It is time

I am officially moving to a new space. You can find my blog here:MarkSears. Come by and read the madness that I can come up with.

Better Late Than Much Later

Welcome back. I know it has been quite some time since my last post. It seems that I am trying to commit blog suicide. I really don’t want to loose my two or three regular readers. I really hope you are reading this. So here is a mini update, my family and I have been so busy, we have been to at least one football game a week and most of the time two. My daughter is on the JV cheerleading squad at her school. It is so different than it was back when I was in middle school. I was not a cheerleader but they were nowhere near as busy as my daughter has been the past two months. I have been elected to the school board of my son’s high school. Basketball is gearing up and will be in full swing in a few weeks. If you aren’t aware I coordinate the basketball and other sports programs and my church. The band has taken a short hiatus. But I am under the impression that is coming to a rapid close.

Ok, I am going to get back on my regular blog schedule. It may take a few posts to get back into the swing of things. So give me a few posts to get the creative juices flowing and maybe I can make things worth coming back to read. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head. I’ve been sleeping much better so the delirious off the wall things you have been reading may become more coherent in the future. But a lack of sheep can show up at any time and the madness could return with no notice. Check back regularly to see what is going on around my life.

So, what is Next?

OK, I was under the impression a plan in the 700 billion dollar bailout was a done deal. I never had a clue there was a chance it would not pass a vote. Well, people are hurting in this tough economic time. There are families doing without, some wondering when they will have to find a new place to live. Now, the lawmakers are trying to come up with a new plan. At this point, I am not sure what caused the plan not to pass. I guess we will see what the future holds. Maybe the Senate and Congress will get their act together and we will see something done before it is too late.

What a week, since Friday we have lost one of our greatest actors, a bailout bill failed as I said above and the market lost almost 800 points in less than ten minutes yesterday.

The up side to all of this, the market will rebound, the power in the government will shift and many other great actors will follow Paul Newman’s path. The best thing of all is we will learn from history and it will be many generations after us before anyone will have to deal with this kind of mess again.

Just remember we have our whole lives ahead of us. Keep your eyes lifted high and follow the path of the greatest man ever to walk the face of the earth. He gave us the best example of how to live.

So, what is Next?

OK, I was under the impression a plan in the 700 billion dollar bailout was a done deal. I never had a clue there was a chance it would not pass a vote. Well, people are hurting in this tough economic time. There are families doing without, some wondering when they will have to find a new place to live. Now, the lawmakers are trying to come up with a new plan. At this point, I am not sure what caused the plan not to pass. I guess, we’ll see what the future holds.

Maybe we will see something done before it is too late.

I’m Back

OK, I posted yesterday and it was one from a couple of weeks when I wasn’t sleeping all that well. I spent several hours alone at the computer with the television playing and lots of time to clean out the deep dark areas of my mind. Well, my wife tells me it is the silly parts of my mind. Anyway, last night I spent a lot of time sitting all alone in front of the computer and with the television playing. The good news is you don’t have to read the crazy things that were racing through my mind. I did finally go to bed and get some sleep. The down side is my alarm woke me up two and a half hours later. I managed to make it thought the day at work and a few miles of a taxi trip picking up my daughter and getting her to church. Now I am about to head back to pick her up. Then I hope the whole family gets to get a good night sleep tonight. So with the fear of sounding stupid, I hope my next blog post is boring. Well, not really but I do hope I sleep tonight.

Reality TV?

In keeping with my lack of sleep theme of a few weeks ago, here is another episode of my blog for your enjoyment.

Is “Reality TV really all that good. Most of the shows are not. How many of them have come and gone without as much as a glance. Of course There is Survivor , Big Brother and American Idol that have enough of a following that they will be around for a while. I don’t consider myself a reality show junkie or anything. I do watch some of them but that is mostly because we don’t have a million channels in our house and at times you just have to choose something you would rather tolerate over the other things that are on.

OK to the point, hasn’t TV changed in the last fifteen years. I guess it is because of the moral change in the views of the American people. We now accept things as the norm that fifteen years ago would have been considered voodoo if mentioned in public. Now we are accepting curtain words on prime time TV that were NEVER said in public settings much less on TV ten years ago.

What do you thing was the biggest contributing factor to this trend? Leave a comment and let’ see if we can come up with a reason and maybe a solution that will make TV worth our children watching in the future.

See you soon!

How much crap is for sale?

I told you I was having trouble with my sleeping patterns reciently. Well, I have seen a lot of late night/early morning TV. There is a lot of selling or at least trying to sell junk going on. It seems that every channel of “free TV” have infomercials running all night. This seems to be more present starting on Friday night/Saturday morning but none the less someone has found the need to try to sell some kind of gadget we “cannot life without” because it will “make our lives easier” or because they have found a way to give us that ripped and finely cut body we have always dreamed of by doing as little as possible for just fifteen minutes a day and it only takes five easy payments of $49.95. But wait there’s more! If you call in the next ten minutes they will pay one of the payments for you AND WAIT there’s more. They will give you a second of whatever contraption it is that they are hocking at now cost. Truth be known the first easy payment will triple their profit on both items they are promising to send you.

And what about those car salesman that are parading all these “Great Deals” around for thirty minutes on each channel? You can see them and when it is over change the channel and catch the same thing again and so on and so on until you have seen them on every channel.

What would an infomercial from God be like? I know He wouldn’t sell us crap. And furthermore there is no way we could possibly pay Him what it would be worth. I love a lot of people but there are only a hand full of people I would die for. If you want to see what it is all about let me know and I will give you the time and location of one of His infomercials. Even better I’ll give you direction to the live event.

See ya soon.

It's time for a little change

OK, I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Many of my friends have made the move from here to a new location. This is to put you on notice. I am making that move soon. Click on the link below and you will be taken to the new location of my blog. Bookmark it when you get there. Everything I post here will be there as well and then one day, BAM!!! I'm all there and not here.

Mark's new Blog Location

Saturday fun

OK, I've changed my plans yet again. Although I told you I had some plans for the next few posts, I have made one change. A few months ago Blake Comer (The youth minister at our church) posted a video of Blake Bergstrom and a slight twist of words while he was speaking at church. That video can be seen here.

There was a follow up to that clip. Blake B. has a great sense of humor. One would have to in order to deal with this. Watch this and enjoy.

I'll see you in a few days.

Weekend Update

The band was at Heritage yesterday. Things seemed to get off to a slow start. God decided to spend the day teaching me a little bit. The morning service was the third time we have led worship at Heritage. It was exciting to see two adults accept Jesus as their personal savior during the morning worship service. To top that just before the closing prayer the Associate Pastor announced that three children also accept Jesus as their personal savior in the children's service. That is pretty amazing isn’t it, five people, in the span of two hours? I am ashamed to tell you I walked out of the church with much less excitement than I did the two previous times we led worship there. I can’t believe I didn’t walk out of that church shouting and dancing with Joy. I have five new brothers and sisters in my family.

The first two times we led worship at Heritage were evening services which are a much like the services at Freedom. Sunday evening the people that sat in the pews with few exceptions were totally different people than the morning service. The worshipers showed a desire to spend quality time with God. The experience was not the same as the previous two times. But as I said earlier I came away with a lesson. The message was along the lines of when we face troubled times we MUST keep our focus on what matters most, God. He will bring us through the hard times and we will be stronger after the storm settles. The lesson I came away with is “we have all been called to spread God’s message”. We should use every opportunity and every option available to us in spreading God’s message.

I can’t wait for the next time we have an opportunity to share God’s love with our musical talents. I am so blessed to be associated with the other guys (and girl) in the band. They have so much talent and a love for God. I love these guys so much and am truly thankful for them allowing me to join them in this adventure. We all have very supportive families. They allow us to spend time away from them practicing as we prepare to lead worship as well as the extra time it takes to arrive early to set up and get the settings right on all the equipment prior to the services. They are wonderful and as much a part of what we are doing as we are. This is one great family. I’ll let you know when we are scheduled to lead worship somewhere.

I know I kind of rambled and I am sorry but that is the magic of blogging. Nothing has to lead to a point and I can say what comes to my mind at any moment.

Check back soon. I actually do have things lined up for they next several days to see what things pop out of the mind of this fourty something teenager.

See you later.

Trying to get back on track

I went back to bed at 5:15 and slept until 8:00 so maybe I'll make it through the night tonight. So I said I wasn't going to tell you anything I had in mind for the blog But check back I have a few things in the works since I had the spare time this morning..

See you soon!!!!!!!!!

Am I mixed up?

I woke up about two hours ago. I don’t know if it was all the caffeine loaded drinks I had Friday or if I have confused my body this week. This is the second time since Tuesday that I have woken in the middle of the night and not been able to go back to sleep. The other nights I have been awake until at lease 2 am and up around 6. Needless to say I haven’t slept much this week. Maybe it will help me sleep tonight.
I have been following Hanna as best I can. There is not much information flowing on the web about a tropical storm at 2:30 am. I thought these news reporters and weather people were working 24/7 or more. I guess in the information age it still takes time to spread the word. The good news is the storm was not as bad as expected. We could have used the rain from the storm had it hit the state on the southern tip or farther south but God knows best and decided He didn’t want to bring it inland that far south.

OK there are still a lot of random things floating around in my mind right now (it may be the lack of sleep) I was reading some of my previous posts and can’t believe anyone is still reading my blog. I tell you I am going to do something and don’t and then I wait two weeks to tell you I’ve been too busy (or lazy) to get to it. Yet you are still at least looking to see if I am doing anything. The numbers tell me that. So in the near future (at least) I will make the time to post something. I am not promising substance but something so you aren’t totally wasting your time looking to see if I have written something. So check back soon to see what is on my mind (or running out of my ears)

All joking aside, the band will be at Heritage Baptist Sunday morning at 10:30 am and again at 6:00 pm. Come out and have a great time with people with the biggest hearts in Greenville. I get a blessing being around them.

We’ll be looking for you!

Sunday at Heritage

Hey guys,

If you both are still reading, the band is playing at Heritage this Sunday. We will be there for the 10:30 am service and the 6:00 pm service. We have some great music to play. God puts things together and blesses everyone in some way. Be there if you can. It helps to have the support of family and friends. If you need more information let me know.

Hope to see you there.

Thank you God for your Mercy

All day long if you have watched any television you are sure to have heard a story about the hurricane. I just say, “Thank you God for sparing so many tragedies that could have taken place today.

Just a Quick Note

The older I get the more I learn. I could have never been as effective as a "Full Time" Youth Minister as ours at Freedom (Blake). Blake has so many creative things in his mind. The best of which I just experienced. I am in my office at work and was watching him in the church office as he was doing something. Take a look but you will need to do this during regular office hours. If your are curious:what is blake doing.

Catch you soon

Less Than Three Weeks

I have concluded it is not good for me to tell what I am planning to do with the blog. It is now Monday and the family is home. We have a great time at the beach. There was lots of sun fun and friends. I mentioned the Tiki bar in the previous post. I think I said something about a picture in it. Well, I was sitting here thinking about what I was going to do tonight and suddenly realized that I never took a picture of the Tiki bar. So I guess I will not share a picture of it. I guess I could find one somewhere on the web and post it but what is the use. We did take several pictures and many of them are good but I have yet to connect the camera to the computer to move them to a more permanent home. Anyway, it was back to the regular routine today. I got up this morning only to show up to work and play catch up all day. That is the real down side to taking a vacation. You spend so much time cleaning up the things that others don’t have time to get to or just decide they don’t want to do. (NBD)

Here are the things I feel are the hi-lites of the week:
-After a few hours of driving we arrived Sunday afternoon.
-The women went grocery shopping.
-Mid morning Monday everyone decided to roll out of the bed and mosey to the beach.
-Tuesday the men (Me and Ben) joined Lance and Joe for a round of 18. 103 degrees Wow was it hot.
-Wednesday was still mid morning getting to the beach but it was earlier than Monday.
-Thursday we got to the beach before 10. The waves were killer. We were about dead from riding one after another. It was totally ahhhhhwesome, duoode!!! We were on boogie boards so I guess we were hanging five.
-Friday was so much cooler. We pretty much hung out in (not at) the ocean all day.
-Saturday started with a walk on the beach. My wife was too into sleep so I was all alone. It was nice alone time. It would have been nice to have her with me but it was good as it was. We spent the morning at the pool and waited until six for the beach. Tried fishing with a casting net. I like it and plan to start the week off with it next year.

I’m already looking forward to next year. I can’t wait. I guess I can wait for the catch up week following vacation. But I will be worth it.

What is your favorite thing to do at the beach?

Who knows what will be next.

Until then!

Three Weeks too Late!!!

OK, I have to start by issuing two apologies. First to any of you who read regularly and still look to see if anything new has been posted. I apologize for making you waste so much time seeing the same old thing for the past three weeks. I am truely sorry. Secondly to my friemd Kent. I have hasstleld him for the better part of July for not adding a new post. Kent, I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time and doing the same thing. I didn't realze until yesterday it had been such a long time since I posted on the blog.

OK here's a quick update. The family and I are at the beach. Myrtle of course. There is no other beach is there? We are here with several friends (12 in our houst). It turnes out we have many more that thought this week was a good week to be here. Our house really gets a lot of attention. I will post some pictures later to give you the virtualy tour. If I can get enough computer time to post them. I'm no my son's computer while he is asleep.

Here are the highlites of our house:
It is bright yellow.
we have a tiki bar on the ground level.
it is on the corner of a very busy intersection.
the most noticed thing about the house is the small sign hanging at the entrance of the tiki bar. (Free Margaritas Tomorrow) We have sooooo many people coming back daily to get that free margarita that is offered tomorrow. We just keep telling them we will be serving them tomorrow. And the funny thing is every time they come by they are still free tomorrow. It is a hoot. We have five more days before making that dreaded trip up the highway. I guess I'd better get going for now.

Until then, I'm enjoying the days and nights here is the sea salted misty air. Hootie Hoo!!! (for you Jeanne and family)

Another Great Sunday

I mentioned the band was playing at Heritage this past Sunday, well, it was another great evening. We saw people get touched by God. It always amazes me to see God show Himself. I have been a Christian for thirty years now and God still reveals Himself to me in new ways. I would love to have been able to see Jesus and the Disciples. Can you imagine what it would be like to walk down the street and see the town's leper come running at you shouting, "Jesus just healed me"? Or the newly wedded couple, showing the pictures of their wedding and hear them telling how Jesus saved the evening at their reception when he told the servants to fill the wine containers with water and serve it. As the people started to drink what they were served they wanted to know where the most fantastic drink they have ever tasted came from.

When God reveals Himself it is like drinking the most refreshing drink you have ever tasted on the hottest day of your life. That first drink is the best and most memorable drink. But wait, the next time you put that cup to your lips and take a drink it is just a wonderful as the first. Then you take another and another and another and they just keep getting better and better. That is what it is like for me every time the band plays. We had a great time at Heritage before. We learned a lot of what this church is all about. It was an overwhelming evening and few days following as I soaked in all that had happened that evening. Then we go back this week and of course God showed Himself to everyone there again. (Well, at least everyone that I talked to that was there) We saw people saved this trip. Before we sang the last song one of the men came forward and made a public admission that he just accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior and everyone in the church raised their hands and openly prayed for this new brother, because he just started the most wonderful yet most difficult journey of his life, he will need these prayers and many more on this journey

I have gone on long enough for now. Just a quick note, the band will be at Heritage again Sunday, September 7th. If you can make it I am sure you will not be disappointed. Not because we will be playing but because God will be there.

Hope to see you then.

I want to break the Rut!!!

OK, so I had one person to tell me this week that I did so well about posting while I was on vacation. The one thing about going to a small town is there isn't a lot to choose from to fill every moment of the day. Don't get me wrong I loved spending time with all of my family. It just worked out that there was enough free time for me to stop and type a few lines about the trip.

So as promised here are a few pictures I took of the community parade and it brought back so many great memories of my childhood. I'll share them with you in the coming days as I reflect.











Notice the kid in the last picture didn't make it to the end of the parade.

The really cool thing was when we went to the community picnic I relived my childhood through my children. The fell in love with the same games I did as a child. I wonder if I had the same look on my face as they did when they won the prizes. No! You won't see me riding around town in the Ford F150 the Chamber of Commerce raffled off. It was won by an Out of Towner but it wasn't anyone in my family.

I guess I'd better cut this off and save some of this for later. A quick note before I go, the band will be playing at Heritage Baptist church in Greenville again this Sunday. If you want to experience a great worship time come joins us as we are blessed by these wonderful people. This looks like it may be a regular thing for a while. Pray for us as we prepare to assist God in leading this worship experience. Hope to see you there. If you can't make it physically be there spiritually.

See you soon!!!

Every Good Thing must come to an end

It is late Sunday night and I am getting ready to go to bed. We are heading out on the long trip back home tomorrow morning. It has been very nice to see all the family and I really hate to leave. However, it is time to get back to the regular routine and start preparing for the next trip.

Just an update on the small town celebration, the kids loved the community parade and picnic. My son fell in love with the ring toss. It was my favorite when I was a kid. I remember winning several knives over the years. None of which I have a clue where they might be today. But, my son knows where the knife is that he won. I think it is so cool to know he has experienced some of my childhood. I hope he will think back in thirty years and remember that feeling he had when he saw that ring drop over that knife and land on the board and the sound of the man shouting "We have a winner". My daughter brought home a stuffed puppy dog that she has to have as soon as she saw it. She did quite well throwing darts at the balloons. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of either event. However, you will see pictures of the parade as soon as I have the time to sit down and sort through them. I will post a few of the ones that capture the air of the hometown celebration of our great country's 232nd birthday.

See you at the house!