YMCA Prayer Breakfast

Posted on March 20, 2008 by mikewindley

Don’t you love being a part of something that makes you go, “Wow.”  That is how I felt about the YMCA Prayer Breakfast this morning.  Tim and I had been invited to attend, not knowing what it would be like at all.  We were told that Christian singer/songwriter Mark Schultz would be there to perform.  I had heard of Mark, and know some of his songs, but didn’t know they were his.  Frankly, I at first thought he was the former lead singer of Petra (that’s a whole other story if you don’t know who Petra is/was and I dare you to click the Petra link and watch the video!), but that is John Schlitz or something like that.  Anyway…wow.  The MC at the event was some guy named James White.  He was amazingly energetic and energizing for 7am and set a great tone for the event.  Then Mark share stories about his songs and sang and made jokes (he’s quite the comedian).  But seriously…wow.  He was amazing, the message of his songs and the stories behind them were amazing.  And honestly, his songs are very emotional and really was almost in tears.  I think that is partly due to the fact that I am a dad now and get choked up a little more easily.  Again, Anyway…thanks for inviting me to the breakfast Brad.  I’m incredibly encouraged and energized to keep serving God and letting people know about Him.

Check out this Mark Schultz video:

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I know, I know…

Posted on March 17, 2008 by mikewindley

that I’m the worst at updating my blog!  I just have those rare moments of inspiration that move me to post something.

 Anyway…I’m glad to report that one of my readers was encouraged by a previous post to check out BILLS BBQ in Wilson during their recent travels!  Sadly, they did not enjoy the cornsticks as much as I do!  Each to his own!

 Also, I felt compelled to share this short quote from my INDEED devotional this morning:

“The wisdom of the world would never have chosen a cross for its salvation.”

It’s just like God to provide for our salvation in such a unique and unexpected way – a cross, and a resurrection.  I pray that we would lay down our pride and our efforts at being God and come to Him by faith, and trust in His wisdom to deliver us from ourselves. 

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Umm, Umm, Good!

Posted on March 4, 2008 by mikewindley

Bill

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that many of you will not relate to this blog post, but it had to be said. (Apologies to all my northen readers and friends who may find the foods described below as disgusting!)  My grandmother had her 96th birthday party yesterday at her assisted living home in Wilson, NC.  As a North Carolinian, it is a requirement to always purchase BBQ to take home when one visits the Wilson area.  Therefore, Courtney, Jackson and I stopped at Bill’s BBQ (pictured above) to get some BBQ.  Not suprisingly, at 4:15 pm on a Sunday afteroon, the drive thru-line was about a dozen deep in cars.  So I went inside and waited in line and ordered my pint of scrumptious North Carolina style BBQ and a dozen cornsticks.  You may not know what a cornstick is so I’ve included the picture below.

cornsticks

Anyway…some other NC musts:  whenever you go to “little” Washington, one must go by Bill’s Hot Dog restuarant for the best hot dogs ever.  A lot of people will buy 2 dozen and bring ’em home and freeze ’em. 

If you live remotely near Garner, NC, you’ve got to go by the “Toot n Tell” restaurant for breakfast!  Best waitresses and you can’t order fatback (if you don’t know, don’t ask!) anywhere else that I know of.

Also, if you’re in the neighborhood of downtown Raleigh around lunchtime, you definitely need to find “Jerry’s Grill.”  Best cheeseburgers in Raleigh.

And finally, “Ron’s Barn” is worth the trip if you want great country cookin’ and have the time to drive our to Angier/Dunn to get there.

Anyway…I’m hungry.  But those cornsticks yesterday were umm, umm, good!

Posted in Food, Fun | 1 Comment

Easter Sunday and Doors

Posted on March 4, 2008 by mikewindley

Door

Easter Sunday is March 23rd this year – one of the earliest Easters you will ever experience!  Most of the time, Easter falls in mid-April.  I’ve read that the earliest Easter can ever be is March 22nd, but that won’t happen again for 176 years or soemthing like that.

 Anyway…Easter is a great day to be in church.  More people come to church on Easter and Christmas than any other Sunday.  For a lot of people, that is the only two times a year they go to church!  I’ve heard them lovingly referred to as “Chreasters.”

 If you are not a regular church-goer, I invite you to attend out church this Easter – The Bridge Community Church.  We will, of course, be celebrating the Christian meaning behind Easter (the resurrection of Jesus) and also starting a series of messages (sermons, talks, whatever you want to call them) called “Doors.”  In this series, we are going to consider that life gives us all sorts of “doors” to choose to walk through or not.  Knowing which doors to choose can make all the difference.

I hope to see you on Easter Sunday – we should have a good time!

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Sad but True

Posted on February 21, 2008 by mikewindley

Have you ever thought about how committed we are to our sports teams?  It seems that a lot of people are more committed to their choice of sports teams than they are to their spouses, friends, jobs, etc.  A little scary isn’t it?   (Thanks for the insight Ayrton!)

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Connection Group Fun

Posted on February 18, 2008 by mikewindley

I really enjoy being a part of a “Connection” group.  Our Wednesday night group, creatively named the “Lewis Group”, has been such a great mix of people over the last two years.

 As a part of our study each week, I try and get everyone to think of specific ways to apply to their lives what we are learning about from the Bible.  One of our sayings at the Bridge (which I mostly likely borrowed from Rick Warren or some other source) is that “The bible is meant for transformation, not just information.”  In other words, the Bible does us precious little good if it isn’t changing our lives in some way.

 So here’s the funny part.  Our group has had our troubles getting specific about our applications.  So we’ve come up with a list of standard answers for when I ask, “So what are we going to do as a result of what we’ve learned tonight?”  Here’s the current list:

1. It is what it is.

2. Try Harder.

3. Obey.

4. If an angel appears to you and tells you something, believe him or you may go mute for 9 months and a week.  (That was our most recent application from our study last week in the first chapter of the book of Luke.)

We may make a “Lewis Connection Group” t-shirt out of all our great applications!

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Reading – "unchristian" by David Kinnaman

Posted on January 22, 2008 by mikewindley

It’s subtitled, “What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity…And Why it Matters.” Basically, “unchristian” is a report of extensive research on what the average American who is not a Christian thinks of our Christianity. The book also reveals telling stats on the state of the church in regards to what we think about ourselves. It isn’t very pretty so far.
Anyway…maybe you’ll want to read it. I’d love to discuss it.
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Snow Days

Posted on January 20, 2008 by mikewindley

As we were hit by the blizzard of ’08 yesterday afternoon, many of you are rightly concerned about the status of our weekend services. As of 5:30am on Sunday morning, we are still planning to have services in the morning at the usual of time of 10:30am. If anything changes, I will post the change here!
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Drink Coffee. Do Good.

Posted on January 18, 2008 by mikewindley

That’s the tagline for a coffee company called “The Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee.” Thousand Hills coffee comes from Rwanda and is on a mission to help the people of that country. I hope you will visit their website and learn their story and see how buying and drinking coffee can do a lot of good for a needy people across the globe.
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Upcoming Message Series @ The Bridge

Posted on January 17, 2008 by mikewindley


Having the best marriage possible doesn’t always come as naturally as we might have hoped it would. And understanding ourselves and our spouse can be complex. During this three week series, we won’t attempt to simplify marriage into something it is not. But we will drill down on one particular aspect of our relationships – our desires and expectations. What do we do when the God-given desires we have for our marriages don’t seem to pan out? Should we throw in the towel? I hope not! I believe we can learn to understand how to make sense of how our desires and expectations affect our spouse and what to do with them when they are not being met. Give marriage a chance. Join us beginning February 3rd as breathe hope back into relationships that mean so much to us.

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