Top Ten Things We'll Miss About Living in Las Vegas

Outside in my driveway is a 16' x 8' storage unit with everything we have stuffed into it. It's a sobering inventory that I highly recommend every few years or so. Suddenly priorities are redefined. No longer is the value of a thing determined by how rare it is, how beautiful it would look on your wall, or how badly you have always wanted it. Now the determining factor of whether we keep a thing or throw it away is if we can fit it in the container. Like I said, sobering.

As we sat in church today, Travis Ogle was preaching (he was awesome, btw!) from Philippians 3 and came across verses 7 and 8:

I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ (NLT)

All this stuff is just that: stuff. The whole reason we are packing it up, deciding what to keep and what to throw away, is so that we can follow Jesus. We count everything we are leaving behind as loss compared to knowing Jesus, experiencing life with Him as our Guide. It's precisely because we'd "rather have Jesus than anything" that we have quit our jobs, put our house up for rent, and said goodbye to some of our dearest friends and allies.

It's hard and there were tears today at our final service at Hope Baptist. But we are pressing on and reaching forward in response to the call of God. Having said all that, we'd like to recap a few of the things we will miss the most about living in Las Vegas these last seven years...

1. Our dear friends and allies. The relationships that we have made here and the way they have poured the love of God into our lives. We won't name them all for lack of space and fear of forgetting someone, but the friendships we have made are the greatest treasures of the time we spent here. Someday we will all be together again in Heaven. What a day that will be!

2. Hope Baptist Church. Most of the relationships we have are a direct result of serving Jesus alongside them at this wonderful body of believers. The preaching, the music, the heart for the city and the nations. Thank you Hope for the way you have loved our family and allowed us to lock arms with you in taking the gospel to Las Vegas, the west, and the world. It was such an honor to be on staff here.

3. Sushi Bay. Our place. The majority of our Friday lunch dates were spent here, discovering the miracle of Japanese cuisine. We will especially miss Sunshine, Paradise, Yum Yum Salmon and Crazy Horse. Just incredible. I think I feel a tear coming...

4. Winter in Vegas. I remember calling back east on Christmas Day where everyone was freezing and I was standing in my driveway in a T-shirt and shorts and no shoes. The weather here is great all year round except for summer, when Hell just sort of spills out onto the earth and sucks your soul out. Other than that, it's very pleasant.

5. Easy to get around. There is virtually no traffic in Vegas. Even at rush hour in the worst parts of town, at least it's moving. And it's impossible to get lost. Everything is flat and laid out in a grid. You can see from one end of the valley to the other from practically anywhere.

6. Being close to so many great vacation spots. Grand Canyon. Lake Tahoe. San Diego. Yosemite. Zion National Park. Monterey. San Francisco. Disneyland. Knott's Berry Farm. These are places we got to vacation while we lived on this end of the country. Places we will likely never visit after we move back east.

7. Mojo from Havana Grill at Eastern & Pebble. Pronounced Mo-ho. I could drink this stuff from a gallon jug. It's a tangy dip for bread and such at this amazing Cuban restaurant across the street from our neighborhood. It's so good I could just by pass the bread altogether! If you live in Vegas, you must go to Havana Grill and try the mojo. The sandwiches are to die for.

8. Sunsets over the mountains. We never saw real mountains until we moved out West. You begin to understand what the scripture means when it says His creation declares His majesty. Breathtaking. We will miss seeing that every evening.

9. Pizzookies from BJ's. It's a huge, warm gooey cookie covered with a big glob of melting ice cream. The come in a variety of flavors -- chocolate chunk, white chocolate with macadamia nuts, Oreo, etc. Until they open a BJ's in Atlanta, this will have to be a thing we'll miss about Vegas.

10. "It's a Grind" coffee shop at Pebble & Eastern. Every Wednesday night while the kids were in AWANA, Cheryl and I would have a coffee date here. It became quite a special place for us. This is where we wrote our marriage curriculum, "Staying Married on Purpose." This is where we held deep discussions about the weighty issues of life, love, parenting, following Jesus, etc. We will miss the Triple Chocolate blended and the Caramel Macchiato especially.

Stay tuned for the next post... The Top Ten Things We Will NOT Miss About Living in Vegas. I'll give you a hint of number one.... Today it was 110 degrees. I think I felt my life oozing out of my pores.

Transformers 2 Stinks!!!

I don't have a lot of time as we are in the middle of packing our lives into cardboard boxes. But I did want to take a few minutes to warn all my friends and family (and anyone else who might stumble across this) to AVOID TRANSFORMERS 2: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN AT ALL COSTS!!!

I absolutely love the first Transformers movie; it was smart, hip, clever, action-packed and probably has the best special effects I have ever seen. But Michael Bay doesn't seem to understand what made the first movie such a success because the sequel seems completely devoid of any of these elements. The story is weak and difficult to follow. The dialogue sounds like it was written by a couple of 8th graders with a pinache for potty humor. The profanity is gratuitous as is the sexual content. Why is Megan Fox always so sweaty looking? She always looks like she hasn't showered in a week. And I haven't the time to go into the racist stereotypes! Where'a Al Sharpton when you really need him?

If I could sum it up in a word, it would be: LAME. Remember the last of the old-school Batman movies, that stink-fest with George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzeneggar? It's THAT bad. Seriously.

Not only should you not waste your money, but you should definitely NOT take the kiddies to see this one.

There. You've been warned. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to packing. Later!

My last day

This has been a week of "lasts":
My last staff meeting
My last staff lunch
My last morning staff prayer time

And now today was my last day at work. I spent it tying up loose ends, copying over files to my hard drive, packing up my things. It was a little sad but to be honest the excitement over what God has for us overwhelmed the sadness of leaving.

My friend and co-laborer David Quiroz, who made the great family photo you see on our blog, made a large print of it and framed it for us. It was great! It will serve as an incredible reminder that wherever we go, as long as we are together, we are home.

Pastor Jerry?!

We have had a LOT of surprises in the past few days, some of them not very pleasant. But we got a very nice one today when the staff here at Hope Baptist gave me a surprise lunch of Dickie's BBQ complete with homemade banana pudding (yum!) They brought Cheryl and the kids in and honored us for the last seven years of serving at Hope. But then they really surprised me by presenting me with a framed certificate of ordination into the gospel ministry. My pastor, Vance Pitman told everyone that during the past seven years they have observed my life, my character, and the evidence that the call to full time Christian ministry is on my life. Then the whole staff gathered around and laid hands on our family and prayed over us to send us out.

It was a truly sweet time and we were moved to tears. It has been such a joy serving God at Hope Baptist and we absolutely love the people there. And the honor of being ordained and sent out by that leadership team is something I do not take lightly!

As for the less pleasant surprises, Cheryl found out that she may have to have surgery before we move. This will not only take her out of commission of packing and moving but will prevent her from working extra days and earning some much-needed funds for the transition. Most importantly, my li'l sweet-pea will be hurting and that's not okay with me! Please pray for God to heal her, whether by doctors or by His direct touch, and that her recovery would be quick and painless. God has already been good to us by providing great pastors on both sides of the move, who are working together to make sure we are covered with insurance. What a blessing!

More than meets the...ear!!

This is just too cool! One of my favorite bands of all time, Cheap Trick, is doing the Transformers theme for the new Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen movie. Check it out:

Transformers The Fallen Remix (Radio Edit)_123966.mp3 - Cheap Trick

Moving Update

25About three o’clock in the morning ◙ Jesus came to them, walking on the water. 26When the disciples saw him, they screamed in terror, thinking he was a ghost. 27But Jesus spoke to them at once. “It’s all right,” he said. “I am here! Don’t be afraid.”
28Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you by walking on water.”
29“All right, come,” Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.
31Instantly Jesus reached out his hand and grabbed him. “You don’t have much faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”
(Matt. 14:25-31, NLT)

We felt God stirring in us something new, something that would call us out of the comfort of the boat. We prayed Peter's prayer, "Lord if this is You, command us to come." He did. And then we had to grip the rail of the boat, swing our legs over and drop down into the stormy sea. Now we are walking slowly toward Him on churning, swelling waves. They are screaming for us to look at them and take our eyes off Jesus. "What if no one rents your house?! You haven't booked the movers yet? What about that tile in the kitchen? That has to be fixed! You have no insurance!! What about that?!"

It's freakin' scary. No shame in admitting that. But we believe that God is bigger than all that. "The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!" (1 Thess. 5:22, The Message paraphrase)

How can you pray for us? So glad you asked! :-)

1. We need to rent our house. Until the market turns around, selling is not an option. Of course, God could do it if He wanted. But it looks like He wants us to rent it for now.
2. We need a place to land on the other side. We can't afford a down payment and I don't think we could get a loan without selling our house in Vegas anyway. We need an affordable place to live (that will allow us to keep our dog!) until we can buy our own place. There are a few things in the works but nothing is settled yet.
3. We need affordable health insurance. This is huge. The church we are going to serve with doesn't have a group plan but pays for the pastors to buy their own insurance. But as we all know that stuff ain't cheap. We need wisdom and guidance in finding something affordable with enough coverage for our whole family.
4. I need to raise some support money. While I will have a set salary, the church is still young and asks all its pastors to help offset payroll by raising a fourth of their salaries in support. I will be drafting a letter in the next few weeks and sending it off, along with a short DVD. Please pray about helping support us in this new work God has called us to.

Right now we are targeting June 30th as a departure date. That's coming up fast so start praying NOW! :-) When we have a packing date for the movers, we will let everyone know who has expressed an interest in helping. Thanks so much to all of you who have been so encouraging to us these past few weeks. Stay tuned...