first set up there. The UA has been a good home for us and God has done some amazing things there, but as he moves us on, we’re anticipating an even more exciting future.

August 12th – Cleaning Up & Clearing Out
We’ll be packing up and moving on at the end of this service. It could be tight finding a place for everything, as our equipment seems to have bred in the storage room the UA provided us with.

Good days ahead.

Life is never boring – nor should it be!

It was getting set for a beautiful and less steamy day in Houston as we watched the sun rise while we were making our way to the airport this morning. As has been my habit all my life, I ensured that we arrived in plenty of time for the 8.55 flight, but I could have saved myself the effort.

Unbeknown to me at that time, it was raining in New York. That meant delays at LaGuardia and planes told to wait in their cities of origin. So we did. We took of well over two hours late, were put into a holding pattern somewhere above Baltimore and ultimately disembarked nearer to 4.00pm than the scheduled 1.30pm.

It was a good weekend. It’s great to see someone you knew as an infant grow into a responsible adult. Alistair McIntyre is an outstanding young man and it was a real privilege to officiate at his wedding.

Now it’s a case of hitting the ground running.

More about that after a good night’s rest!