Hiatus

Its time to put an end to my blogging hiatus. I really only intended to take a couple weeks off at the beginning of the year, to reframe this blog, refocus my energies, you know just let TheBryanRose lie fallow. Then life began to happen… pretty funny looking back now… ok not really funny yet.

In an attempt to improve her health & fitness, Kelly went to the gym the first week of January, where our son Matthew picked up a nasty little bug we have been trading off for around 4 weeks. I am just finishing my round of antibiotics. Also a family of skunks have taken up residence under our house… specifically under Matthew’s room and our Master Bath. Our sleeping arrangements have been whack the last 3 weeks! And to top it all off, with recent staff changes at the church, I have stepped up to give some interim leadership to developing some systems, process and collaboration between our Worship Arts, Tech & Communications teams… ’cause I had a bunch of extra time.

Now that all of my excuses, errrr I mean explanations, have been laid out there, let me say how much I am looking forward to taking this blog forward in 2010 (twenty-ten is my phraseology of choice for the past 37 days) with a bit more intentionality and purpose. More on that to come, but as for right now, hiatus, over.

Down Time

Its a weird feeling right now, sitting with my family laughing and telling stories, but in the back of my mind knowing that I am missing out on services with the Fry Road folks this morning. Praying that the service went well this morning and enjoying some down time in Alabama.

These next few days are going to be weird for me, my mind is already working on building a task list of things to do… Confession: I have a hard time with down time.

Thanks, I feel better now.

Gift Card Clue:

Before & After

For anyone who believes they do not have enough to make a difference… Let me introduce you to Samuel, a boy in Uganda who told his story to our church a couple of weeks ago and said something to this effect: The church people are nice, but its hard to believe when you go to sleep hungry. Our team heard Samuels story and responded… sending our workers on the ground the funding to feed, clothe and educate him. The pictures above reveal the difference that going to bed with food in your stomach makes… the difference in having clothes to change into, the difference in eating two meals of rice and beans, and the difference of leaving the masses of the uneducated.

The cost of the change in spirit that you see in Samuel before and after?

This difference cost $150.

For the year.

It’s time to believe we have more than enough to make all the difference.

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ -Matthew 25:40

(make a difference here)

Rice and Beans.

Last Sunday we challenged our congregation to “sacrifice” 5 meals this week and substitute what they would regularly eat with a meal that is common to the children who are educated and fed at one of our mission works in Uganda. The meal is beans and rice, and a few spices or additives.

The big picture is not just to substitute but to take what we would have spent on groceries or eating out and give it to our annual Big Give offering- supporting the mission of The MET.

So Kelly and I are making the meal switch this week and we have learned a couple of things, mostly involving bodily functions… but seriously, we have both been surprised the most about how much advance planning is needed to eat so simply. Sorting, soaking, boiling, and simmering take time and are such a contrast to how we usually eat!

Got me to thinking that our spiritual lives are no different, most of the time I want a quick-fix faith… an instant-on, microwave cooked relationship with Christ. The funny thing is, our faith ends up just as uncooked as our rice and beans do when we try to rush it. Tough, unpalatable, and not very edible. And what about the hard stones!!

Pretty ironic that what I have learned the most through this beans and rice journey has nothing to do with Africa, sustenance diets, or identifying with the mission of The MET. It has been a learning moment in slowing down and finding the perfect nourishment in God’s word, prayer, and worship.

Sunday ReCap -Nov 29

Beans and Rice… Thats about all I can say about Sunday. Ok… I will say a few other things:

• There are a few Sundays a year that can be really tough as far as attendance in services and volunteer participation… The Sunday after Thanksgiving is probably one of the worst possible.
• While attendance was down, and load in/out took a while, the thing I love about our Fry Campus is that there is always an air of servanthood and anticipation.
• Lance preached a great message on Sunday, and challenged us to rethink what we believe about what we deserve.
• I have been sending links to the message each week, but just found out today that the past few have not been posting… sorry about that, will get that fixed asap.
• Worship was great Sunday, so thankful for Ricky and his heart. He has told me that he loves being a part of The MET @ Fry.
• Great moment on Sunday when we all realized that all of the songs we were singing had to do with eating in some way… immediately realized that the worship set was planned before Thanksgiving.
• Been eating beans and rice for a couple of days now. Its amazing to realize that we will probably save as much money in one week that it takes to feed, clothe, and educate a child in Africa for a whole year. Staggering.
• I am looking forward to hearing the stories of how God is challenging everyone through Believe and the Big Give.
• I fired myself Sunday morning. Then rehired myself and asked: what would be an obvious change or adjustment that a new person would make.
• Good news is the New Campus Pastor liked what he saw and most of the tweaks we need to make are minor.
• That said, we need to re-up on folks serving… every someone has something for them somewhere to do.
• Our Life Group meets on Sunday nights and is probably my favorite part of the day… Sunday, we got caught up in talking and hanging out and realized that 45 minutes passed before we got started.
• We also tried to stay quiet after we finished so the kids wouldn’t know we were done and we could snack a little.
• Chip Ingram’s “Effective Parenting in a Defective World” has been super challenging to Kelly + I… we are learning a ton.
• Learning and growing is more fun in a group of people where you BELONG.

Looking forward to Sunday, getting to challenge us on what we believe about what we see, and Ricky leading worship again…

Thanksgiving Eve

While I am looking forward to dinner with friends tomorrow, I will admit that I am missing hanging out with family right now… I remember Thanksgivings past in Greenville, SC with a house full of people, Alabama/Auburn fever, and building tent forts in my cousins’ playroom. Kind of sad that my kids are not experiencing that family bonding…

Wow, that sure was melancholy… On a lighter note, here are just a few of the things I am thankful for this year:

• A God who loves me even when I act like… me and not Him… who is big enough to be small enough and gives me hope beyond all limits.
• A wife who loves me even when I act like… me! 14-1/2 years fly fast when you love your life!
• Beautiful kids who love with abandon (n. Unbounded enthusiasm; exuberance. A complete surrender of inhibitions.) and challenge me to be better.
• Family all over the Southeast who love God and are fun to be around… looking forward to Christmas!
• Friends spread all over the US (all the way up to Canada!!) who are real people and are great to hang out with and do life together.
• A home (even if I am not the mortgagee….)- a place to rest and refresh my batteries- and the 50″plasma that sits in the living room.
• The opportunity to connect people to the real Jesus and have it be my job… So undeserving and consider it an honor, not a right, to serve Christ vocationally.
• A vision for seeing lives all over Cypress changed… marriages healed, families grown, and hearts powered by God’s Holy Spirit.
• A band of assertive, humble, intelligent, hard-working, passionate, sold-out for Jesus, crack of dawn waking servants to live that vision with.
• A staff who loves God, loves people, and puts up with me… challenges me to be better and leads people to greatness.
• Whataburger… and I am calling your bluff on the A1 Thick and Hearty thing… I can already hear “due to overwhelming response its back…”
• SEC Football and the ESPN Gameplan withwhich to watch said conference… Stuck in the land of BIG 1 football out here.
• Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide… an oxidizing agent- it accepts electrons from other molecules and becomes reduced. However, it is also used in other cellular processes, notably as a substrate of enzymes that add or remove chemical groups from proteins, in posttranslational modifications.
• Wikipedia.
• Everyone who has taken time out of their life to read my ramblings… You guys need some hobbies or something.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Family Christmas Card

Each year we send a Christmas Card to family and friends that live out of town and do not get to see our family on a regular basis… Last night I designed the card for 2009. Here is a sneak peek for you blog friends and family… Happy Holidays!

Sunday ReCap Nov 22

It has literally taken me 2 days to recover from Sunday… and what a Sunday it was! Here is the ReCap:

• We kicked off the annual Big Give emphasis on supporting the Mission of The MET and began a new teaching series: BELIEVE.
• I have yet to type believe without putting the e before the i… random fact for you.
• Sunday morning setup was kind of crazy, new set pieces on stage, but Andy and the Tech Team did a great job… kudos yall!

   

  

  Big Give Stage Look

• We have two volunteers who do our lighting: Chuck and Art… and they kill it every week, but outdid themselves this week. Great job guys! You wouldn’t believe (did it again) that they havent been doing this for years. We are blessed by all of our Fry Roadies.
• Loved the “HOPPER HOUND NIGHT CLUB” poster above the stage… Great reminder of the impact we can have on the school, not just using it as a place to meet. Also, I want one of the Husky cutouts for my office wall.
• Worship Team did a great job with a very complicated service and video/timing integration. If you missed the story of Samuel, I will see if I can get a link… lets just put it this way, it wrecked me. Video ended with this line: Its hard to believe when you go to sleep hungry.
• The message was ok… I probably made it more complicated than it needed to be… Here is the nickel version if you dont have time to listen to The MET @ Fry Blog: What we believe leads to margin which is the ability to give in our lives. How we give reveals what we believe about what we have. All we have (no matter how much or little) in Gods hands, is all they need.
• Teardown went great, and we chowed on some pizza before heading to Church Under the Bridge.
• CUTB was really cool… we got some wires crossed internally and had many more people than we needed down there… its was 2 to 1 MET to homeless people, but it was still a moving experience. So proud that so many from Fry went down there… next time, I promise we will not over populate and everyone will get to put their hands to the work.

   

  

  Communion Under the Bridge

• That said, anyone who says they had nothing to do was wrong and missed out on impacting people’s lives. I had some great conversations before the service and during the meal… sometimes serving is simply asking questions and listening. Or looking them in the eye or shaking their hand. You wouldn’t believe what eye contact will do to someone everyone else tries to ignore. Even calling them by name makes a huge difference. I hope you didn’t settle for standing around.
• I saw somewhere around 10 or so hands of people that said they prayed to receive Christ and become a part of God’s Story and make their Story a part of His Story… I hope to never take life change for granted.
• We capped Sunday off with the Bi-Annual (that means two times a year, right?) church business meeting… lots of Roberts Rules and voting and it was great to see 180 folks show up to hear what God is doing and make their voice known. I love it when people are passionate about the MISSION… its also really easy to see when people are off mission or on one of their own.
• Mad props to Fry Road folks at the business meeting thanks for believing that we are one church in two locations! It was fun to tell of what God is doing at Fry.
• Think that about wraps it up.. I hope you guys were challenged on what God is calling you to put in your Big Give bag and lay on the altar on December 13…
• The awkward end to the service was designed to leave you uncomfortable as to what is next. My prayer is that you are praying about what you have and what God is calling you to do with it.
• This Sunday you will get the chance to participate in a CHALLENGE to identify with our mission and check what you believe about what you deserve… Here is a hint: EAT UP on thanksgiving.

Enjoy time with friends and family this week… Looking forward to Lance being back at Fry this Sunday and bringing us week 2 of Believe.

Meet You on Fry Road.

Life Goal List Addition

I have a new Life Goal to add to my list… well, to make sure is on my list when I actually make one. Anyhow- here it is:

To be in a leadership position, and successful enough to take my entire staff and buy out the toys at a Wal-Mart to give kids a Christmas who otherwise wouldn’t get one.

A friend of mine allowed me to be a part of this with his employees today. As he explained to them, we work hard all year, not just for us, but to make a difference in other people’s lives as well. And then he thanked them for their work, on behalf of kids all over NW Houston.

Amazing and Inspiring.