Another reason why I'm glad to be moving

I saw this on the news last night. My current apartment sits adjacent to the parking lot of Grapevine Mills. This mall, and the neighborhood, are going downhill fast. I remember back in 1997 when Grapevine Mills first opened. It was a pretty happening place to be. It had Dick Clark's Grill, Eerie World Cafe, and Rainforest Cafe, and a huge AMC 30 screen theater. The AMC and Rainforest Cafe are still there, but Dick Clark's and Eerie World have both been replaced by an indoor skatepark and Hollister. That did nothing but drive the adults away, and now the place is run over by pre-teens dropped off by their irresponsible parents. I don't even like stepping foot in the theater any longer. On a Friday night it's absolutely insane. I guess it's good I only have 2 weeks until my move day. Here's an excerpt from the news article:

Professional’ shoplifters nabbed at Grapevine Mills:

“When our officers finally arrested the two men, they found that the van was just stuffed full of clothing,” Murphy said. “All of the items still had price tags and some were still on hangers. The clothing amounted to $8,651.18; $3,662.68 worth of the merchandise was from stores at Grapevine Mills.”

Who thinks of this stuff?

Saw this downtown Dallas while going to lunch the other day. The sad part about it is that it actually made me laugh. God help me...

House update

Here is a picture of the current front door of my apartment.

I put in my official 30 day notice at my apartment community in Grapevine. I'm having to break my lease, but the office manager was willing to work with me so I can do it with as little fees as possible. I have lived here at this complex for a little over 4 years, so it has grown on me some.

That being said, I am definitely glad I am finally moving into my own house. Case in point, last night at around 11:30pm, I heard my new upstairs neighbors "extra-curicular" activities while trying to fall asleep. I've never had that problem in over 4 years of living here. I guess that's God's way of telling me I'm buying a house at the right time!

My House...In The Middle of the Street

Here's a first look at the house I am getting. I drove by last night and took a few photos. I love the huge red oak tree in the front along with the massive crepe myrtles. That'll help keep the house cool in these hot Texas summers.

Venturing into home ownership

I am a single guy. After living in the same apartment complex for over 4 1/2 years, I have decided to take the next leap . I have the opportunity to get into a house that's just 5 minutes from church, in a wonderful neighborhood, extremely near to some of my closest friends (within walking distance!).

I'm a little nervous, seeing as this will be the first house that I have ever owned, but the timing seems right. It's a little surreal at the moment. Almost as if it's a fuzzy dream, that you can't quite believe is happening. But...believe me...it is.

It's a little over 2,000 square feet, has 4 bedrooms/2 bathrooms/2 car garage/2 car carport/and has a 1 boat driveway. Yes you read that right, a boat driveway. AND...It's only 3 minutes from the lake.

Thus begins the journey. I should be moving by the end of the summer if things run smoothly. I'll post pics as soon as I get them.

Fireworks

So I am laying in bed the other night trying to go to sleep while World War III is going on in my neighborhood! Seriously, I thought at any minute my house was going to get blown up.

Finally there was a lull in the explosions…and I began to drift off to sleep…and them BAM…it all cranked back up.

This happened until about 2:00 AM…I could not sleep, every time I tried fireworks were going off…I have to be honest, I was not a happy camper.

But this morning I started thinking about it…that is what God has called me (and you) to be…FIREWORKS…to go throughout the day making a series of small and large explosions that pull people out of their sleep and make them pay attention–to Jesus.

In my opinion…the church has been asleep for too long. We’ve sat around waiting on God to make a move–never considering His move He made 2,000 years ago when He sent His Son to earth.

We can’t afford to sit around and talk about issues such as choir robes and hymnals when people are going to hell around us. We’ve got to wake up and smell the Starbucks! The church was called to make noise (please read Acts two–a noise was heard and people came running from every direction! They were not concerned with having a “holy huddle” and keeping things small–they wanted to REACH people!)

Now God is waiting on us…we are called to go out into the world and reach people for Him…and we can’t do that if we remain in a state of slumber. We need to stop asking God to “empower us!” HE ALREADY HAS!!! We simply need to go out and use what we’ve been given.

So today look for an opportunity to make an explosion for God–how…invite someone to church–ask someone how you can pray for them–send someone an encouraging note–there a lots of ways…and make sure that whatever you do brings the attention back to Jesus.

Make some noise!

The fear of KISS

When I was a kid I was scared to death of these guys. Oh man. Their makeup gig scared the bajeebers out of me! As far as I was concerned, KISS really did stand for "Knights in Satan's Service." (Too many "Peter Brother's" backwards masking seminars back then....)

Well here we are now - in the year 2006 and KISS has done it again. Except it's not the makeup scaring me this time around - it's this:



KISSCOFFEEHOUSE


Yeah, it's for real.

Trust me, I am all for new ideas and the whole entrepreneurial spirit thing, but does this really seem like an idea that's going to take off?

I'm skeptical for a lot of reasons, but most of all I guess I just don't typically associate rock 'n roll with coffee. Beer? Yes. But not coffee. Maybe this will go over well in Las Vegas and LA or a handful of other "touristy" areas, but I'm just not picturing people flocking all over the US to line up for the new Demon Dark Roast or the Iced Rockiato.

Then again, maybe it's just me... I need a nap.