Finally hit the 250s

I'm definitely not seeing the 240s from my house yet though. It was very hard getting past the 260 barrier. I've flirted with it for over a week. But after walking four miles, then cutting grass all afternoon, I'm weighing in at just over 256. Rehydrating may bring that back up a pound or two, but I should still be under 260. 

The next two "weight decades" are significant to me. When I get to 250 I will be down about 80 pounds. That'll be my halfway point. I'm hoping to get to 170, and that takes a 160 pound loss from my 330 pound start.  Getting to 240 will be significant because that is my college graduation weight. It would be nice to know I'm at least no bigger than I was when I graduated. 

I've set dates for both of those goals. I'd like to be at 250 by the time Jon comes home on leave, and 240 by the time he returns to Germany 3 weeks later.

My Weight Loss Journey

Red shirt, last fall, estimated 325 lbs.

Pink shirt, Easter 2009, around 282 lbs.

I don't see a lot of difference in these two, but I got a lot of compliments from Facebook friends about how much thinner I looked in the Easter picture. Do you see it?

Since the 25th of January I have lost about 70 pounds. I weighed in that night before going to bed at 332 pounds. When I got up this morning I was 260. When I told a friend that I needed to start blogging again, I was told this was one of the things I should have been blogging about. Technically, I have. I have kept a web log on a published Google Docs Spreadsheet detailing the journey. Feel free to look over the spreadsheet. Most of my progress for February through April is detailed on the page labeled "Mike." I was supposed to be having a contest with a friend named Jay during that time, but if you look at the page labeled "Jay" you'll see that he didn't hang with me. Jay is still working on his weight loss and I wish him all the luck in the world.

Now that our contest is over, I wanted to start a new page that compares my current weight with my January 25 weigh in at home. The old "Mike" page had a later start date, February 2, since that was the beginning of our contest. By February 2 I was already 5 pounds lighter dressed at the doctor's office than I had been at home undressed on January 25th. So the "home" page compares the current weight with the beginning of the Journey, not the beginning of the contest. Comments and encouragements are appreciated.

I'm still breathing

I haven't posted on this or any blogs in quite a while. My blogs have pretty much become "Facebook Orphans". The only problem with that is that little of substance gets posted on Facebook, and what does get posted is only available to people with Facebook pages. I'm going to try to move away from Facebook and start publishing here more often. I need your help. What kind of things would you like to hear me talk about here? Please leave a note in the comments.

Audio Conference for Pastors -- Daniel Akin

Audio Conference for Pastors
January 20 2009

Dr. Bobby Gilstrap interviews Dr. Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

1.  Why do we have so many unhealthy churches?

We have jettisoned the authority and sufficiency of scripture.

Jesus repeatedly affirms the authority of the Word of God, as does Paul after him.

A bishop who is an avowed practicing homosexual is leading prayer in todays inaugural. You cannot get there in the bounds of accepting the authority of scripture.

A NT church is a church that reflects the true teaching of the Bible.

The church to be healthy, must ask, "What does the Bible say about the church?"
Matt 16:13-20; Acts 2:40-47; Eph 4:1-16; 1 Thes 1:1-10

2.  Why do we need a recovery of Word based ministry?

Geo Barna says among evangelicals almost half believe Jesus committed sin while he was on the earth. They also believe that it is possible to work your way to salvation, even through other non-Christian religions.  The only way you can take this position is to either to deny the Bible or be ignorant of the Bible.

We need to teach our people think in rigorous Biblical categories.  We are seeing a young group who are modeling men who are radically committed to expository preaching and theological thinking.  Dr. Johnny Hunt convinced of the necessity of teaching his people theology.

If we have a rigorous word based ministry we could have a real revival of substance in our churches and denomination.

3.  Why do you beieve we need recovery of a regenerate church ministry?

Filling the church with baptized unregenerates opens the door for all types of confusion in the church.

We Baptist have baptized unregenerate adolescents who were not aware of what they were doing when they joined the church.  If you have a church filled w unregenerate members you will have a mess on your hands.  We must do a much better job of explaining the gospel and more rigorous as pastors in making sure people have genuinely believe the gospel.

What are practical tips for transforming an unregenerate membership to a regenerate membership?
1. Word Based Ministry  - expositional
2. Christ Centered Preaching  - gospel focused
3. Narrow the front door of the church. Deal with those who profess to believe the gospel seeking membership. We need to be certain that they understand and are committed to the gospel.

   
4.  Why do yo believe there is a need for recovery of church discipline?

Church discipline should be a natural normal part of the body loving one another and taking care of one another. If you don't have both regenerate church and a disciplined church it will not work.

5. What are the essentials and non negotiables?

1. The Word rightly preached.
2. The Ordinances  need the primacy they received in the early church.
3. Regenerate membership
4. Disciplined
5. Great Commission people who realize their obligation to carry the gospel both across the street and to the nations.
   

My Thoughts on Weddings

A couple of months ago I was working in my office when I received a call from a young lady who was interested in using our building for her wedding. She told me that she and her boyfriend (with whom she is currently living) attended church here several years ago, but have moved out of the area. I asked her if they had found a new church home where they are currently living, and she said they have not.

I agreed to send her a copy of our church wedding policy, and have not heard back from her. But that got me asking myself some questions about weddings. Why would a couple that hasn't attended church in several years want to have their wedding in a church? Why would a couple who is living in a state of perpetual moral disobedience want to have their wedding in church?

Perhaps using our facilities appeals to them because there is something traditional about church weddings. Perhaps they somehow believe that their families expect them to be married in the church. Perhaps they even believe God will somehow bless their marriage if they have it at a church.

All of these were unsettling to me, as I believed that God blessed us with our facilities in order that we might use them for worship, fellowship, evangelism, and discipleship. I don't believe he ever intended them to be merely brick and mortar facilities that can be rented out for any civil affair. I listen as some of our members warn children not to run in the sanctuary, or to skate in the fellowship hall, because these buildings have a special purpose, they are set apart for God's service. Do we not profane them just as much if we loan or lease them out for to people who are inactive in church?

I don't expect anyone to be perfect when they are married. But I do expect that people who have their weddings in a church and ask a minister of the gospel to solemnize their vows to at least be on some type of discipleship journey. If your relationship with God is a value in your life, then your wedding should be a worship service, and a church building is an appropriate venue. But if you are not seeking such a relationship with God, then to have your wedding in the church is not only an act of hypocrisy, the church itself becomes complicit in that hypocrisy.

With this in mind, I have developed a personal wedding policy. In the past I confess that I have been far too liberal in performing weddings for almost anyone that asked. From this point forward if I will only officiate at weddings of believers who are active in a local church. I will also be working on our church's wedding policy. The current policy was crafted by the properties committee about 20 years ago. While the new policy will concern itself with the stewardship of our property, it will also reflect our mission and purpose.

______________________

Wedding Policy for Rev. Mike Hardin

Wedding Policy for First Baptist Church of Lovejoy, GA

Should Christian Ministers Officiate in the Weddings of Unbelievers?|Russell D. Moore, Baptist Press

Who's to blame for the Economic Crisis?

It's easy to blame whoever happens to be in the White House when things go wrong. As a matter of fact, I think on domestic matters Bush has been a pretty weak President. I abhor the $700 Billion that he wants to use to "bail out" the mortgage issue. Perhaps if we had a huge surplus and could do so with cash. But the well is dry, and he wants the American taxpayers to go into debt to buy more debt. I am no economist, but it sounds like to me we are slightly delaying and greatly exacerbating the problem.

However, that all being said, look who called for reforms and oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 5 years ago and notice who blocked said reforms. We do need change in Washington, but God help us if it's not the right change.

New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae|NY Times, 9/11/2003

"Among the groups denouncing the proposal today [9/11/2003] were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing."

SBC Missions websites

While at NAMB for the Fireproof screening yesterday, we were given lots of literature and freebies. (I never have to buy another ink pen). Lots of the literature we were given was nice glossy finish PR pieces. But the page I liked best was just a spreadsheet listing all of our (SBC) mission education web sites.

Click here to see this table in it's own window. For best results right-click on the links in the table and select "open in new window" or "open in new tab".


Download Excel Spreadsheet