I Moved My Blog To Wordpress

Well, I decided to move the blogging party over to Wordpress. You can access my blog by going to www.mikesilliman.com. I appreciate all of you that subscribe to my blog and follow along on a daily basis!

Yo Fatheads...Look Who's in the Boat!

I was reading Mark 8:14-21. Take a minute and read it before you read on.

It's amazing to me how quickly the disciples forgot what Jesus did with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. Not just once, but two separate times. They are in the boat with the one that feed 9,000 men + all the woman and children. There had to be at least 27,000 people in total that Jesus feed with just 12 loaves of bread. If that wasn't amazing enough for you...there was 19 loaves left over. There was more bread left over than what they started with! ...And the disciples were worried that they only had one loaf of bread between the few of them! Are you kidding me?

It's easy to look at the disciples and criticize them for being fatheads, as I sit here and worry about my personal finances, our church budget, hundreds of details, and wonder how I'm gonna make things work.

Guess what...I'm not gonna make things work, but I'm in the boat with the creator of the universe and everything in it! I think He can manage...what do you think?

Larry Norman Dies at age 61

Larry Norman, the "father of Christian rock music" died yesterday at the age of 61. I've been so inspired by Larry's music through the years. For those that maybe aren't that familiar with him, he wrote the songs, "I wish we'd all been ready", "Why don't you look into Jesus", and "Why should the devil have all the good music?". Larry, you will be missed but you are in the presence of Jesus!

Here is an excerpt from larrynorman.com:

Hello everybody. Our friend and my wonderful brother Larry passed away at 2:45 Sunday morning. Kristin and I were with him, holding his hands and sitting in bed with him when his heart finally slowed to a stop. We spent this past week laughing, singing, and praying with him, and all the while he had us taking notes on new song ideas and instructions on how to continue his ministry and art. Thank you for being part of his small circle of friends over the years. Yesterday afternoon he knew he was going to go home to God very soon and he dictated the following message to you while his friend Allen Fleming typed these words into Larry's computer:

I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home. My brother Charles is right, I won't be here much longer. I can't do anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone. In the past you have generously supported me with prayer and finance and we will probably still need financial help. My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers inside. But still it will be costly because of funeral arrangement, transportation to the gravesite, entombment, coordination, legal papers etc. However money is not really what I need, I want to say I love you. I'd like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort. There will be a funeral posted here on the website, in case some of you want to attend. We are not sure of the date when I will die. Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again. Goodbye, farewell, we'll meet again Somewhere beyond the sky. I pray that you will stay with God Goodbye, my friends, goodbye.

Larry

Sunday Night and feeling random

• Casey comes home late tonight from her Guatemala trip. We all miss her a bunch! We can't wait to hear all of her stories.
• Got a call from Walter(our worship leader) late last night that he had the flu.
• After the call, I went into scramble mode and called my friend Jeff. He called me back 10 minutes later letting me know that they were able to help us out.
• They did a great job, and I really appreciate them coming on extremely short notice.
• The flu is wicked this year.
• It was weird not having to speak today.
• I thought Steve did a good job today talking about Grace-driven families.
• I can't wait to "bring it" next week! I'll be speaking on sexual purity. 
• We had 11 first time guests today and full house. It's feels good to have to add chairs instead of taking them away.
• I've been very encouraged with the level giving at Elk Creek. Thank you guys for being faithful! God is going to bless you for it.
• If I stick to my plan, I should break 200 lbs. early this week. It's been a long time since I've been below 200 lbs. It feels good!
• I've been meditating on Psalm 63. I want to get lost in my love for God like this psalm describes!
• Did I mention that the flu is wicked this year!

Top 10 Quotes from the C3 Conference

I've looked through my many pages of notes and have compiled my Top 10 favorite quotes from the C3 conference.

10) "There is always a Judas at your table, and they're close enough to kiss you!" - TD Jakes

9)   "Be bold enough to put the other knee down" - Ed Young Jr.

8)   "Leaders live in the tension between living in community and living out responsibility" - Mac Richard

7)   "All Leadership radiates out of the intersection of love and good deeds." - Mac Richard

6)   "As Pastors, we are called to work for the only organization that Jesus died for - the Church" - Perry Noble

5)   "Starbucks has kept me in the ministry." - Tommy Barnett

4)   "The capacity to empower people is the greatest gift of a leader." - Brian Houston

3)   "The call of God is what gets you out of bed everyday, not a burden for something." - Tommy Barnett

2)   "Great men are just ordinary men that didn't quit." - Tommy Barnett

1)    "You're only as deep as the last person that you served." - Perry Noble

OK, I couldn't stop at 10...

Bonus Quote #1: "The cost of leadership is conflict." - TD Jakes

Bonus Quote #2: "Leadership is really spelled L-O-N-L-I-N-E-S-S" - TD Jakes

Bonus Quote #3: Speaking about being betrayed in ministry and referring to Joseph being betrayed by his brothers and thrown into a pit..."Pit happens" - Ed Young Jr.

If you were at the conference, chime in with your favorite quote.

I Love You* but you drive me nuts

There is lots of buzz going around about Jon & Kate Gosselin coming to Elk Creek Church on March 30th. We have over 300 ticket requests already and we still have over a month to go before the event. We are going to be talking about relationships and kicking off a sermon series that you won't want to miss! Trust me...

Here is a short promo video

Feeling Random Today

• Casey left for Guatemala yesterday...I miss her already!
• It was cool to see a full house at church yesterday, even with a bunch of people away or sick. 
• We had 8 first time guests yesterday.
• I'm excited to go to the Creative Church Conference this week.
• I'm excited to go to my friend Don Record's church on Sunday.
• I sensed God at work in hearts yesterday as we talked about bitterness.
• It will be weird to not be at Elk Creek this coming week.
• Not having to prepare a sermon for this Sunday, will allow me to focus while at the conference this week.
• I expect God to move in my life this week.
• I get to hang out with this dude and this dude at the conference.