Nick and Nicole Diamond’s daughter, Austin, celebrated her second birthday this week.
She was definitely enjoying the chocolate cake. No word on how long it took her to go to sleep after consuming the glorious dessert!
Nick is our Worship Pastor at the UC.

Totally off the hook day at the UC this past Sunday!
It was so good to actually be back and preaching again in our normal setup. Four of the last five weeks were dedicated to One Prayer video messages from other pastors around the southeast.
Sunday before last, we had the incredible outdoor baptismal service, where I taught a brief message from our staging in the YMCA parking lot.
This past Sunday, my family and I were back from vacation down on the Gulf Coast and in our regular setting inside the Y.
We started a new series called, “Fanatic - What Do You Worship?”. The first message,”What God Desires”, totally hit home with a lot of people, based on the awesome response - praise God!
This Sunday is going to feature another message that I’m sure God will use to really impact us all”…”What is True Worship?” I can’t wait to see God rock our world!
Thanks to all those who volunteer to make what we do on Sundays possible! Your hard work is noticed, and will certainly be blessed!
Don’t forget to be watching for more about the fantastic series, “Fireproof”, coming in September…it’s gonna be HOT!!

Awesome tonight on the Gulf Coast!

photo posted from my iPhone

photo posted from my iPhone

LA - that’s “Lower Alabama” in this case. Some also call it the “Redneck Riviera”. Whatever you call it, it’s beautiful. I love waking up and doing my quiet time, reading the Word on YouVersion while sitting on the balcony with that view is just awesome!

photo posted from my iPhone

photo posted from my iPhone

Well, I dared myself to do it…and went with it this morning! …

After being “carried out” of the Oyster House, time to relax with…

After all the oysters and this, I asked for carry out service…

Can you believe my entire family loves to eat these?…

The view from our balcony in Fort Morgan, AL this morning.

photo posted from my iPhone

On a road trip with the fam. Even Hershey, our Chocolate Lab puppy is going…she’s traveling great!

photo posted from my iPhone

We’ve got a canoe trip coming up this Saturday. Check out Executive Pastor Jonathan Ellis’ blog for the scoop…click HERE.

So, Friday is the day a lot of us Mac geeks have been looking forward to…the day the NEW iPhone 3G goes on sale. As a matter of fact, it goes on sale precisely at 8am.

Apple promises the new “3G” iPhone will be much better. 3G technology gives iPhone fast access to the Internet and email over cellular networks around the world. iPhone 3G also makes it possible to do more in more places: Surf the web, download email, get directions, and watch video — even while you’re on a call. All things I need to be more productive in what I do, especially since I am on the go and have no real “office” other than what’s in my home…or at Starbucks!

The question remains…is it worth it to stand in line?

I am really proud of Nashville’s fireworks display…being one of the top 5 in the country! It’s always an awesome sight!

Top it off with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and it’s just really something to behold.

Friday night, we got together with a couple of friends to eat some ribs, chicken, burgers, dogs, watermelon, homemade ice cream…OMG - I’m gaining more weight just writing about it! We also decided to watch the Nashville fireworks on NewsChannel 5 instead of actually fighting the traffic (and spending gasoline) and the over 100,000 people to go downtown.

The display on the station’s HD broadcast was amazingly good! It was really very close to actually being there. We pumped the sound of the broadcast through my friend’s surround sound system, and the explosions and symphony were just incredible.

As I look back today at all the preparations made for celebrating the Fourth of July, I look at our churches and begin to wonder.