+ This has been one most amazing Sunday. Almost 48 years after I committed my life to Christ, my sister did so just before Christmas and this morning she was baptized.

+ I was thrilled to be with her to share this special day at a great church she discovered, Longton Community Church, near Preston in the north west of England.

+ It’s all a bit surreal to hear Pat share her testimony in church, see her talking about Jesus and listening to worship songs. She has always been a terrific person, but on a track in life which really didn’t involve God.

+ Excellent church here. Did I say that? Hanging ut with the pastors tomorrow.

+ Lunch was a challenge. So many traditional English choices I seldom see. Had steak and kidney pudding with chips and mushy peas. Will have to catch up when I get home, but it was worth it.

+ I hear the services at home went really well today and that Frank’s teaching was a total homerun. Great guy. Great asset to our church.

+ It’s a sign of a church’s stength that even when the lead pastor is away, it doesn’t miss a beat.

+ It has ben a busy couple of months and I am very happy that once I get home on Tuesday I have no travel plans until the fall. An exciting few months ahead.

+ Easter Sunday is seven days away. Who have you invited?

+ Don’t forget to get involved in the distribution of invitation tickets at one of the locations any day Monday through Saturday. Praying for a crowd.

+ I’m planning to preach on The Greatest Comeback Ever. That will lead into our April teaching series Aftershock.

+ Some dreadful period drama on TV – very English.

+ So the moral of this day is – keep praying for your family and friends … and keep believing. It may be a long while, but the outcome is well worth the wait.

Tomorrow we’ll be winding up our teaching series The Big Ten that has had us focused on the Ten Commandments on Sunday mornings since way back in the frozen month of January.

When we started this series I referred to the fact that I had taught on the Ten Commandments 25 or 30 years ago and wished I hadn’t even started by the time I was on number two.  Sadly, at that time I was still under the impression that the major part of preaching should be setting people straight, but I really wasn’t comfortable in that role. I guess that’s why I found the series depressing.

Thankfully as I’ve grown, I’ve become increasingly more aware of God’s grace and have become convinced that most people don’t need persuading of their shortcomings, but rather are desperate to hear they are nonetheless loved by God and that there is hope.

So while my last trip through Exodus 20 was pretty lifeless, I am very happy that this one has produced life. In the ten weeks of this series ten people have committed their lives to Christ and fourteen people have ben baptized – that adds up to a lot of cool things of has been doing.

All this – and Easter still to come!

God is good.

I’ve been trying to take care of a dozen different things today just to clear my desktop and it has been pretty productive, but I must admit I found it demanding. I know there are those who would argue that the challenge is due to my gender, as supposedly the male of the species is incapable of multi-tasking, but I don’t want to get into that.

I think the fact that I prefer focused activity puts me in good company – with people like the apostle Paul for instance.

He once wrote - One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13,14.

In order to embrace the future he let go of the past and we all need to do that. You can’t be focused on both. We appreciate the past, we learn from the past, we value parts of the past, but the individual believer or the church family that lives in the past doesn’t really have a present, let alone a future.

The one thing I do fairly well is to look forward. That’s the way God has wired. I’m a visionary, a dreamer. In the short-term I’m looking forward to Easter. In the longer term I’m looking forward to launching a third campus.

But ultimately, I’m looking forward to the day when this limited time on earth will be over, the one shot I have been given to serve God will be past and I will stand before the Savior.

On that day I want to be sure that I receive the prize for which God has called me heavenward too. I really want to hear him say “Well done”.

That is the ultimate one thing to live for!

We had an excellent pastoral team meeting this morning and got a lot of things in place for the next couple of months. It’s going to be pretty non-stop from Easter onwards.

This year we planned to do some centralized Bible teaching during April and May instead of running small groups and it looks as if everything is now in place for a seven weeks’ series I’m going to be teaching from the book of Revelation on Thursday nights, starting April 15th. Our friends at Integrity Christian Fellowship in Yaphank are letting us use their building for these mid-week get-togethers, which will be a change of pace from our normal schedule.

I get concerned that so many people feel they either don’t understand the last book of the Bible or simply steer clear of it because it scares the pants off them. There are only 66 books that make up the whole of the BIble and I’m darned sure God didn’t waste words by giving us one whole book that is impossible to comprehend. So Revelation Revealed will take an honest look at the text, without all the hype and nonsense that often surrounds it and our goal is that this series will provide a lot of insight that will demystify these chapters.

I’m looking forward to doing some in-depth Bible teaching. Mark your calendars!

Had breakfast with some pastor-type friends today and we had a good time hanging out together, drinking coffee, eating bagels (I chose not to) and praying.

It was interesting to hear them all agree that the unusually hot weather over the weekend left them with way fewer people in church on Sunday than they would normally expect. One of the guys reckoned his attendance was only 60% of the norm. That was significant, because that’s about where ours was too at both campuses.

The week before it was raining and there was an hour’s less sleep. Last Sunday it was sunny. I guess we need to pray for weather that’s somewhere between the two – neither hot nor cold, but wait a second because if you know your way around a Bible, you know how that’s described!

Ever since I committed my life to Jesus in 1962, worshiping with fellow believers on Sunday mornings has been a priority. Now I know that I’ve actually been the pastor of the church for 40 of those 48 years and it could be argued that I have no alternative but to be there, but that misses the point.

Pastor or not, I love Sunday mornings -

+ Spending time with like-minded people is a terrific plus.

+ Relaxing in a safe environment is priceless.

+ Participating in a life-changing event is incomparable.

+ Waiting to see what God will do is exciting.

+ Singing God’s praise with a crowd of others is exhilarating.

+ Getting encouragement on every side is life-building.

+ Listening to God’s word being taught is challenging and changing.

+ Being part of something way bigger than myself is purposeful.

But in a crazy world, with an over-extended lifestyle, if we don’t prioritize the things that are really important, they will be brushed to one side all too easily.

Wherever it may be, you need to be in your church and plugged in – regularly!

Okay, I’ve had phone conversations with two families who have lost a loved one in the past 24 hours, apologized profusely to a couple I stood up because I forgot our meeting to discuss their wedding plans and had a couple of conversations with folks from our church – but all in all this has been a true day off, my sabbath.

I know I had a few days away from it all in Texas last week, but it was non-stop from when I hit the ground running at JFK Friday afternoon, so I was ready for it to be Monday.

There are probably those who would advise that it’s not wise to start a quiet day by running ten miles, but that’s my pattern nowadays and I do enjoy it, albeit in a weird kind of way. I guess much of it comes down to the satisfaction of simply being able to do something I never imagined myself to be capable of. But since then, I have done nothing too demanding.

I talked about the importance of a sabbath a few weeks ago as part of our teaching series on the Ten Commandments. (You can listen to that if you want by downloading the podcast. Go to iTunes music store and search for Church At The Movies, it will bring you there.)

Down time is an important part of anyone’s routine and I am increasingly coming to see its importance for those fulfilling vital volunteer roles within churches. I’ve told a number of people this year that it is okay to take a break and in all honesty I’m looking to getting structured so that sabbaths are mandatory for eveyone in all our areas of ministry.

We’re not doing portable church for a while as we look towards something permanent, we’ve embraced it as our identity. That means there’ll be a lot to do every Sunday for as long as I can imagine.

So we really do have to look after our committed workers. Some key people are taking a break right now. It makes things different, but it’s necessary. God needed a break and our volunteers do too.

I’m really looking at that. It has to happen.

+ Wow, another beautiful sunny day – pity the forecasters say it won’t last!

+ This has been a long day, but a very good one. I’m ready for tomorrow to be Monday – my sabbath.

+ I haven’t really worked out the whole thing with weather and church attendance, but it seems like the best weekend of the year enticed a number of folks to be occupied elsewhere. But services were goood in both locations.

+ We had some new set-up members in Ronkonkoma, which helped things move well there. I really appreciate the commitment of that whole team.

+ Michelle Margiotta joined us as a guest worship leader. She is something else – did a great job. Loved her choice of final song particularly.

+ Can’t believe I played a 20 year old clip of Sandi Patti at the end of my teaching, but I couldn’t find a more recent version of “He is no fool.” Loved her big shoulder pads.

+ I’ve enjoyed our Big 10 series and am disappointed it’s coming to an end next Sunday. It has been refreshing to go through the ten commandments and preach life from them.

+ Our next series is going to be huge and will be presented in a way we have never done before in our church.

+ Got out of Ronkonkoma on good time and had a clear ride over to our Mastic campus, arriving earlier than usual.

+ Loved the way cofffee was ready and waiting for me, just the way I like it, as I walked in the door. Who’s got it better than me? I really appreciate folks who take care of small, but significant details.

+ We used video worship in Mastic today, with a band from lifechurch.tv onscreen. They were outstanding.

+ Got some great feedback on the teaching. Reminded me of why we do this.

+ Was happy to meet a number of first-time guests. On the Sundays most folks show up, we’re really getting stretched for space over there.

+ Gill and I had a good lunch with Michelle Margiotta and Taryn Martin. Michelle has been a tremendous help with the launch of our Mastic campus and she is set to get more involved with us. Check out her website – www.michellemargiotta.com

+ I love Sundays. They’re full, they’re exciting – but they’re tiring too. Peace out!

+ It was dark when I got up this morning – and it felt really early too.

+ What a great team who were at Ronkonkoma at 7.30 (felt like 6.30) to get the campus up and running.

+ There were more people at both campuses than I expected on the morning the clocks changed, especially given the lousy weather too.

+ It took Gill almost 36 hours to get to Texas, with flight delays, cancellations and an additional night at home last night after sitting at JFK for five hours.

+ That was a good morning at both campuses. The communion time was special today.

+ Vinny and the band from Lamb’s Chapel rocked the Mastic campus.

+ Enjoyed teaching – this series on the Ten Commandments has been a goood one.

+ Had a quick bite to eat at Boston Market lunch-time. Haven’t been there for ever. They do some great salads.

+ Spent the afternooon at a family party where the mom was celebrating her baptism last week. Reminded me of why we do what we do.

+ Thinking Easter big time. Going to use two theaters in Mastic. Expecting a crowd.

+ Info is out for our summer missions teams – the Dominican Republic and New Orleans. Limited space – interested folks need to decide soon.

+ Another highlight today – one of our teens shared about her upcoming missions trip to Haiti. Love it when the next generation has really got it.

+ Was out of the house for 11 hours. Vegging now.

+ Off to TX myself tomorrow evening for a couple of family days – I promised myself that at the start of the year.

Remember to turn your clocks forward one hour before you go to sleep tonight. And despite the fact you’ll lose an hour’s sleep and it will probably be raining, you won’t want to miss this Sunday morning at Church At The Movies.

One of the many pieces of totally useless advice I was given as a young man just starting in ministry in 1970 was “Don’t make friends among the people in the church.” I think that was because in the circles I was part of, pastors suffered from a superiority complex and considered themselves to be at least one step up from the mere mortals in their congregations. So hanging out with lesser beings was to be avoided.

Thank goodness I didn’t go with that potentially crippling nonsense.

God made us for relationships – pastors too – in fact one of the saddest statistics I have read lately is the tragic number of church leaders who say they have no friends. I read a motto several years ago that declared, He who would have friends must show himself friendly and how true that is.

A few years ago I heard the British church leader Gerald Coates say there are three levels of friendship -

VENEER – This is how things start out, very surface, with everyone on their best behavior.

REALITY – Where the parties get to know each other better, faults and all.

COMMITMENT – This comes when you know the person’s faults but love them anyway.

I am blessed to have so many people around me who have reached that third level. Committed friends, real friends. That’s not playing church, it’s being church.