Early morning Bible study...

It's been a while since hanging out at Panera Bread after Bible Study.

First, it's been a while since we had study. We took a couple of weeks off for Thanksgiving. I missed a couple of weeks before that for school and various things. Before that, I've been pretty swamped with church and church stuff, with school and school stuff... so I haven't felt the freedom of time to hang out for a while.

I did this morning. I read. I studied for a test that I've got to take later this morning or early afternoon. It was nice.

(Until some loud talkers and loud cell phone callers moved in on me.)

But now, it's off to the office. Good start to the Thursday morning.



Fun, fun this weekend... My parents and sister are flying in for the weekend!!!

Jim

Thursday morning and Thursday...

Man, it was rough getting up this morning.

But it was especially rough because Jackie got up and opened at Starbucks. Opening for her means out the door around 4 am. I always get up with her, if only for a brief couple of minutes to wish her a good day (like every husband should). Most mornings, I go back to bed (except during school when things are heavy and I need to read). This morning was no different. So, I returned to bed for about 45 minutes.

So it was rough getting up again, especially when my body was wanting sleep (see HERE and the picture HERE). But we had a good discussion about false prophets/teachers (from Matthew 7:15-20).

What was better was staying a bit afterward (I'm still there... getting ready to read), but one of the group members (and one of the leaders at FVCC) stayed and we talked about our upcoming CIY trip. That was better. Just having some one on one time with one of the leaders at the church talking about the excitement and struggle of this upcoming week was really great and totally worth it.



Beyond that, today should be a good day. Mostly, I'm going to spend my morning reading and relaxing a bit over some Panera Bread hazelnut. Later this morning and this afternoon will be filled with work on the D-groups for CIY (which kids are in which groups and their lessons).

Tonight should be fun... Jackie and I are just hanging at home and maybe watching a movie and enjoying a quiet evening together before the craziness of next week begins (Jackie closes Friday night... I'm heading to BWW's with J.O. and W.D. and maybe others) and then Saturday will be crazy with picking up the vans and packing.



So, I'm looking forward to today... although, I could go for a nap.

Jim

Early morning... Long day...

Today is going to be a pretty long day.

First off, I had Thursday morning Bible Study at 6 am this morning. So, I was up about 4:50 am. I'm getting ready to jump into some sermon writing here as soon as I post this and listen to some music to "neutral" my mind.

Then, tomorrow night we're having a 12 hour overnighter. That begins at 8 pm and last until 8 am. I love and hate lock-ins. I love them because it's a great time to hang out with students, have conversations, have some fun and make some memories. But I hate them because it's 12 hours and I would rather be sleeping with at least 8 of those hours. Then it screws with my internal clock and messes up my sleep cycle. (Remember: I'm preaching on Sunday.)

So, my plan is to start off the day well. Grab a nap after lunch this afternoon, then stay up as long as I can tonight (maybe 2 or 3 am) so that I can sleep in Friday morning as long as possible (hopefully noon). I've got a Rock Band thing with one of my middle school leaders and some high school students at 5 this afternoon. Then Jeff, the middle school leader in question, and I and others are headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for some NTN Trivia (that should run me through about 10:00 or 11:00 pm. Jackie is closing tonight, so I'm hoping to jump in on some (totally addictive) Halo until my goal time.

We'll see how it goes. Good plan... but can I carry it out. Last time, I thought I had a good plan only to fail about 12:00 or 12:30 am.

Jim

Thursday morning group...

So I get to Thursday morning Bible study this morning. I pull into the parking lot at about 6:04 am, feeling pretty good that I got down Randall Road and only hit one red light (a sure sign of God's grace on my tardiness in getting out of the house this morning).

Only to pull into the parking lot and see NONE of the vehicles of the other members of the group!

Suddenly I felt like you do when you're on a road trip with a bunch of guys and you make the mistake of being the last one out of the gas station, only to find that the car isn't where it had been parked. And that sudden feeling of panic sweeps over you. Only to turn and see your buddies all in the car on the other side of the parking lot laughing at you. But as I turned, no one was on the otherside of the parking lot.

Hopefully this isn't a hint (like: Quit coming to Bible study... we don't like you and decided to switch locations without telling you. Take the hint!).

Now, I'm betting that's not reality, but you know those thoughts pop up when something like that happens and you aren't on the 'in.' Hopefully I'll get the lowdown later on.

Instead, I caught on my Bible reading... finished Simple Church... now I'm going to write my sermon for this weekend... Week 1 of the "Slow Fade" series (more on this later).

Jim

Triple overtime Thursday morning group

We had some really great discussion this morning.

It was interesting. We went into like triple-overtime in group. It was 7:30 (30 minutes after guys had to start leaving to get to work) and four of us were still standing around talking about the topic of prayer from Matthew 7:7-12. Good stuff carrying over to next week!!

Jim

Thursday morning group... and being out of the desert...

Thursday morning was a struggle this morning.

I didn't get to bed until late last night... almost midnight... which is pretty rough when the alarm goes off at 4:50 am for Bible Study. But despite the tired feeling I had as I brushed my teeth, I continued on. And this morning's study was pretty good. We talked about possessions and how they shouldn't be something that dominates and controls our lives. It was a good talk.

What I'm really excited about this morning that I am finally out of the desert of my morning Bible reading. For the last two months, I've been "wandering in the desert." That's the phrase that I use when I talk about reading through the books of 2nd half of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and most of Deuteronomy. Most days, it's good stuff. But it just doesn't excite me or thrill me to read all the list of laws and tabernacle specifications. But thankfully, this morning, I moved into Joshua. And I was happy!!

Jim

Panera Bread and Personal Space...

I've been making it a pretty regular habit that after my Thursday morning mens' Bible study that I stay at Panera Bread and do some work. For a couple of reasons: first, because they have pretty decent hazelnut coffee. But second because it's usually pretty quiet and third, I usually have reading to catch up on.

Well, I should have known better this morning. It's Spring Break here... so there were more people coming through the doors of Panera Bread and actually staying. And I've never been great at being able to concentrate and read when there is significant distraction.

But this morning was a different story.

We meet in a little conference room for our group. When our group is over, I typically stay in there but I leave the doors open. Most of the time, a couple of people have come in and pulled up a table and proceeded to do computer work, read or even take an occasional phone call.

This morning I was reading for class on Saturday (of which I have 15 pages left!!! Yay!!!). And this fellow walks in, looks at me, recognizes that I am reading, then plops down about 10 feet away. No big deal. But then another guy joins him and they begin to have a very loud (and I'm not shooting for exaggeration... I mean so loud that people outside of this little room were looking to see what was happening).

Now, I'm thinking: "You see someone reading... You know that you're loud... You know that you're going to be having a meeting. Why not pick a table AWAY FROM THE READER!!!!" But it's almost like he chose the opposite. Intentionally placing himself near the reader.

I read about 500 words and then left.

So I'm thinking about asking Panera Bread to put up a little sign that says... "Please be respectful of others... we're all trying to use this space together." Unbelievable!!!

Jim

Thursday morning group...

This morning we had a great, great discussion about Boice's chapter 32 on "Temptation."

It was a small group... only 5 were here this morning... but it was a great conversation on temptation, the nature of temptation and more importantly, the nature of Jesus Christ. It was one of those days when as a Church History/Historical Theology major at LCS, I felt a little more equipped from my understanding of church history and the Bible, to have an intelligent part of the conversation (which is rare... usually the word intelligent doesn't appear in the same sentence with my name).

But it was a good discussion. In fact, we went over about 25 minutes this morning, which is rare in my experience.

It was NOT however a good morning getting up. Yesterday I was up early reading... and I still have some of that reading left (which I'm about to jump in on in a few). So, I was dragging quite a bit this morning when I got up. But I'm glad that I did. (And no Chris... it is NOT getting any easier!!!!)

Jim

Thursday morning group...

We had a great discussion this morning in our Thursday morning group on Matthew 6:10... and what does it mean to follow "God's Will" or even to seek it. It was a very interesting discussion... and one that I am hoping will pop up next week as well.

As for Thursday mornings... it was rough to pull myself out of bed this morning. The last couple of mornings of sleeping a little bit have been great. But alas, it's back to normal... whatever that looks like.

Jim

Thursday Morning...

The first couple of weeks, I was great at getting up and getting to Bible Study on time. This week again, not so much. When I get up, feel like I have a ton of time. But then when I get out the door, I realize that I am going to be very close, if not late. Last week, I had a bit of an excuse because the roads were terrible. But this week, I didn't have that excuse... although I wasn't the last to show up.

But much of our discussion centered around the possibility of an upcoming "Men's Ministry Activity." In the midst of the discussion, the conversation reinforced in my mind the need for a clearly defined purpose in ministry for our programs and events. Without this, it becomes impossible to plan and execute anything of substance.

Jim

Wandering in the "desert" until April 10th

It's Thursday morning...

I'm hanging out and doing my morning reading at Panera Bread. I am starting to look forward, not just to the Bible study time, but also the 2 hours following Bible study when I can sit and read and do a little work. The getting up has struggled the last couple of weeks and especially this morning because it was snowy from last night and quite icy this morning.

But this morning... I entered the "desert" in my Bible reading. I'm working my way through the Bible in a Year. This morning I read Exodus 26:1-27:21. This begins the section on the law given to Moses by YHWH. I get that it's God's Word and I get that it's important. It's just really hard to read.

But it's making me look forward to April 10th. That's when I will begin Joshua!!! Oh, April 10th is so far away.

Jim

Thursday mornings...

So I seem to be developing a weird habit this week. It happened on Monday... and it happened again this morning. First off... let me say that I hate mornings. I love to sleep. I enjoy the bed. And nothing makes me feel better than to sleep until I am ready to get up and then getting up and having a cup of coffee.

But over the last few weeks, I've been attending a Thursday morning Men's Bible Study Group (check it out here and here). Which means that I have traded in my 4 am wake up call on Tuesdays for class... since we don't have to leave until about 9 am... for a 5 am wake up call on Thursdays for Bible Study.

This morning, I rolled over, woke up and looked at the alarm clock at 4:57 am!!! I still managed to snooze. But I woke up before my alarm. And it happened on Monday too. Monday we went skiing (check it out here and here). Again, another early morning as I had to be at the church by 6:30 am. But that morning, with an alarm set for 5 am, I woke up at 4:55 am... 5 minutes before my alarm.

I don't know what's happening to me. If I am developing a new habit... And I'm not sure if I like it or not... But I'll go with it and see what happens.

As for Bible Study, we had a good discussion on "Our Father" from the Sermon on the Mount. Good stuff. Now, I am relaxing at Panera Bread and getting ready to read some CS Lewis.

More on CS later.

Jim

Thursday morning guys group #2...

I'm not sure if this will continue to be a thread...

But I attended my second Thursday morning guys' group this morning. We talked about Matthew 6:1-4 again (it was discussed some last week). The discussion was better this morning and I participated. Good stuff. We're moving on to the next chapter next week.

On a side note, it was harder to get up this morning. Last week I was pretty much already awake when the alarm went off. But this morning, I snoozed a couple of times before finally getting up and my phone had to make the final wake-up call. Mornings are rough and I hate them. But I do find that I work better once I'm up.

Jim

Thursday morning guys' group...

This morning, I joined an early morning guys' small group/Bible study.

With the increasing student ministry schedule and my classwork at Lincoln, it's been difficult for Jackie and I to get connected and stay connected in a small group. The nights of the week are short and we have very few at home together. So, I thought I would try a Bible Study/Small Group in the opposite direction.

This morning was the first morning. It was good. I hate getting up. The Student Minister in me loves to sleep until 9 am and then stay up later. This group meets at a Panera Bread at 6 am. The Panera Bread is 20 minutes from my apartment. So it's another morning like Tuesdays (going to Lincoln) just without the 3 hour drive.

Today, we talked a little about Matthew 6:1-4. We are using a commentary from James Montgomery Boice on the Sermon on the Mount. The read itself is pretty easy... chapters are about 6 to 8 pages long. I've got about 100 pages to go to catch up... which I should be able to easily cover before next week. This morning was interesting. I'm trying to get a read for the group before I begin to participate a great deal... but I tend to sit quietly and listen when in a group like this... which is totally opposite of how I am with students. That's just part of who I am. So, we'll see what happens.

As for right now, I'm sitting by the fireplace in that Panera Bread... trying to get some warmth... but failing... because it's stinkin' cold outside. My car was telling me -2 on the way down here this morning. My outside thermometer at home was saying -3.3. Cold!

Supposedly it's going to be in the 50's over the weekend. Are you kidding me!!!???

Oh well.

Jim