You know you live in a small town if...

...two guys go through McDonlds drive through on horseback. Kellie and I are still trying to get used to small town life. In our seven and a half years of marriage, the smallest town we lived in was Lubbock, TX with a poulation of about 200,000. Then it was Tulsa, Long Island, Memphis. Now we find ourselves in Sallisaw. We like it here. The people are great. We both enjoy our jobs. Our kids love their schools, but it is different. A town with 7,500 people is much different for us. We were in culture shock as we were leaving McDonalds and two cowboys ride up on their horses and go through the drive up window. Oklahoma- It's good to be home!

Excitement building

Things continue to progress in Sallisaw. We are still staying in Muskogee, but it is not too bad. My time so far has been spent getting adjusted to the town, setting up my office, and brainstorming on ways to meet people and reach out to them. David (our senior minister) and I have spent a lot of time talking about what we want the new service to look like. We know there are certain elements we want to focus on:

Community experience,
Corporate and personal worship
Active, participatory worship
Transformation
Reconciliation
Conversational
Dialog with God
Calling upon God for help, guidance, deliverance
Family, togetherness, community
Search for something to base life on, truth, meaning
Genuineness, authenticity
Intensity
Worship experience, engaging all the senses.

It will be a church that is Personal yet built around Community.
A church that practices acceptance, yet seeks transformation.
One that provides a foundation and truth to build life around.

I am so excited to get started and begin putting these theories and principles into practice. Please keep praying for us as we seek to live out the Gospel to the people around us.