+ I’m shot – what a day! Loads of our hard-working folks must be exhausted too.

+ It was an incredibly beautiful day for the Street Fair – thousands of people there, stretching as far as the eye could see.

+ Our red KIDMO balloons could be seen above the masses the whole length of the event. We ran out of them by mid-afternoon, which means we gave out approximately – a lot!

+ Joey Prainito led me stray and I get a tattoo. It’s a tasteful cross on my forearm and thankfully it wasn’t as painful as I had been led to believe. But then again, the artist only used an airbrush.

+ Band did a new song today that I loved. They’re the best.

+ I can’t believe how many people worked all morning at church and then moved on down to hand out literature at the Street Fair. Did I ever say we have a whole bunch of incredible people?

+ Not a bad crowd this morning for a holiday weekend, but I’m looking forward to settling back to normal over the next couple of weeks.

+ Our WIPEOUT series starts next Sunday – wait till you see me jumping over the big balls … not!

+ Is New Orleans really going to get hit again? We’re setting up for a team to go down early November to help those still suffering from the impact of Katrina – will it be Gustav too?

+ It was good to have Becky Tait with us today – she arrived on Friday from Scotland and will be helping out for six months. Asked this morning what she would be doing, she replied, “Whatever Roger wants.” Great answer – I love this girl! I remember the night we got the news she had been born, which dates me I know. I’ve known her dad since he was 16 and married her parents, but now our Becky is all growed up, a college graduate with a huge heart for God and people.

+ Talking special guests, we also had a young man from India with us who is about to start post-grad studies at Pace. We’re looking forward to Rohan getting plugged in to Church At The Movies. He’s a great drummer and worship leader too for that matter.

+ Went to two wakes tonight. The fact that they were both in the same funeral home made it a little easier. I’ll be talking about death during our WIPEOUT series. Christians generally need to get a realistic and fundamental Biblical understanding of the subject.

+ Death isn’t defeat, it’s the ultimate victory.

+ Lesaya taught today. Man she’s good, though the suggestion that I may need to join CR was uncalled for – or was it???

+ Got a gift today from a great family who just wanted to let Gill and I know they appreciate us. That was good stuff – their encouragement really is appreciated.

+ How can I just have got back from vacation and be shot? I’m told I should take it easy tomorrow and am reluctant. But then again, the rest of the week already looks non-stop, so getting over the weekend first may be a good way to go.

+ Did I say I like the look of the McCain/ Palin ticket?

That’s it – I’m dead – later!

Tomorrow will be a long and exciting day. In addition to the final part of our summer series, Keepin’ It Real, we’re going to be manning a booth at the Street Fair in Ronkonkoma that attracted an estimated 10,000 people last year.

All those people! Most of them local!

And we’ll be letting them know we’re around as we give out balloons and invitations to our church to everyone who passes by. We have handed out 400 Keepin’ It Real t-shirts to our folks over the past few weeks, so as they walk around the Fair wearing the shirts, it should help create a buzz too.

Great day ahead – an amazing Fall before us.

Got home a couple of hours ago and happy to get back into the swing of things here. Ten days really is a long break!!

We flew Jetblue, which meant once we got back within reach of land today, their satellite TV service kicked in, just in time to hear about John McCain’s choice for VP.

I was the fourth child in a family of five, three boys and two girls. The oldest girl, Eva Elizabeth had Downes Syndrome and what a great sister she was. There was less understanding of disabilities fifty years ago, so whenever I saw kids staring at her, pointing to her or laughing at her, I’d quickly give them a piece of my mind.

Eva brought a lot of joy to our home, with her loving disposition, mischievous smile and simple approach to life. Through her I got to know a lot of disabled people and they contributed significantly as I shaped my own values for life.

She passed away when I was eighteen, having battled heart problems all her life that would probably have been resolved nowadays, but I will always be grateful to God for such an outstanding sister.

And the announcement of McCain’s running mate has brought the election down to one simple issue for me. It’s not the economoy, Iraq or the Supreme Court.

Naive as this may sound, my vote will go to the ticket with the woman who refused to abort her Downes Syndrome unborn child and gave birth to a very special baby four months ago.

Sarah Palin is a great choice – I’m home and happy!

Enjoying a fascinating country, but man this is a very long break.

The sun re-emerged today after hiding for the past four days. It poured yesterday – the outer extremetries of the latest hurricane. Thankfully that’s as close as it’s coming to us.

Spent today in Old San Juan. It’s amazing how you can destroy the character of a quaint, centuries old community by inserting the essentials of 21st century life like McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Starbucks and heaven help us, even Marshall’s!

Planning a couple of quiet days on the beach and then home on Friday for a hectic weekend that includes the street fair on Sunday.

1,I don’t do well at doing nothing, but after a few days of frustration I think I’m getting into it.
2,Puerto Rico is a beautiful place.
3,Just finished a good book – Season Of Life by Jeffrey Marx. I thought it was a football story, but it’s a heck of a lot more. Great book for every father – and son.
4,Have watched more of the Olympics than I would have at home. Bet all my Jamaican friends are celebrating their team’s track successes.
5,Is there something immoral about a 15 year old anorexic diver who has been in a training camp since she was 4?
6,Pity we’reup to our necks in debt to the Chinese, otherwise we could tell them what we really think of their evi regime.
7,Frank will be teaching Sunday – it’s good to be here and know we won’t miss a beat back home.

No computer and no internet – but I do have a phone!!
Loving PR, the quiet beach and our spot under the palm trees.

I don’t know if my teaching was that good this morning or not, but I had a great time bringing it!

Working through the book of Acts this summer, it’s amazing to see that whatever Paul experienced in his church planting ventures, he was always ready to move on into whatever was next. So after a tough few months/years chronicled in Acts 16 and 17, as we moved on today into Acts 18, it tells us after this, he took on the tough, tough challenge of Corinth.

I enjoyed preaching because I’ve been living with this for almost two years now – the question of what’s next for us as a church. It’s beginning to take shape and I’ll be sharing the story as we forsee it – so far - as part of our 10th Anniversary celebrations in October.

+ Had a good time this morning – got through the first half of my teaching material, which is about the same as last week.

+ Matt Summers and his buddies did a great job as our guest worship band. I like Matt – I’ve known him since he was very young.

+ Picked up the guys from our Saturday outreach and brought them to church. Our regular drivers were out of commission for different reasons, so I figured I’d do it with myself. Hopefully it emphasized to them how valued they are.

+ Talked to some of our CR leaders who returned last night from the Celebrate Recovery Summit in Saddleback. Predoctable they had a blast.

+ Speaking of Saddleback, I’ve made no secret of being unimpressed with what I have seen of John McCain, but he went up a considerable amount of notches in my estimation as I watched him being interviewed by Rick Warren last night.

+ There’s no question Obama’s younger, maybe prettier and he outrates his opponent in the charisma stakes 976-1, but for substance I have to hand it to John McCain.

+ Great to see Rick Warren right in the middle of things. Seems the road to the White House leads through Saddleback. How much influence will RW have with the next President? Beaucoup methinks!

+ Leaving for Puerto Rico in the morning so have packed shorts, t-shirts and sandals – that’ll do.

+ I have decided not to take my laptop, so I’m going to be away from here for a while.

+ Another decision I may live to regret is to take no Christian books with me except the one that really matters (for the uninitiated, that would be the Bible). My brain never stops, but I’m going to try and slow it down by reading a couple of novels instead of the church growth, leadership technique, business books I normally relax with.

So if you don’t see me here for a while, keep checking back.

I will return!

Hang out here often enough and you’ll discover that I am a huge fan of Simon & Garfunkel – yes, I know, my taste is real modern. On my frequently listened to CD, Live In Central Park, one of the songs I regularly go to is Still Crazy After All These Years. I look upon it as my theme song.

The title came to mind today as I talked on the phone this morning to a longstanding friend who is the worship pastor in a Florida church. He’s coming to the Island this weekend to lead worship at a special event at World Outreach Church of God in Patchogue and wanted to check the best way to get from I95 to Suffolk County.

Most people would be flying from Florida – heck I would – but Darrell is riding his motor bike. I’m doing some calculating and while he may be a few years younger than me, he has to be into  his 50’s – and still crazy after all these years.

There are enough boring people in the world already. I hope Darrell stays crazy.

And for my part, I definitely intend to!