We're Home

The family and I just got home from a few days away at the beach. I was off today from preaching and so we made a last-minute decision on Thursday to head out-of-town for a few days just for the three of us. This is the first time I've taken a vacation Sunday since the summer so it was needed.

We had a great time but I hate being away from Capstone! It's not that I worry about what's happening while I'm gone --- I actually have NEVER worried about our team doing their thing while I'm away. They always do a great job and if they can't handle it then none of us is doing our job.

I just hate missing what's going on at church. But I know the break is necessary for my family and for myself. We spent a couple of days walking on the beach (it was 75 and sunny yesterday --- don't hate me!). We ate out. Did some walking around the new mall. Claire and I even went to the arcade and played skee ball. I love skee ball and have been playing it much longer than she has BUT SHE BEAT ME! That's my girl!

The phone rang around 5 pm Saturday and it was our neighbor, Becky. She asked me if I had left one of the cats in the house. I said "no." She said that when she went over to feed them on the front porch, she thought she saw one sitting on the window ledge INSIDE the house and so she was going inside to check.

(IMPORTANT NOTE: We have three OUTSIDE cats!)

Becky calls back five minutes later and says that yes, one of the cats was in the house. Now remember: we left at 3 pm on Thursday and she called at 5 pm on Saturday. So, after a quick run through the house, Becky said that everything looked fine. All I could imagine was that the curtains were ripped down, the Christmas tree was destroyed (we left with it still standing), and that there was cat evidence (#1 & #2) all over the house! And the cat had to be starving considering she lives OUTSIDE and her food was outside!

So, we got home today and found our house intact and everything still standing. Whew! Yvonne did find a small puddle of #1 on her bathroom floor. Thus far, that's all the evidence of having an OUTSIDE cat INSIDE the house for 50 hours. I'm not sure we've found it all as of yet. I'll keep you posted. :)

I'm off to work in the morning. The first Sunday of 2008 at Capstone is going to be really exciting and I've got some stuff to do in the morning. I hope everyone who cares about what God has planned for Capstone in the new year will be there. It's going to be awesome!

Happy New Year to you and yours. I pray 2008 is your greatest year yet. I'm anticipating some great things from our great God!

Christmas, The Morning After

December 26. It's one of those weird days on the calendar. Everyone spends weeks getting ready for December 25. We travel, exchange gifts, laugh and tell stories, and eat and eat and then eat some more. And then on December 26, what are we supposed to do now? It's like the biggest of holiday hangovers --- just not from booze but too much food and too much stuff everywhere.

We had a GREAT Christmas and enjoyed these last few days in a big way. Here's a quick rundown:

• We had Sunday brunch at the new Chiquola Club with our great friends Mike & Ann Marcie. That was a treat.
• We drove late Sunday afternoon to Lexington, SC, to spend the night with our friends, the Lows. We took back roads the entire way and it was a great drive. Got to see lots of cows (which my wife loves) and listened to a lot of Christmas music.
• At Jim and Susan's house, we laughed and laughed as we always do when we're together. They've been the ultimate friends for 15 years now and I am so thankful how God has sustained our relationship. Claire was only a few months old when we met and Matt was five. Now he's a junior in college and she's in high school. Wow --- we've been through a lot together. We've vacationed together and drank loads of coffee together and cooked some great meals together. Friends are a rare treasure and we treasure them.
• Monday we spent the day with Yvonne's family in Columbia and it was a lot of fun as well. Yvonne's parents are in their 80s now and while Mom's vision is weakening a good bit and Pop doesn't get around as well as he used to, they are an amazing couple and a great example of how the Lord can keep two people in deep love --- even after almost 60 years of marriage.
• On our way home Christmas eve night, we stopped at my Aunt and Uncle's house in West Pelzer, SC. This is a family tradition with all of Mama's family. It's always a lot of fun too. My cousin Kelley and her husband were home from Seattle. It was great to see them.
• We ended the night making Jesus' birthday cake (an annual tradition since Claire's first Christmas). The pre-made icing we were going to use had expired two years earlier. So, we made some homemade chocolate icing using water instead of milk because we were out of milk. It tasted great and most people probably wouldn't know the difference! We read the Christmas story by candlelight (another tradition) and then off to bed about midnight.
• Christmas morning I built a fire in the fireplace and we began opening presents about 7:30 am. The three of us had a great time watching each other open our gifts. Claire was shocked by a few of her gifts. That's always fun! I got some great new kitchen stuff. Yvonne got a new camera. We are blessed beyond measure.
• The afternoon was spent at Mom & Dad's with all the family. Lunch was great. My family laughs like idiots opening gifts. Josh had a friend there and she probably left thinking we are a bunch of crazy people --- which is accurate. It really is a funny time because there's so much joy and laughter. The gifts are fun but it really is about just being together.
• Ended the day stopping by to see our friends the Marcie's. They've been a huge blessing in our lives over the last six months and so it was great to spend some time with them. God's done a huge work in their lives and we've been affected by that as well.

I woke up on Christmas Day thinking about how blessed I am. My blessings have nothing to do with all the gifts and great stuff we gave and received. It's all about my God, my family, and my friends. It's been a tough year for many reasons. But I realized again yesterday how faithful God is and how He brings us through and encourages us at the times we need it the most. There were times I even wondered what this Christmas would be like. It turned out to be a great one. That's all because of Jesus and I give Him the praise.

I didn't intend to write all of this. But there you have it. Now I need to get busy cleaning it all up. 2008 is coming!

Newspaper Column & Merry Christmas

My latest column ran in the Anderson Independent-Mail on Saturday. You can check it out by clicking here. I've gotten a few great comments on it and that's really nice. One lady even called the house and left a message!

We're off to Columbia this afternoon to visit with our dear friends, Jim, Susan and Matt Low. We'll spend Christmas Eve with Yvonne's family in Columbia and then home Christmas Eve night. We have a rule about being at home on Christmas Eve night so that we can have a birthday cake for Jesus and wake up Christmas morning in our home. We are blessed.

I hope you have an incredibly bright, merry and blessed Christmas. I pray that there is Peace on Earth in your corner of the world. I'll be back in a few days.

The Cooking Pastor

Many of you know that I love to cook. My Mama taught me to cook just about everything when I was a boy. And I was always in the kitchen at Grandma's house. I have a genuine love for food that I have to manage or I'll be the 300 Pound Pastor rather than The Cooking Pastor.

I make cakes more than anything. Cake number two of the four I'm baking is in the oven now. Three of the four cakes will be pound cakes that we'll give as gifts over the next few days. The fourth is a Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake that is amazing. It's a Paula Deen recipe and has a lot of butter in it --- no surprise if you watch Paula Deen.

I've also got to make some twice baked potatoes for a dinner we're going to this afternoon. It's going to be a really good day.

Capstone tomorrow: it's our Christmas service so join us for a great one! I'm pumped about the music and the message. Don't miss it!

3,000 Hits

Unbelieveable! Today the sitemeter on this blog turned over 3,000. That means there have been 3,000 visits to my blog since I started writing in late August. I know that's not nearly as many as the big bloggers out there in the world but that's a lot of visits in my little world. (And no, I haven't been running up the number myself!!)

I wish I knew who number 3,000 was. If it was you (and you can prove it or give me a good enough reason to believe it was you), I'll send you a prize. That's right --- a valuable prize straight from Jerry's blogosphere.

So let me know if it was you. And if you enjoy what you read here, tell a friend or two about the blog. Maybe we'll hit the next 3,000 even faster!

I Love a Bargain

I love a great bargain. I mean love it.

Now before you go and call me cheap, let me assure you that I am not cheap. I am what some call frugal. I don't mind spending money on things that matter. I like nice things. I like fun things. I like giving and buying for others.

But I have figured out that you don't have to pay full price for anything anymore. Everything goes on sale at some point. And if you're not really set on having that certain brand or the biggest or newest of whatever it is, you can actually do really well with your money.

I believe that stewardship honors God big time.

Take my purchase tonight for example. We need a new vacuum cleaner at the church office. Our $50 one finally died today after 5 1/2 years of hard work. (We got our money's worth out of that one!) I could have bought one at the first store I shopped but nothing was on sale. So, I moved on to another store. Still nothing.

Finally, at Best Buy, I found a great quality vacuum cleaner on clearance and saved the church $77. I could have paid the full price at the first store. But it was well worth an hour of looking around for the best deal and save the church the $77.

I do the same thing in my personal life. The Lord has blessed Yvonne and me in huge ways over the years and we want to honor His blessings by managing our money, teaching Claire about money, giving, and spending wisely. Here's what we do:

• Our goal is to honor the Lord with our wealth.
• We tithe consistently and give offerings as He leads.
• We live within our means.
• We have no debt except for our home.
• We wait on God to provide.
• We always have what we need and usually more than we need.

Proverbs 3:9-10 says, "Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine."

The Word of God is always true. When we honor Him, He honors us. What a great concept.

Why don't you give it a try?

Monday Morning Musings

Good Monday morning to you! I'm ready for a great week. I hope you are as well. We had a good weekend around the Chapman household. Here are some Monday morning thoughts, in no particular order.

• Capstone was awesome yesterday. I love the Christmas season, the music, and re-telling the amazing Christmas story.
• I would have loved to have been one of the shepherds out in the field.
• Good news of great joy is amazing.
• I did some serious Christmas shopping this weekend and actually enjoyed it.
• God is stretching and growing Bekky, our worship leader, and it's great to see her embrace it. Keep up the great work, Bekky!
• Wouldn't it be great if everyone came to church on the same Sunday? The place would be packed!
• God continues to show up and do some amazing things. I'm thankful for that in my life as well as seeing it happen in many others' too.
• Our staff is having a great time together now as well. I'm thankful for Brent, David, Bekky, and Terri and all they do at the church.
• I love this really cold weather. It's supposed to be cold the week before Christmas!
• I'm looking forward to some quality family and friend time during the holidays.
• I'm already excited about God's plans for Capstone in the new year.
• Bring everybody you can for this Sunday's Christmas service. Let's pack the theater!
• What's God doing in your life? Leave me a comment and let me know.
• My next column in the Anderson Independent-Mail runs this Saturday, 12/22. I'm really excited to see the response it gets.

Have a great week before Christmas!

FOUND

While I haven't heard the official word from Jonathan's mother, according to WBIR in Knoxville, Jonathan was found today in New York City. Why he was gone and what was going on is still unknown but praise the Lord He is safe!!!

Thanks to everyone who prayed. Keep praying for the family as they work through what has happened.

The Christmas Spirit?

If you were at Capstone on Sunday, I confessed to the church that I was feeling kind of like Scrooge and Charlie Brown rolled into one. Scrooge was always "Bah, humbug" when it came to the things of Christmas. Charlie Brown simply wandered through the holiday trying to make sense of it all. The commercialization of Christmas had ruined it for him.

Me too.

While I'm not really in a "Bah, humbug" mood (I love the food, lights, friends and family), I am tired of the fact that most everyone sees Christmas as only being about the gifts, the shopping, and what they are going to get or give. I enjoy giving gifts --- I really do. I have made a couple of purchases in the last few days that I am very excited about because I know the people I have bought these items for will really love them and can use them. I can't wait to give them to them.

And I enjoy getting gifts as much as the next person. I really don't even care what it is --- it's the fact that someone gave it that matters most to me.

So here's my problem: I don't know what to buy the people I should get a gift for. Know why? Because everyone already has everything. And to top it off, I can't tell anyone what to get me. Why? Because I already have everything as well. There's not a thing in the world I need. Really, it's true.

That doesn't mean that I couldn't find good use for a couple of thousands of dollars or the new car or a whole new wardrobe. But I don't NEED any of those things. I'm just like most of the people in my little corner of the world --- we are all blessed beyond measure. We may not be the richest around but we've got more than we need.

And those things we do have --- faith, hope, joy, peace, family, friends, salvation, love, light --- well.....now that I think about it......I guess we are the richest around after all.

Look, Pray & Pass

Will you please take a look at the picture below, pray for this situation, and then pass this on to anyone you may know in the Virginia/Maryland/DC area? Jonathan is the son of my friend Jenny and the grandson of Rob White, former pastor of Northside Baptist in Anderson and the current pastor of Trinity Baptist in Cayce, SC. My first trip to Cuba was with Rob's mission group. They do not believe that Jonathan has been the victim of a crime but they don't know why he's gone or where he is. It's been one week today since he's gone missing.

Thanks for praying most of all. I'll write more tomorrow.

Lessons From These Months

Ever find yourself in the middle of a really tough period of life? The last few months have been that for me. There are many reasons ---- some you've read about here, others haven't been shared. Through it all, I am learning and re-learning many things. Here they are, in no particular order:

• When it seems like all hope is gone, God reveals a glimpse of Himself. Sometimes it's really small like a piece of glitter glistening in the light. Other times it hits you like a full moon on a cloudless night.
• We are not equipped to walk through hard times on our own. We will not make it and need not fool ourselves into thinking we will.
• It's okay to admit how you're really feeling to yourself and others.
• A good friend is a rare treasure.
• Past hurts damage our ability to trust again.
• I will not and should not listen to every voice that speaks. (Okay, that sounds like I'm hearing voices but what I mean is that everything some people say to you is not necessarily good or right. It may only be their misguided opinion or agenda and does not have validity.)
• Family should be treasured and not get leftovers. (I'm not talking about food here.)
• Traveling thousands of miles in the car with people is a great way to get to know them.
• I am so thankful for the fact that I get to be involved in every stage of life with people in ministry. It really is a gift.
• Walking for exercise is not only good for the body but what it does for the mind is even better.
• I love chocolate milkshakes. (Don't you love my train of thought here?)
• Three thanksgiving dinners is much better than only one or two.
• I love reading God's Word and hearing it speak to my heart. There have been so many verses over these months that I could have written. The promises such as Psalm 55:22 are so true: "Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall." (From the New Living Translation)
• God can still use weak, broken, hurting vessels.
• When we have nothing else to give, He steps in and fills us up. As painful as it is in that place, I know that's where He wants me to be --- totally and completely dependent on Him alone.
• I can trust Him completely, totally, without fear of failure or being disappointed.
• My stress and anxiety is self-induced.
• The King of Glory is in control and He's more than able. That means I don't have to worry about what if. I don't have to have a back-up plan. I don't have to try and figure out what I'll do in this situation or that.
• I simply must continue to trust Him, keep walking in faith, and be faithful to the call he has given me as husband, father, friend, pastor, son, mentor, etc......
• God brought me a true friend when I really needed it. I thank Him for that.
• I will boast in the Lord for He alone is worthy. So Gloria a Dios!

WOW & Check it out

Now I feel incredible pressure to keep blogging! Seriously, thanks for the comments and the emails. It means a lot to know folks are reading. I appreciate knowing too that you like reading the personal stuff. So, because of you, I WILL BLOG ON!

In a span of 29 hours on Thursday and Friday, I drove 1,200 miles. "Why?" you ask? I'll fill you in on my next post. So, drop by later.

Until then, check out my amazing daughter's latest blog post. She's 15 and a great blessing to us. I'm loving watching the Lord at work in her life.

Enjoy this beautiful Saturday! See you at Capstone on Sunday.

Do I Keep Blogging?

I love writing but I'm not sure if there's much reading going on here. Are you reading? What do you enjoy about the blog? Church stuff? Personal stuff? How often do you check to see if the blog has been updated? Please let me know by leaving a comment or emailing me: jerry@capstonechurch.com.

You hold my future in your hands. (Okay, not really, but I would like to hear from you!)

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Today is the birthday of one of the greatest ladies I've ever had the privilege of knowing. She means the world to me and I believe she knows that. But just in case she's forgotten, "I love you, Mama, and happy birthday!" She's a regular reader so I hope she sees this soon (even though it's already 10 pm on her birthday!)

We're celebrating after church tomorrow. Fun family time. I love it. Thanks for all you have done and continue to do, Mama. You're the best!