Recent Life in Pictures

Over the last few weeks I've had a lot going on and as I reflect on the latest happenings I figured I'd save some of these pictures for posterity sake. Here's a little of what's been going on in my world as seen through the camera on my EVO.

Sherwood Church visit and City Uprising:

Fellow church planter Ellis Prince holds an event each year in conjunction with a few other groups in order to test for H.I.V. This year we opened our East Baltimore site as a host for testing. In the evening we joined Ellis and his team for worship with other mission teams coming to the area for the week.

I loved the violin as a part of the band!

Sherwood is an amazing church led by Dr. Michael Catt. They are known for the movies Flywheel, Facing the Giants and Fireproof. They have the forthcoming Courageous scheduled for a 2011 release. What I'll say about Sherwood though is that the movies are the least of what they do to "Change the world from Albany, GA." As one of our strongest ministry partners they are a generous, loving and prayer-filled church. These are people of God who serve Jesus in such a way as to give everyone hope for what the Church can be.

The New Deck:

One of the things the Sherwood team did for us was to build a brand new deck to the back of our missionary home and office property in East Baltimore next to the church. These men built a very high quality deck which is not only safe and usable but provides desirable space in the city environment to get outside. Here are a few shots of their work.

East Baltimore Block Party:

The Sherwood team also worked with our team to hold a block party in East Baltimore where we were able to share the gospel and invite people to consider making East Baltimore Church their home. It was a fantastic event with about 20 families indicating they were interested in more information about the church. We estimate a crowd of nearly 500 over the 3 hour event.

Lunch at the Harbor:

At the end of the Sherwood trip I got the honor of having lunch with some of our team and some of the Sherwood team. Pictured in the back on the left is Jim Jewell. Jim is the Mission's Pastor of Sherwood and has coordinated a few trips with us already. He's a joy to work with and has a true heart for missions. I appreciate Jim and the entire Sherwood team for the love they've shown us here in Baltimore. People are being reached for Christ because of their love and support.

Caleb's Birthday:

My son had his 5th birthday and we hosted his party at a local laser tag venue. He had a great time with some of his family and friends.

Visit from Daniel:

My friend Daniel McCollum came up to Baltimore to see what God is doing with our church. We spent some time down in East Baltimore where we're doing some work on our row homes.

I've always respected Daniel since our freshman days at Liberty University. I've come to respect him more as an adult. Daniel spent two years in Russia as a missionary. He lives in Charlotte and has demonstrated concern for Christ in the city. Then last year he and his bride Jamie moved to Malawi, Africa for a year. I was honored that he came to visit so soon after returning home. Daniel and Jamie are also expecting. Congrats Daniel. Check out his site: McCollumsInMalawi.com

Happy For Hannah:

Hannah is a member of Captivate who recently graduated from Towson University with a degree in Education. Around the time this picture was taken we had recently learned that she was hired to our first teaching job. We're excited that God provided and kept her close enough to remain with us at Captivate.

The Sausage of a Sermon:

This is a recent sermon as it was scribbled out. Any Pastor worth his salt spends hours upon hours of time not only reading and studying the scripture for accuracy but also spends time in prayer to be certain that what will be spoken is coming from the Lord and not personal interests. I find that one of my toughest jobs each week is to know that God has the platform, not my opinions, not a message from memory and not a reaction to anything going on around me. I always want to teach our people from a pure place of prayer and communion with God. I could write 10 messages a week but it doesn't mean they are from God for these people at this time. That's the harder part of writing a sermon.

Outreach, Outreach, Outreach:

Last summer and fall we reached out to community organizations to partner with them on community events. This year we're finding these organizations reach back out to us INVITING US IN. As a church planting Pastor there are few things more exciting than to have developed such a relationship with our community partners that we are getting invited to participate in their events. Churches aren't often the first groups though of during planning meetings. We're honored to be on the list. This particular event was the recent "National Night Out".

Cman loved the fire trucks.

'Double Date' Date Night:

Kristy and I went to dinner with our worship Pastor Danny Hallis and his new bride Kara. They are an amazing young couple who we're honored to have part of Captivate Church. Here's a picture of Kristy and I outside the restaurant 'Bo Brooks' which is a good seafood place down by the water in Canton.

Cman's Doctor Visit:

I took Caleb to his Dr. appointment. He's entering school this fall and needed to get his annual check up. His eyes checked out and he's a healthy kid. We're very thankful.

Cman's book bag:

Caleb was getting ready for his preschool day on 'water day'. He packed his bag so tight that he leaned over and said "Daddy my bag is too heavy." He's a funny kid!

Date Night at the O's Game:

Kristy and I got away to see the Orioles play thanks to some tickets she received from her law firm. Lawyers get good seats so we were right near the 1st base side about 6 rows back. Apart from being concerned a ball would take off my head, it was a great night with my bride.

New Orioles Manager Buck Showalter got into the umpire over a bad call. I think he took about 6 minutes to argue this call. It was a little gamesmanship in my opinion as he tried to 'ice' the pitcher.

Kristy and 'Inception':

Kristy had been wanting to see Inception. Since our kiddos were safe and sound with John B. Smith and Amber, we decided to act like kids again and take in a late night movie. I saw Inception the day before and I don't like seeing movies twice but who could resist this face?

Daddy Daughter Time:

Ainsley's looking at me like I'm a goofball. I can't say I blame her.

Birthday Gift:

My mom brought Caleb his birthday gift. He wanted a new Spiderman Bike. Thanks mom-mom.

Family Time:

We like to hang out from time to time over some breakfast. Spot for this picture was Bob Evans. I'm a city boy with a country edge. I like to get away to the country to get time with God and to refresh. Bob Evans and Cracker Barrell are two spots I go to to get some good grub.

Touring East Baltimore:
I had the honor of spending some time with my friend John B. Smith who Pastors locally and Michael Harrison from Martinsville, Va. Michael is growing a great church and he's reaching people across his town. It was an honor to spend some time with him casting vision and celebrating victories God has won here in Baltimore.

We had to stop off at Chaps Pit Beef! It's a must.

Crash, Bang, Boom:

My sister got in an accident. This is a picture of the car that hit her from behind as she was stopped in traffic. Apparently the driver wasn't aware of the 40 cars in front of her at a stand still. Pay attention on the road people. Fortunately my sister is okay and her car will be repaired without much problem.

Caleb Wins!:

I was picking Cman up from preschool the other day when I snapped this shot. He was the winner in a game of "Doggie, Doggie, where's your bone?"

Candid Shots:

Just hanging at the house I grabbed a few shots of my lovely fam. I'm so appreciative to live life with them.

Karate Caleb:

We decided to enroll Cman in Karate classes. Cman did really well in his first week. He's a natural. It may help that he and I fight around the house every few days. He's a tough kid. I'm looking forward to seeing him develop through this new sport. We're treating it as a base for other sports and coaching he'll have in years ahead. The discipline of Karate will be great as he gets older.