EARTHQUAKE!

well about an hour ago (1:48 pm) i thought the roof here at the church's building was going to fall on my head. it only took an hour to find out it was a 1.8 magnitude earthquake.

usgs info on earthquake

wtop news on the earthquake

i'll post more information as soon as i have it.

webcast slides

In order to help you follow along with tonight's class the slides can be downloaded as a pdf by clicking here

check out the webcast of my class tonight at 7:30 pm (edt)

You can tune in here each Wednesday night at 7:30 pm (edt)to view our webcast or visit http://live.yahoo.com/churchofchristinfallschurch to watch it there and participate in the chat room.

Birthday Tree Transplanting

On my birthday we dug a big hole and transplanted a tree from one part of our yard to another. I am happy to report that a week later the tree looks healthy!

for all you tron fans this is awesome

Tron
by freres-hueon

white house easter egg roll pictures

thanks to the generosity of one of the members of my church the kids and i were able to attend the annual white house easter egg roll. we didn't see bush 42 but we did get to see the jonas brothers.

first post in 2008 from abilene texas!

i am here looking for summer interns once again. here are some pictures of my trip so far.

a famous abilene brick
my kabin and rental car at the koa in abliene, tx.
just the rental car

my sermon on grace from last sunday

last sunday morning i was privileged to present the sermon during the morning worship service. i also presented the evening message it will be posted soon.

Sermon for Sunday Morning December 23rd 2007
Click Here to Listen

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family around the world!

Geeking Out

Geeking out at the apple store test driving an iPod touch!

tyler enjoys doritos

See my Tabblo>

two new video!

hey ya'll

cruise on over to the family life section at the church of Christ in falls church or to sparkyphilms to check out my latest videos. these two were part of a keynote presentation i gave as part of a report on this summer's mission trip to torrington, ct. it was a great trip but the coolest part of it was one of my former students who is now involved in our mission's committee was in charge of the trip. i just went along as eye candy.

busted head!

me and the family went on a long bike ride on the washington old domion trail to the town of vienna. we met up with some friends who live there and ate doughnuts and kettle corn popcorn at the farmers market. during the fun tyler ran and tripped into a bench hitting his head just above his eye. needless to say he cut it open and bled a lot at first. lisa used her first aid skills and stopped the bleeding with a band aid. then we cycled back to the van after some lunch and i took him over to the urgent care center for 3 stitches. he is doing fine and was very very good as the doctor put 3 stitches into his eye brow. never a good experience holding your child still as he cries as they stitch him up or give him a shot.

here are some pictures i took with my phone so the boy could see what he looked like.

My Psalm 46

This Tuesday (September 11th 2007) at the area wide minister's/leader's meeting, in remembrance of September 11th and the on going conflicts, Mike Anglin, of the Silver Spring Church of Christ, read Psalm 46. With this Psalm in mind every minister, elder and church leader present prayed. It was a powerful morning and one I won't soon forget. As I listened to all the prayers around me two thoughts came into my mind. First was that the LORD had entrusted us all with a sacred trust to be ministers in His church. A minister is not just someone who works for a church but every believer is called to be a minister. Every believer has been blessed with ministry. We just have to open our hearts and ears to see whom we are to minister to or how we are to minister.

The second thought was to personalize Psalm 46. It is one thing to read an encouraging piece of scripture like Psalm 46 it is another to put yourself into that Scripture. So I rewrote Psalm 46 with "I"s and "mine" instead of "us" and "ours". The truth of this psalm was not just for those who first wrote and or read it. No, the truth is for me and you today.

God is my refuge and strength,

my ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore I will not fear,

though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah

I know there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

I know God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

I see the nations are in uproar and kingdoms fall;

God lifts his voice and the earth melts.

The LORD Almighty is with me;

the God of Jacob is my fortress. Selah

You need to come and see the works of the LORD,

see the desolations he has brought on the earth.

Look He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear,

He burns the shields with fire.

"Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

The LORD Almighty is with me;

the God of Jacob is my fortress. Selah

pre-labor day camping trip

the byrd family went camping at the end of last week just before the labor day rush and the beginning of school. it was awesome and i am going to post some more pictures soon but i wanted to put this one up tonight. it is my favorite one from the trip. just me and tyler over looking east across a valley in shenandoah national park.

Follow Me and Leave it all Behind

Follow Me and Leave it all Behind

"No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." - Luke 9.62 (NIV)
"No procrastination. No backward looks. You can't put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day." - Luke 9.62 (The Message)
"No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." - Luke 9.62 (KJV)

Jesus calls us to leave and follow Him. What do we leave? We leave our ideas of how a "good" person lives. We follow the pattern Jesus shows us of how a child of God lives. (Matthew 5.1 - 7.29 & Luke 6.20 - .49) We leave the idea that a job is our identity. After accepting the call of Jesus to follow: Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew would no longer see themselves as simple fishermen or a tax collector. From that point on they left their old identities behind and would identify themselves as disciples of Jesus who follow. (Matthew 4.18 - .22, Mark 1.16 - .20 & Luke 5.1 - .11) We leave the comforts of home and family, leaving that behind for a life that follows Jesus wherever He leads. (Matthew 8.18 - .22 & Luke 9.57 - .62) The path He leads us on may lead to danger and uncertainty or it may lead to joy and success. My experience shows me that we find both on the path on which He leads us. We are called to follow and leave ourselves behind. No longer do we, as followers, belong to ourselves but now we are His.

Jesus does not leave us alone. Even though we leave family, job, comfort, safety, certainty and ourselves behind we have been given so much! We have Jesus with us here and now. He is not only the one we follow but He is our fellow traveler as well. We also have each other on this path. We, as followers of Jesus, are walking together. Sometimes our paths take us in different directions, but we are all following the same leader. As we run and walk this path with Jesus and each other, we also have a mission. We leave behind our own agendas and the agendas of the world for Jesus' agenda. He calls us to continue His work and ministry here and now! We are to take the message of the Kingdom of God to this world. It is a world full of bad news. Isn't it wonderful that we have the true Good News to share? (Matthew 28.16 - .20, Mark 16.14 - .20 & Acts 1.1 - .11)

Jesus warns us that if we start to follow but don't leave things behind we are not fit for the Kingdom of God. We can't follow and not leave the things of this world and ourselves behind. It is like someone who starts to plow a field and continues to look back. Instead of nice straight rows that are fit for planting you end up with crooked overlapping rows that ruin a good field. So the choice is yours and mine. Do we leave and follow or do we stay behind and care for the things of this world? I choose to leave and follow and I pray that you will also!

Follow Me Right into Danger

Follow Me Right into Danger

Danger is something most of us try to avoid. We naturally avoid danger. If yellow caution tape is up we know that beyond that tape is danger. Some dangers we accept. We have “normalized” the dangers of traveling in a car or an airplane. Some dangers we have not normalized. For instance you are more likely to get into a serious car accident than hurt in a terrorist attack. It is natural for us to fear and avoid danger.

Unfortunately this natural instinct to avoid danger is not the path Jesus leads us to on when we decide follow him. An excellent example of following Jesus into danger can be found in the second half of the 8th chapter of Matthew. (Matthew 8.14 - .34) Jesus leaves Peter’s house after healing his mother in-law and the many people who were brought to him. (Matthew 8.14 - .17) Then he crosses the lake to get away from the crowd around him. When he lands on the other side of the lake several people ask to follow him. The first person is a disciple described as a teacher of the law. The teacher of the law tells Jesus he will go where ever Jesus goes. Jesus’ tells him that unlike foxes and birds the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. Following Jesus will take you away from your comforts of home. (Matthew 8.18 - .20) Another disciple comes forward and wants to follow but first wants to bury his father. Jesus calls this man to let the dead take care of themselves but you are to “follow me.” (Matthew 8.21 & .22) We are not told if they follow or not that is up to us to decide. By following they leave their comfortable lives because Jesus is about to lead his followers into danger.

The first danger Jesus and his followers face is a storm on the lake. While the disciples struggle to keep their boat a float Jesus sleeps. In fear they wake Jesus to save them from the danger. He rebukes them for their lack of faith and calms the storm completely. The followers are amazed and astonished at the power of the one they follow. (Matthew 8.23 - .27)

The second danger is a pair of demon possessed men. Immediately after they get out of the boat these two men come at the followers from the tombs. The text describes these two men as being so violent and dangerous that no one could travel in that area. The demons beg Jesus not to torture them but to let them go into some near by pigs. Jesus commands them to “GO”! They go and the pigs run off a cliff and drown in the sea. The locals come out and beg Jesus to leave their region and he does. (Matthew 8.28 - .34)

Following Jesus is not a safe path to walk. His disciples follow him into a boat that takes them into danger. The storm could have killed them. The demon possessed men posed both physical and spiritual dangers. Demons could have left the men and possessed the disciples or the men could have severally hurt or killed the disciples. Jesus lead his followers into these dangers and lead them out! Ironically the dangers were themselves in danger. Jesus stops the storm. Jesus commands the demons. Jesus is a danger to dangers because he is the LORD of all.

He is still leading us into dangers today. He is still leading us thru dangers today. We must have faith and follow. The disciples were warned up front. They will have none of the comforts of this world if they follow the Son of Man. We are given the same warning but we know that even if the Son of Man leads us into danger he is with us. He did not leave us alone but walks into the dangers with us.

saturday at the pool

what more can i say while lisa enjoyed the women of faith confrence the kids and i enjoyed the pool.

eyeball skeleton

so i was talking to my dad on the phone the other day and the subject of music came up now ya'll probably know my dad is a guirtarist and has played in a bunch of bands from the glenn philips band to the predictors but he mentioned the group eyeball skeleton and with a little bit of googleing i found this videoon youtube. so for you musical enjoyment i present eyeball skeleton

woodley warriors!

austin gets some refreshments after his first swim meet! he swam the freestyle ok for a first timer. i am proud of my woodley warrior!