What a great day today! I really enjoy teaching on the topic of finances and I usually get a lot of great feedback from people who heard God speaking to them through the message. Today was no different. Here's some thoughts on Sunday (and a few on Saturday):

• This series has been a great series for our church. So many people are in a position where they feel stuck in either their relationships, finances, or vocations and it's great to help people discover they can breakaway without running away.
• I had a great time earlier this week, filming the teaching video that we showed in worship this morning. I was really happy with way it came out considering that we are working with pretty low end equipment. I had several people tell me that it really helped to drive home the teaching for the day.
• The band really was firing on all cylinders this morning. I love it when Rhonda sings "Sing to the King".
• Not only was the worship set awesome, but "Gimme Shelter" was seriously one of the best songs I've ever heard them do...it was great both services.
• Had a great time with about 30 new people from BridgeWay at the Connect Class. It was great to get to talk with several of you and to hear your stories as well as share about the mission and vision of BridgeWay. I get excited every time I get a chance to lead this class...so cool to meet new people, to see our regular attenders serving and to see so many people who are connecting with God through our church is quite humbling.
• One last comment on Sunday...I'm really enjoying the change from one to two worship experiences. While it means getting up a little earlier, it has really helped us to open up some new seats for new people. We'd pretty much stalled at about 200 people after hitting about 230-240 a few times. We knew we needed to free up some seats and that the way to do that was to add a new worship time. Today we had right at 260 unique people in worship...I'm encouraged to know that we now have the opportunity to reach another 150-200 people...thanks to everyone who's helped to make this transition happen!
• As great as Sunday was, I also had a fantastic Saturday!
• Went to a Prayer Gathering in Peoria with about 40 other pastors and church leaders.
• Spent time with Steph and my 3 girls; shopping for yard stuff, chasing balloons, doing yard work, cleaning house, making homemade pizza, and playing Guitar Hero.
• Watched about half of the UNC-Kansas Final Four game...at half-time I decided I had better things to do with my time than watch a lame game, so I went and spent about a half an hour praying for Sunday's services and Connect Class...way better use of my time!
• One last item...had a great time at softball practice this afternoon. It's great to have a bunch of new guys playing this year. Man can Jesse ever crush the ball!
• Planning on taking the day off tomorrow...watch some baseball...do some housework...read a little bit...watch the NCAA Championship game...should be a good day.

Going for a walk...talk to ya'll later!