Garden Hose and the Gospel…

Well, service number three has come and gone.  The Lord continues to bless our church with positive gains in Bible study attendance and good gains in worship attendance.  As a church we are knocking on a thousand in both worship centers, with The Encounter @ FBC knocking on four hundred.  I simply say may God be praised.

This week the new wrinkle was the garden hose.  Yes, not one, not two, but three garden hoses.  You see we are having a problem getting a good lan connection between the building.  So we knew that we could string a cat5 cable between the buildings and bypass the week link.  But, how do you protect a network cable across a busy gravel parking lot and a major side street of the church.  The solution, thanks to Ray Leininger was a garden hose.  Why did I know think of that.

So now each Sunday we turn off the wireless connection at the main building.  Plug the cable in a hose into the router at the Esquire and spool out about three hundred feet of hose carrying cable.  We go in a window at the church into an intern office and plug in.  Progress.  I keep telling myself that is is progress.

Well, I will gladly continue to call contractors, enlist the help of my friends to get a good bid (Roy) and continue to bury this wire or fiber which ever we can afford.  Until then, if you wish to see spooling for to gospel carrying garden hose at FBC Bolivar just come by and see me before Bible Study.

To God be the Glory….

It is Official!

Well, family and friends live practice services have come and gone.  A few minor issues, but nothing that the team could not handle.  The growing number of volunteers has made the creative process of a contemporary worship service very dynamic.

We launched Sunday, Feburary 1.  I don’t mind saying it was a crazy Sunday.  We moved back into one Sunday morning Bible Study hour.  I talked with a few people in the halls that were looking for a class or did not have an idea of what class to try.  I hope my suggestion help them find a small group Bible study home.

Oh, I also helpped with a baptism on Sunday morning.  That is always a good day in my books.

Then the start of the  dual worship at FBC.  It was a great Sunday.  Take out a couple of minor techinal issues and it was a perfect day.  We did have a great attendance in both services, with the total approaching a thousand people.  It is nice to know that we as a church can adjust to changing times.  We understand the important relationship between worship and small group Bible study.

All in all a good day to walk with the Lord and to do His thing with Him.

Oh, the technology that we are using to reach the Esquire (old movie theater) is a slingbox, our in house lan, to wireless routers for a bridge across the block, the in house lan in the Esquire, a computer to catch and spool the main worship service and Tom Sneed’s quick and nimble fingers on a combination of buttons.

The Encounter @ FBC

It does not seem possible, but we are now just a couple of weeks away from the launch of a new worship service at Firt Baptist Church.  This week we will have our first Friends and Family service to continue to work out the glitches and bumps.

The team is moving quickly towards being ready to launch on February This has been a hugh amount of work and it has come together in a very short time.  

I am very excited and worried.  I have been pray for God to calm my heart and temper my excitment.  Easier said and down.

Thinking Big, Thinking Secure

Life at FBC is moving at a very rapid rate for me.  But safety and securing have been on my mind with my “back burner” projects.  However, a couple of those projects are slowly moving to the light of day.  Here are the current horse race of projects that are in the lead.

Project #1 – Preschool Move (bad baptist word) and Security

My friend Amy D (Interim Childrens Minister) is close to consolidating our preschool on to two floors and dealing with the congestion in our preschool hall.  The solution is a mix of moving some classes, new furniture, new security doors and a computer check in system.  When it comes together it will be a sweet project.  This project is in the lead for going from idea to touching lives.

Project #2 – Server Room

As the IT man for the church (lot of help from Robert, Russ, and other volunteer brain trust members) we have been on a search for a secure, climate controlled, limited access location for our growing infrastructure needs.  It seems it may be possible to take part of a little used room and add a wall, and poof – space for a server room that should last us for a good while.  The nice thing – out of site and out of mind.

Project #3 – Asterisk Server

The leased Nortel is showing it’s age in features, function and size.  If three things come together moving to an internally managed phone server would be a reality.  If we have a place for the server (server room), if we can wirelessly like our remaining two buildings (prices are dropping for hardware) and we organize the team of people to pull wire, patch things together it is a done deal and will save the church some cash down the road.

Ten and counting

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Originally uploaded by lstehr

It does not seem possible, but I have been part of the ministry staff at FBC Bolivar for the past ten years. I always celebrate my ministry anniversary on the first Sunday of March, since my first Sunday at FBC was in March of 1998.

I would like to thank a couple of friends for not letting the day pass without fanfare. Amy D. and Amy B. you made my day. Thanks for making a special effort to make me feel special.

I have spend the past ten years as the youth minister to with a fantastic youth group that has helped shape my faith and life. I have 1000’s of pictures and 1000 times the memories.  I have also been blessed to work with some fantastic youth leaders and parents. They have made the journey enjoyable and productive.  The experience with the staff of FBC Bolivar has been a wonderful time of growth and adventure in my life.

Now, I begin the transition to Young Adult Pastor at FBC. I am excited about what the next 10 years will bring. To God be the glory…

Big Announcement

Well, today is the day.  This morning the announcement will be made that I have accepted the position of Young Adult Pastor at FBC.   I am very excited about the new opportunities that God has placed before me.  I am looking forward to working with adult in the 18 to mid 30’s at Frist Baptist and in Bolivar.