Kicking some Boston Butt

I woke up early this morning to being cooking a Boston Butt on my grill.  It took around 4 hours to complete.  I started off by rubbing my butt (ok, now that I got that out of the way).  I started off by covering every inch of the meat with a homemade rub.  Then I took a handful of hickory chips and wrapped what looked like a tin foil burrito (I made 5 of these).  I got the grill going at around 325 degrees, placed a hickory burrito into the flame, and placed the Boston Butt on the grill.  I had to replace the hickory burritos once every hour.  4 hours later was juicy goodness.

My favorite part of making the BBQ was all the "Butt" jokes.  
James:  "Mom, dad is outside rubbing his butt with spices
Me:  "Boys, who wants to bite my butt?
Nolan: "Dad, your butt is yummy"
Levi:  "I'm biting dad's Butt"
Heather:  "You are all ridiculous"

James and the middle finger

Tonight during dinner I asked my boys how their day was, and James decided to tell a story.

"Dad, on the bus there is a boy, and he is like this."  James holds up both his hands with each middle finger bend down.  "He only has 8 fingers.  Some of my friends are afraid of him, but I'm not.  I think he is nice.  I think that's the way all peoples hands should be.  Dad, did you know that the middle finger is a cuss word.  I think God made him like that because God loves him, and he made it easy for him to not say cuss words.

A Very Phillips/Riddle Thanksgiving

The kids table
(James, Nolan, Levi, and  cousin Josh)

This was a very special thanksgiving for me, and I was unaware how much it was going to mean to me until it had past.  For the past few months I have been working on the house in which I grew up.  My parents brought me home from the hospital in this house.  The trees I climbed as a kid are still here (Way to big for me to climb, but they are still here).  There is a piece of concrete at the entrance of the house with the hand prints of my sister and I in it with the year 1981 written with a twig (I was 8 years old).  This house has all of my childhood memories locked in it, and it is especially meaningful that the work on the house was complete enough to have thanksgiving dinner here.

A very juicy grilled turkey

I can't figure out all the words to express what the dinner meant to me.  It was the first time my parents and my in-laws sat for a meal together since the reception at my wedding.  It was the first time since I moved back to North Myrtle Beach that my Father has visited the house for a social reason rather than working on the stucco, crawling under the house to fix the plumbing, or trying to figure out some electrical issues.  It was also the first thanksgiving where I was the one who welcomed everyone to the table, thanked everyone for coming, and prayed for the food.

And then the food...

Everything was awesome.  Mom's sweet potatoes, Heather's Peanut-butter pie, and there is something nostalgic (and very tasty) about my Fathers dressing. But...my father-in-law cooked a turkey on my grill for 5 hours, and it was unbelievable.  My one mess up was that I forgot to put the cranberry sauce on the table, but now I have two cans of cranberry sauce to eat with the leftovers! Yummy!

Nolan sleeping on the roof

We recently were given a plastic playhouse for the boys and they have been loving it.  Nolan (age 5) enjoys the roof.  While James and Levi are running around and shooting each other through the windows of their "fort," Nolan spends his time climbing on top of the roof then climbing or jumping down. While James and Levi were running all over the place Heather went to speak to Nolan as he was laying on the roof,... again.

"Hey Spiderman!"

Nolan looked at Heather and said, "I think the roof of this house is my favorite place in the world.  You know Mom, Spiderman used to sit on roofs all the time.  He liked climbing buildings too.  I'm just like Spiderman because I like climbing and sitting on roofs, and I can stick to the roof and I can stick to anything."

Not a picture of my kids

James Skating

Another old blog I never posted

Dad:     James, why do we fall?
James:   (Through his tears) why?
Dad:     So that you can get back up.

A special thanks to the movie the "Batman begins" for the parenting tips.

Levi learns the facts of life

My wife is pregnant...That's right...and yes again!  Now be quiet and read the cute story about Levi.

My wife is pregnant, and she and my youngest son  Levi (3 years old) have been arguing about the baby.  Anytime we talk about the baby Levi simply says, “we are not having a baby”.  Finally Levi has conceded the fact that Heather was pregnant.

Levi:  So we are having a baby soon.

Heather:  No, not soon it will be a long time from now.

Levi:  Will we get the baby from the store?

Heather:  No! Mommy is making the baby, and it is in her stomach.

Levi:  (With a puzzled look) YOU ATE THE BABY!  That’s not very nice.

Most kids who are around their pregnant Mom have a moment like this, but my favorite part of this story is the matter-of-fact way Levi said..."That's not very nice".

The Top Ten Things I Treasure From the Dolin Wedding

I wrote this on paper a few months ago.  Not sure why I did not post it earlier, but here it is.

I was asked by Troy Dolin and Jenny Roberts (currently Jenny Dolin) to be the officiant at their wedding.  I was blessed to be apart of this.

The Top Ten Things I Treasure From the Dolin Wedding
10.  The groom and groomsmen were upfront alone for 10 minutes when Donald Stephens called out, "Troy, I don't think she is coming".
9.   I called Troy "Roy" during the vows.
8.   When Jenny, Troy, and I signed the marriage license.  From a legal standpoint that is when they were married.
7.   Some of her close friends catcalled the maid of honor, Katie Kavanaugh, as she came down the aisle.  As she past me I heard her say, "What a bunch of jerks".
6.   At the reception Katie and Troy were called forward for the first dance.  (Sorry Jenny)
5.   During the Maid of Honor's speech while Katie talked about what a great friend and accountability partner Jenny was, Jenny was talking to someone else.
4.   During the vows I told Troy to take Jenny's right hand with his right hand.  If you would have seen the level of confusion with the process, you would have thought I asked him to disarm a nuclear weapon.
3.   I got to talk about sex during the sermon.
2.   Jenny was beautiful in her dress.
1.   As the officiant I got to say "Dearly Beloved", "I pronounce you man and wife", "You may kiss the bride", and I was the last person on earth to correctly call Jenny, "Jennifer Rae Roberts".

Thanks again Troy and Jenny.  It was a huge blessing.

James starts playing football

This year my oldest son (7 year old James) began playing Rec. football.  It has been pure joy to watch him play this game over the past few weeks. Before I get to far into the things that I found so meaningful during this pee-wee football season, you must know that James is smaller than all of the guys on his team; he doesn’t understand the concept of the game; he is the least athletic kid on the team; and he is very hyperactive. 

When the season was beginning some of the parents were stressed out that it might be a bit dangerous for 7 and 8 year olds to play tackle football, so the decision was made to make this age flag football.  I was ok with the idea as I thought it would give James a year to learn the game without having to deal with tackling or the even bigger issue of having to take a hit which I was not sure James was ready for.  The reality of 7 year old flag football is that now you have 10 kids who have no idea what the are doing running around, knocking each other over, and tackling each other…all without the benefit of football pads. 

The first game James’ grandfather, my dad, showed up to watch him play.  It was great to watch Dad give coaching tips to James during the game.  There was one moment during the game when James was chasing the guy with the ball.  My Dad got all excited and screamed, “Get em’ Joey”.  He looked at me, and I was smiling.  For a second he went back in time and was cheering for me playing football.

Not being the biggest or fastest it is rare that James is able to really get noticed during the game, so James has found a new way to get attention.  If James is ever knocked down during the game he lays on the ground way longer than he has to.  During the last game a kid hit him pretty hard and James crashed to the ground and then lay on the grass like he was in a coma.  A few of his teammates tried to pull his lifeless body up but to no avail.  Finally, after nearly 10 full seconds, James slowly pulled him self up to his feet and “fake” limped to the sideline.  This is not a one-time occurrence.  James does this once or twice every game.

I mentioned in the last paragraph that a kid hit James pretty hard.  James was hit after the play was over, and if I were the kid I would have hit James too.  James would always try to catch the guy with the ball, but he would rarely come close.  For nearly 5 plays in a row James would run after the guy, not catch him, the whistle would blow ending the play, and then James would run up to the player holding the ball, snatch his flag, and then run off with the flag cheering.  I guess the kid had enough of James’ shenanigans.

James is getting better, and learning the game.  He runs as hard and fast as he can, and he does not quit.  During the most recent game James even got a legitimate sack.  Near the end of the game James’ team was winning 34-12, and they were on the 1-yard line getting ready to score again.  The coach looked at me and said, “Mr. Phillips, watch this we are gonna' get James a touchdown.  James was lined up as the running back.  The center hiked the ball.  The quarterback handed the ball off to James.  James promptly took the ball and threw it in the air hitting a lineman in the back.  They got back in the huddle and explained to James, “We are going to hand you the ball.  Don’t throw it.  Just run hard and fast up the middle”.  James agreed, and the team headed back to the line.  The center hiked the ball.  The quarterback took the ball and handed it off to James.  James took the ball and quickly threw it in the air hitting another linemen in the back.  The coach yelled to James, “What are you doing?”  James responded, “Coach, he was open”.  Later on James confessed to me that he only threw the ball because…and I quote… “That was my only chance to be quarterback”.

All in all football has been a great experience, and I am very proud at how hard James has played, how much he has learned, and how much he has improved.

Nolan and James create a new creed

This week I was driving my oldest two boys, James (7 years old and Nolan 5 years old)to school.  During our ride we practiced our memory verse, talked about how to act in school, and then had a small dose of theology.

Me:  Nolan, what do you know about Jesus?
Nolan:  Nothing
Me:  Is Jesus God's son?
Nolan: (a mischievous grin crossed his face) Maybe!
Me:  Did Jesus die on a cross?
Nolan:  Maybe!
Me:  Did Jesus rise from the dead?
Nolan: Maybe
(clearly it was time to move on)
Me:  James, tell me something about Jesus.
James:  Well, he was with God at the beginning, and he helped to create Earth and the universe.  Then he created cars.
Me: Cars?  He created cars?
James: He created people, and then he created all of the stuff that goes into cars.  Then he made people put them together.
Me:  Do you know anything else about Jesus?
James:  He died on a cross and then...
Nolan: (interrupting excitedly) HE RAISED FROM THE DEAD!
Me:  Ok, Nolan, what else do you know about Jesus?
Nolan: Nothing
James: It was my turn Dad...Well, he died on a cross, and then one of his servants came and carried him to a tomb.  He wrapped him up so he would not stink.  Dead people stink, Dad!  The 3 days later he rose from the dead.  Now he is alive in heaven with God...oh, yea, and in my heart!

Directors cut scene/ from the empire strikes back

This is totally not mine.  I found it on the internet, but was unable to find the original source.




A furious lightsaber duel is underway. DARTH VADER is
backing LUKE SKYWALKER towards the end of the gantry. A
quick move by Vader, chops off Luke’s hand! It goes
spinning off into the ventilation shaft. Luke backs away. He
looks around, but realizes there’s nowhere to go but straight
down.

Darth Vader: Obi Wan never told you what happened to
your father.

Luke: He told me enough! He told me you killed him!

Darth Vader: No, Luke… I am your father!

Luke: No. It can’t be. That’s not true. That’s impossible!

Darth Vader: Search your feelings Luke… you know them
to be true.

Luke: NOOoooo!

Darth Vader: Yes, it is true… and you know what else?
You know that brass droid of yours?

Luke: Threepio?

Darth Vader: Yes… Threepio… I built him… when I was 7
years old.

Luke: No! … Wait, huh?

Darth Vader: Seven years old. And what have you done?
Look at yourself. No hand. No job. And you couldn’t even
levitate your own ship out of the swamp…

Luke: But… I destroyed your precious Death Star!

Darth Vader: But that was when you were 20! When I was
10, I single-handedly destroyed an entire Trade
Federation Droid Control ship!

Luke: Well, it’s not my fault…

Darth Vader: Oh, here we go… “Poor me… my father never
gave me what I wanted for my birthday… boo hoo, my
daddy’s the Dark Lord of the Sith… Nobody loved me…
waahhh wahhh!”

Luke: Shut up!

Darth Vader: You’re a slacker! By the time I was your age,
I had already exterminated the Jedi knights!

Luke: I used to race my T-16 through Beggar’s Canyon.

Darth Vader: Oh, for the love of the Emperor… 10 years
old, winner of the Boonta Eve Open… the only human to
ever fly a Pod Racer… right here baby!

Luke looks down the shaft. Takes a step towards it.

Darth Vader: I was wrong… You’re not my kid… I don’t
know whose you are, but you sure ain’t mine.

Luke takes a step off the platform, hesitates, then plunges
down the shaft. Darth Vader looks down after him.

Darth Vader: And get a haircut!

Who you gonna call?...NOLAN

My son Levi (3 yrs. old) was walking into the living-room.  As he was passing Nolan (5 yrs. old), Nolan shoved him on the ground.  Levi began to cry.

Me:  Nolan, why did you do that?
Nolan:  Well, I thought he might be a ghost, and I pushed him because he scared me.

Nolan worries for a frog

This is a great video.  I watched it while my son Nolan (5 yrs old) sat in my lap.  When the snake shows up on the scene Nolan tensed u a bit, and I heard him whisper to himself with great worry, "Jump frog, jump frog, jump!".

An oddly successful season

I wrote this back in June.  I wrote it kinda for myself.  It helped me to heal through a tough time, but before I put it on my blog I wanted to make sure I was not harboring any sour-grapes.  I did not want this post to be a "in your face" look how awesome I am TD celebration, but I do want to shine a big spotlight on God and what he is still doing around me and through me.  As future youth ministry opportunities are opening up and with seminary just around the corner it felt like the time to post this.

In mid-March I was told I would be let go from the church where I had served for the past 6 years (my last day would be June 1st).  I spent next couple weeks feeling sorry for myself, whining, and complaining (mostly to myself).  Since then I have had some time to reflect about the past few months, and I have to realize that as odd as it may seem this season of my life has been an extremly successful one.  As a matter of fact, God has blessed me as much as He ever has since I began doing ministry.

• 2 days after I was told I would be let go 2 youth made decisions to commit their lives to Christ.
• I had the honor to lead a youth to Christ a few days later.
• One of my former youth, who I have had the pleasure of mentoring since her 9th grade year, just accepted a job as a full time youth director in Savannah, GA.
• A few weeks ago, 2 former youth who I have discipled since their 6th grade year were married.  Both of them were virgins on their wedding day.
• In late May we had our annnual Senior night.  You almost need to be there to understand what a blessing this evening was.  Youth laid hands on each other, prayed for each other, and experienced God is an amazing tangable way.
• The youth handbell choir took their week long mission trip.  I did not go, but it was reported to me that during Daniel Hughes' testimony he spoke of the time he and I met weekly during confirmation as one of the major factors that contributed to his faith.
• Many of last years seniors have returning home from college after their freshman year.  Most of these young men and women have returned with their faith in tact and they are actively pursuing the disciplines of the faith.

I have been a Christ follower for over 30 years, and God has been with me all that time.  For 18 years of youth ministry God has poured blessings on me, and those blessings are continuing.  God has not removed his blessing from me, my family, or the ministry in which He has called me.  I have attempted to faithfully follow God into the unknown: full disclosure...I did it kicking and screaming.  God has begun to reveal a small glimpse of what is to come, and He is begining to replace any frustration and cofusion I have with excitement and antcipation.  God has been all over me for over 30 years, and He is showing no signs of going away any time soon.

And now your BROski moment of the week (come at me bro)

James, the Anti-Philo

In James (7 yrs. old) and Nolan's (5 yrs. old) Sunday School class today the teacher asked a question about the disciples to the kids.  Nolan raised his hand.  The teacher called on Nolan to answer the question.  Before Nolan could speak James spoke up, "Why are you asking him? He doesn't know anything."

She's a gentle flower ain't she

I asked Heather, my wife, to do a favor for me...

Heather:  Well, maybe I would if your asked me nicely!
Me:  Didn't I say "will you" and "please"?
Heather:  I don't know.  I wasn't paying attention!

The first day of school for the Phillips family

Levi was left out
After dropping James off at the Elementary school and Nolan off at the Primary school Heather, Levi, and I headed home.  When we got to the house we saw that Levi's (3 yrs. old) bottom lip was poked out and his eyes were full of tears.  When Heather asked Levi what was wrong his lip started to quiver and he had the saddest look on his face.  Then he answered through tears, "Dad forgot to take me to MY school".

James' favorite part of school
Heather:  What was you favorite part of school?
James:  I didn't have one!
Heather:  There had to be one thing you liked.
James:  Nope! No wait!  I liked that on the bus ride home me and all of the other boys were pooting.

Nolan's teacher
There was not a specific story about Nolan, but you can only imagine what a joy it is to listen to him say his teachers name: Mrs Rinseburger.  Winse-buh-guh

For the Phillips' Life is a Beach

Three stories from our day at the beach...

James gives gas advise:
Before we headed to the beach, we took the golf cart to the gas station to pick up a couple drinks.  While I was inside a man drove up to the gas pump in the wrong direction.  Instead of moving his car around, he just pulled the gas hose over the top of the car.

As he began pumping the gas, James stood up in the back of the golf cart and yelled to the man, "Sir, next time you should think about pulling your car in the other direction."  The man just shook his head.

Nolan makes cakes:
We spent some time playing in the sand; we dug for sand fiddlers, buried Nolan up to his stomach, and used sand to make a mer-man (what the boys call a male mermaid) out of James.  At one point Nolan approached Heather with a huge, flat, handful of wet sand.

"Look Mom I made a sweetie pie!"
"A what?"
"A sweetie pie!"
"I think you mean a mud pie."
"Nope."
"Why do you call it a sweetie pie?"
"Because I made it for you!"

A moon underwater
James was hit by a big wave.  He came from under the water gasping for breath.  Then he said, "That wave knocked my pants down, but it's ok only the crabs saw my butt!"

Ice cream or death

Tonight I told my 3 sons that in order to get ice cream they would have to eat all of their veggies.  James (my 7 year old) tried to convince me that he had exactly an ice cream size amount of room in his stomach, and if he ate any veggies then he would be too full.

After dinner James was told he would not get ice cream.  He responded by running out of the room.  When I searched for him a few minutes later, I found him locked in the bathroom.

 "James, are you in there?"

"Yes, I'm in here and I'm gonna stay locked in here until I either get ice cream or I grow old and die."

He did eventually come out, ate his vegetables, and earned ice cream.

A Nugget of Joy from James, about Clouds

We were driving home from the swimming pool today when I received this nugget of joy from my oldest son, (7 year old) James.

James:
"Dad can we plan a trip where we take a ride in an air plane, and we can ride really really close to a really really fluffy cloud.  I can sit on top of the plane with a safety seat, and when we get close I can catch some of the cloud in a box.  Don't you think that would be a good trip?  Will you plan that for us?"


Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?
Job 37:16 

And now your BROski moment of the week (The P-Tree)

Bro Seriously


Dutch designer Sam Van Veluw has developed a new way to answer the call of nature at outdoor events and venues. After a long search for a public restroom at a music concert one evening, he came up with the concept of strapping a waterless urinal onto a tree. These would be simple to install and can relieve the pressure on port-a-potties we had to use the pun) at public events. Its practical application may be questionable, but it is a refreshing approach to what can be a pressing problem.

Read the original post below
http://inhabitat.com/p-tree-urinal-a-natural-solution-to-an-urgent-problem/

Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads!

My oldest son, James (7 year old), was playing with his Nintendo DS, which is a suped up portable game system.  He was using the video-camera component, and he just discovered some of the video effects.  He came into the living room videotaping in black and white (he called it black, white, and silver), and he declared with much excitement, "Hey Dad! look!  It's like everything is back in 1980.

And now your BROski moment of the week

I found this video on a website (brobible.com).  This patriotic video is awesome.  God bless America, and

BRO hard or BRO home

My Bottom 10 most NONfavorite movies

There are good movies, bad movies, and movies I don't care about, but there a 4th catagory of movies "movies that make me angry".  With these movies it's personal.  These movies have made me feel abused, taken advantage of, attacked and wounded.  These movies are my nemesis.

#10  Hope Floats (1998)

My first official date with my wife was to watch this horrible movie.  As a gentleman I allowed my date to choose this movie.  Heather made the first of 13 years of horrendous movie choices.  Thank God the date was better than the movie.

#9   Lost in Translation (2003)

This steaming cow-turd of a movie would typically fall under the category of "movies I don't care about", but I had to hear from every critic, talk-show, and 24-7 of the "E" network telling me how amazing this movie was.  This movie was slow, boring, and really nothing happened.  I was happy to hear that Bill Murray won a few awards, but I would rather watch a re-run of "Groudhog's day".  

#8   Batman and Robin (1997)

This movie was clearly the worst Batman movie ever.  The main problem with this movie was that there were too many new characters: Dr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Bane, Robin, Batgirl, etc.  Personally, My main issue with this movie was that I drove to the movie theater 6 hours before the show and waited in line for an hour to buy these stupid tickets.  This was hyped to be a great movie.  The nipples on Clooney's Batman costume also creeped me out a bit.

#7   The Bad News Bears (2005)

I loved the Walter Matthau classic back in 1976, so I was pumped that Billy Bob Thorton was going to reprise the role.  Josh Bell and I went to see the movie on opening night.  I remember talking with Josh for hours afterwards just trying to make sense of the movie.  Clearly things were cut out that were part of the story, and characters would change and become better people with no motivation for doing so.  Even writing this makes me angry.  I'm not gonna think about this movie anymore!  

#6   40 days (2002)

This movie is about a guy who vows to stay celibate during the 40 days of Lent.  Then he finds the girl of his dreams and is tortured by being unable to sleep with her.  OK, first off I have to admit I've never seen this movie.  I did not see it because I am not an idiot.  This movie infuriates me on 3 major levels.  #1 Giving up a sex for lent just so you can go back to doing tit after lent is first off dumb and second it has no connection to God, lent, or rational thought.  #2 It is so frustrating that we keep perpetuating the consept that primiscous sex is beautiful, romantic, and appriopriate (especially with someone you've only dated for a month).  #3 I hate the idea that all guys are lunitics who want sex 100% of the time when it obvious that it is more like 78%.   

#5   Mrs Doubtfire (1993)

OK this was a decent movie, but I was really disturbed by one aspect of this movie.  A man (Robin Williams) and a woman (Sally Fields) get a divorce, and Robin wants to see his kids.  He tells his ex that he want to watch the kid while she is at work.  Sally's character tells Robin's character that it would be bad for the kids to be with him, so instead she hires a nanny.  BUT HE WAS A GOOD DAD! She even admitted it.  WHAT A expletive deleted.  I have irrationally never forgiven Sally Fields for that, and to this day I refuse to watch a movie with her in it.

#4   Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Ocean's 11 is my favorite hiest movies.  Oceans 12 was not as good, but one thing struck me with rage.  The heist only worked because at one point Julia Roberts' charcter impersionated (that's right) Julia Roberts.  Are you kidding me?  I expect a bit like that in spy kids, but this is Oceans 12.

#3   The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

The first Matrix changed everything.  It changed movie special effects forever.  It changed how I look at the Christain's relationship with the world.  It changed everything for me.  Then the Matrix Reloaded came out.  The Matrix reloaded is to the Matrix, what bird poop is to a 1970 GTO.

#2   Pearl Harbor (2001)

This movie was a classic bait and switch.  Was it a movie about history? No!  Was is a war movie? No!  It was a crappy chick flick.  It was about love, crying, being sensitive, romance, hand holding, (oh yea) and a few planes attacked a military base at the end. 

#1   Twilight (2008)

Don't get me started here.  I can't get past the fact that the hero really wanted to bite the leading lady.  I can't get past the grey, depressing, misreable setting.  I can't get past the the whinny, depressed, weepy, leading man.                                       What I really can't get past is this.  I am 37 years old.  If I looked young would it be ok for me to date a 17 year old?  The answer is "heck no, that's sick".  Exactly!  Twilight is a story of a romance between a 200 year old pediphile and a teenage girl.  

James has no major issue with criminals

I dropped my two oldest sons off at camp today.  While I sat and filled out paperwork both boys were required to go through a few physical test.  Once done a woman who helped with the tests brought the boys to where I was sitting.  She told me of a conversation she had just had with James (my 7 year old).

Woman:    Well James you seem like a very nice boy
James:    I am a very nice boy, that's why I have lots of friends.  None of my friends are criminals, but if I met a criminal I would probably be nice to him too.

Nothing gets between me and my toys

Today we had a joint yard-sale with 4 families; the Lynchs, the Pages, the Lavenders, and the Bringmans.  A little 6-year-old girl was looking through some of the toys we were selling.  She had a toy in her hands that used to belong to James.  When James saw her eyeing the toy he quickly and quietly walked towards her.  As he past her, without out looking her in the eyes, he gently took the toy from her.  She could hear him as he walked past her say, in a matter of fact tone, "Sorry that's mine".  Without looking back he walked into the house with the toy and shut the door.

2 gifts, a french guy, and a cross.

I wrote this nearly three weeks ago.  I'm not really sure why I haven't posted it sooner.


Nathan Bistis called me on Friday and asked if I could fill in and do the children's homily for him this week.  I thought it might be nice to teach one last time in front of the entire congregation.  It would be a nice conclusion to the end of a 6 year tenure at Christ Church.  I checked The Book of Common Prayer and saw that one of the verses in the gospel reading was John 14:6.  What a great verse to be my last teaching moment with the children.


Today I am gonna tell you two true stories.  
There once was a man named Frederic Bartholdi.  Fredrick decided to give a gift to America.  Who knows what Fredrick gave to America?
Kids: "The Statue of Liberty!"
For a long time, when you became a citizen of America you would have to ride a boat past Ellis Island and past the Statue of Liberty.


The second story is about God.
I am oversimplifying here but...God wanted to give the people of Earth a gift, and he gave the gift of his son, Jesus.  There is only one way to become a citizen of Heaven and spend eternity with God, and that is to go by the cross of Jesus.


You may hear of a bunch of different ways you can get to heaven...

• Be a good person
• Do more good than bad
• Get baptized
• Go to church

...but there is only one way to get to heaven, and that is by believing in Christ and committing your life to him.


Just like in order to become a citizen of America (so many years ago) you must go by the Statue of Liberty, in order to become a citizen of Heaven you must go by the way of the cross of Christ.

John 14:6 (New International Version)

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Where We Are Heading...

Since March I have spent a great deal of time contemplating what would be the next step for my family.  My thoughts had me heading to serve as a youth director elsewhere,  or staying in Savannah and going to seminary in Jacksonville.  But God always goes before me and lays the path He intends for me to take.

This path happens to include seminary, but also a move back to my home town of N. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  In the fall I plan to attend Gordon Conwell Seminary and work towards a Masters degree in Divinity.

A handful of people have asked, "Is there any way we can help your family?" Yes, there are ways to help us.

1- Prayer!  We would love to be covered in this time of transition.  And I will need your prayers to get through all of the reading I have to do during seminary!

2- We need help moving.  We will be loading up the truck Thursday, June 30th.  The pizza is on me, and if you are over 21 who knows what else might be floating around.

3- If you feel so lead, you can help my family be contributing to my seminary education.   It will cost  approximently $3,000 per semester between tuition, books, and travel expenses to the campus in Charlotte.  I have in the last year paid off my student loans, and I would love to complete seminary without picking up new student loan debt.  In the past, churches have been able to support seminary students by allowing contributions to go through their budgets, but due to IRS regulations now churches can lose tax exempt status by continuing this practice.  If you are interested in supporting me during my time in seminary you can send any checks to the address below.  Also, I will be sending out monthly e-mail blasts in addition to this blog here to keep people informed of how things with the Phillips' are going, and how you can pray for us.  If you are interested to be on that list, please let me know.    
Joey Phillips
705 33rd Ave S.
North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582

We love you all, and we are blessed and grateful to have served alongside you in God's ministry in Savannah for these last years.  We will continue to pray for the church and those we love, as we hope you pray for us.


Psalm 103: 1-5 reads...


Praise the LORD, my soul; 
   all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 
 Praise the LORD, my soul, 
   and forget not all his benefits— 
 who forgives all your sins 
   and heals all your diseases, 
 who redeems your life from the pit 
   and crowns you with love and compassion, 
 who satisfies your desires with good things 
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

If I made this look too easy...I'm sorry

 I recently left Christ Church where I served as the youth pastor for the past 6 years.  I believe one of my major responsibilities as an outgoing staff member of a church must be to protect the church.  It would have been really easy during my time of transitioning out of Christ Church to cause a lot of strife, but I believe that by consciously protecting the church relationships are saved, youth remain in a Christian body, people trust the leadership, people don't start looking for a new church, and youth don't walk away from church altogether.  I believe my attitude and actions during my time of leaving can directly effect people's relationship with Christ and with the church.

Since early March, when I knew I would be leaving, I have been working extremely hard to walk away with integrity, honor, and without complaining.  The problem I am having now is that I think I succeeded, and in the process maybe I made it look to easy.

I need my Christ Church friends to know two things:
The last few months have been very painful for me and my family.  We've shed a few tears over this.  I attempted to leave with integrity, but I think what I really did was climb under a rock.  I think I made it look simple and painless.  I am sorry for not being open about my feelings.

I don't agree with the decision.  I have weaknesses, but I have painstakingly (and successfully I might add) worked to shrink the weaknesses I have.  I am a more effective minister now than I was 6 years ago.  I truly believe that any small weaknesses I have are far outweighed by the success and fruit of the youth program.  I feel like I was forced to close a book in the middle of the chapter.

Please know that I write this because I have been haunted by the thought that I made this look too easy and  that it looked like I was happy with the decision.  I do not have any sour-grapes, nor do I mean any disrespect.  I care for deeply for the leadership at Christ Church, and I believe Christ Church has the desire and the heart to continue to minister effectively to youth.  I will miss you all.

If you need any more info facebook me, email me, or give me a call.

Peace
Joey

My life in Video Games

I had lunch today with an old friend (and former youth member) and his wife, Andrew and Brittany Davidson.  During our conversation Andrew and I talked about how video games have been such a part of our lives.  First off we both struggle with being competitive during games with our wives.  Heather complains about my competitive steak quite often.  If I was playing Madden football with Heather and I was winning 77-3 with 25 seconds on the clock.  I would first go for two and then try an onside kick.  Heather will not play video games with me anymore.

Andrew and my conversation went back to our game of choice, WWE Wrestling.  There was 4 of us who played this game all the time: me, Andrew Davidson, Josh Bell, and Chris Mattson.  But as competitive as we all were, none of us ever tried to win.  It was a game that went on for hours (and hours) with the goal of all four of us: to be the most aggravating.  Andrew's style of play was to use a simple kick to the stomach which for some reason could not be blocked.  I remember his character kicking Chris' character for a solid ten minutes and Chris unable to do anything about it (this might be where the name "Angry Chris" began).  Chris' style was to simply stand outside of the wrestling ring and wait for two characters to start fighting.  Once two of us were in the middle of a move he would grab a chair, slide into the ring, and start bashing everyone in sight.  He would continue to smash everyone senseless until someone would start to get up and then he would slide back out of the ring and wait in safety.  Josh would have his character run far away from everyone up the ramp to the entrance of the arena.  In order for the computer to keep everyone in the screen it would zoom out so far that everyone's character was the size of a pea.  If we ran to stop him he would just run back to the ring without fighting, and then once we came back to the ring he would run back to the entrance.  My style was to simply pick the character "Scotty to Hotty", and try to do my favorite move: "The Worm".  This move was ridiculous and it took over a full minute to do.  When ever I started to do this move on a character everyone would rush the ring to whip the snot out of my character and warn me no to try it again.  Once my character slipped back into consciousness, I would do it again.



Eventually someone would accidently trip into a win and pronouce, "I only won because I am better at this game all of you".  This would anger us into another multi-hour long game.

Andrew and Brittany, I enjoyed lunch today.
I love you guys, and I am better at that game than all of you.

James Weighs in in Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I was watching a documentary today about Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

James (my 7 year old son):  "Dad can we watch something else?"
Me:  "No, we are gonna watch this."
James:  "Dad, I don't really like 'Jesus-y' stuff.  It's kinda boring.  'Jesus-y' stuff is amazing, but it can also be boring."

I have to admit, sometimes he has a point.

Cheered up by a big Ole' Buzzard

I had a tough day today, but as I was cleaning the dishes a song came to my mind.  I have not heard this song in over 20 years (WOW!).  My youth director used to sing it (thanks Ray), and I will just accept it as a gift of encouragement from God (or my brain being weird again).



THE LORD'LL PROVIDE
(Larry Reynolds)

Big ol' buzzard sittin' on a fence
Watchin' them chickens play.
He sit with his old friend chicken hawk;
Chicken hawk jump up and say,
"We ought to invite us a chicken home to supper today."

And the buzzard looks at him with a baleful eye,
Take a few seconds 'fore he give a reply;
He turn his neck nearly all away 'round
And he points to the sky and says with a frown,
"The Lord'll provide, the Lord'll provide,
Just be patient, brother and the Lord'll provide.

The chicken hawk said, "But I'm hungry.
My stomach's startin' to rumble like a train."
He spies a fat chicken in the barn yard;
The chicken hawk jump up and scream,
"I hear the lord helps them that helps themselves my friend."

"No, the Lord'll provide, you know the Lord'll provide."
And that's all brother buzzard said, "The Lord'll provide."

Chicken hawk starts to chase the chicken,
Chicken starts squawkin' and run;
The farmer comes out of the farm house;
Farmer got a big shot gun.
The farmer he blows the chicken hawk to Kingdom Come.

And the buzzard looks at him with a baleful eye,
Take a few seconds 'fore he give a reply;
He turn his neck nearly all away 'round
And he looks at the chicken hawk a-layin' on the ground

"I knew the Lord would provide, I knew the Lord would provide."
And that's what brother buzzard said, "The Lord'll provide"

"Yes, the Lord'll provide, children you know the Lord'll provide."
That's what brother buzzard said, "The Lord'll provide."

and... yes the door did hit me!!!

This is a letter that I wrote for the June issue of Christ Church's newsletter.  Clearly all of the details and emotions are not in this letter, but my door, phone, facebook, and email are wide open.

Dear fellow Christ followers,

My family and I would like to thank you for all of the love and support we have received over the past 6 years.  We will treasure the memories, and miss all of the hi-five, hugs, and smiles.  Please know that wherever God calls us in ministry that Christ Church will certainly be apart of our prayers, and please be praying for us as we are trying to discern whether God is calling me immediately into another youth ministry position, to seminary, or maybe even both.   In 18 years of youth ministry God has given me the pleasure of watching blessings pour from the ministries I have been apart of and I am confident God is not removing the call nor the blessings from my life.

I praise Father God for the opportunity to minster at Christ Church. I have tons of fond memories to reflect on and I have had the joy to watch my babies grow into little boys.  I have had pleasure to watch a bunch of little 6^th grade children graduate from high school.  I have been blessed to watch many students accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, to see them to grow in spiritual depth, and I have seen them build the kingdom by ministering inside and outside of the church.  In the past month, I have even had the privilege of seeing one of my former students accept a youth minister job at Isle of Hope United Methodist.  In many ways my time here has been the best in all of my years serving Christ in ministry.  May God bless you and watch over you.

In HIS Grip,

Joey Phillips

(and Heather, James, Nolan, and Levi) 

Joey skating at the Vans Skate Park

My small group took did a skateboard tour this past week.  We hit up the Vans Skate Park in Orlando and Kona Skate park in Jacksonville.  I am working on a video about the entire trip, but until then here are a couple videos of me.

Milkbone Aint Gonna Fix That!!!

The other night a couple teenage boys were over at the house.  A couple of the boys were playing with our dog, Bacon.  As the boys were rolling around and playing with the dog my oldest son James (age 7) was watching.  James said to one of the boys, "I wouldn't let the dog kiss your face because he has Butt-Stink on his tongue".

What a puny little bike path!

This is a picture of a bike path.  This specific part of the path runs through this pipe because above it is an enormous 6-lane Highway.

Our lives are like this small simple bike path.  All we can see is our path.  Our perspective is from our path. Our path is important, and our path is big.

...but compared to the 6-lane Highway our path is small and insignificant.

When our lives intersect with God's it is not because God showed up in our lives, but that our small insignificant lives were given permission (if only for a moment) to cross His big, enormous, powerful highway.

It's not about making our story important.  It's about working to get our puny story to intersect into the only story that is important.

That's not my name...Star Wars edition

James (6 yrs. old) and Nolan (4 yrs. old) were playing Lego star-wars on the PS3 this morning. Nolan began to negotiate with James which character he wanted.

Nolan:  I wanna be Obi Nobie

Dad:  I think you mean Obi wan Kenobi

Nolan:  (with a questioning tone) Obi nobie nobie obi

Dad:  Obi wan Kenobi

Nolan:  Nobie Nobie

Dad:  exactly

Beer Butt Chicken

Heather's Dad came over this week.  I knew I wanted to use the grill for dinner, and I asked him to give me a tutorial of "Beer Butt Chicken".  This was just simply fun to cook because it is such a unique idea, but the result was some of the best tasting, tender, and very juicy chicken I've had in a while.


Ingredients and cost:
1 baking hen ($5)
1 can of Budweiser ($6, for a 6-pack)
salt and pepper
BBQ sauce ($3)

Directions:
1.  Get the grill going at around 300 degrees
2.  Massage the chicken down with salt & pepper.
3.  Open the can of beer, and set the chicken on the beer (the can acts as a stand), inserting the can into the cavity of the chicken.
4.  Baste with BBQ sauce
5.  Place the chicken on the grill.  Use the can as a stand, and make sure it is set in a way that the can will not fall over.
6.  Close the lid


Cook for an hour and 40 minutes.  There is a lot of grease so make sure the chicken does not get burned by direct flames.  Periodically baste the chicken with more BBQ sauce.

Nolan Wants a Cracker

A few months ago my oldest son, James, made a decision for Christ.  He doesn't have it all figured out, but then again who does?.  He said he asked God to come in and change his heart, and he does believe that Jesus died for him, and he is supposed to serve him, and his sins are gone because of it.  That pretty much sums it up.

A week ago at church we came forward, as we do every week, to take communion.  Heather, James, and I took the elements.  My 4 year old Nolan was upset that I did not allow him to take the communion.  Nolan does not yet have a belief of Jesus as his savior, and I take very seriously I Corinthians 11:29, which says:

I Corinthians 11:29

For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 

After communion and went back to our pew.  Nolan was still upset.  He looked at his mother referring to the alter rail he said, "Why am I not allowed to get a snack at the snack bar?"

...and that's why!

All Knuckleheads glorify the Lord

"I'm not gifted enough for God to use me.  God can't use me because of my past."   Really?

Abraham and Sarah were too old. (Genesis 18:14).  
Joseph was abused as a child, (Genesis 50:20).
David (1 Samuel 1-21), Moses (Exodus 2:11-14), and Paul (2 Corinthians 12:9) were murderers
Gideon was scared to death. (Judges 6 & 7)
Rahab was a prostitute. (Joshua 2:1-22)
Timothy was too young, (1 Timothy 4:12)
Elijah was suicidal. (1 kings 19:3-5)
Naomi was a widow. (Ruth 1)
Jonah initially ran away from God, but was given another chance. (Book of Jonah)
Job lost everything, and God glorified Himself through it. (Book of Job)  
Peter was an impulsive hot-head. (John 18:1-10)
The disciples fell asleep praying (Matthew 26:36-45)
Martha was a worry-wart (Luke 10:38-42)
Mary Magdalene was demon-possessed (Luke 8:1-2)
The Samarian woman was divorced five times (John 4:7-26))
Zaccheus was too short...and a thief (Luke 19: 1-10)
and Lazarus was dead. (John 11:1-45)


God wants to use you.  God loves to uses ill-equipped, the wounded, the broken, and the sinful to further his kingdom.  God uses knuckleheads.








The idea for this blog came from a ministry called God thoughts

Youth Ministry Stories #9 (Mac Powell and the Mac Powells)

I've found that the first 6 months at a new youth ministry job is  the hardest.  You are spending a lot of time getting to know the students, and you are consistently trying to convince youth that it is OK for them to trust you.

I had been working at the Church of the Cross as the new youth director for only a couple months, and I was in that stage where youth are still very wary of you.  We had planned a short trip (30 min drive) to Savannah, Ga to see Third Day and Toby Mac in concert.  It was Friday morning and I was running around trying to make sure all of the details were set.  I was double checking on my drivers.  Ordering food from chick-fila to be picked up for dinner, and generally running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.  One of the ladies that worked in the office, Risa Grace, noticed that I was running around a bit hurried.

Then she asked me, "what do you have going on making you so busy."  

"I'm taking a group of youth to see Third Day in concert"

"Oh yea, that's right.  They should be here at 4:00"

"No, they aren't coming here.  We are going to Savannah to see them at the Civic Center"

"No, they called earlier.  They will be here at 4:00".

"I think you are confused.  There is a concert in Savannah with the band Third Day"

"Well, I don't know about the concert, but they called and wanted to take pictures in front of the church."

To shorten the story and my confusion...we were both right.  Third Day was coming to the church to take pictures for their next album.

The youth began arriving around 4:00 only to see Third Day's tour bus parked besides the church.  We watched the band as they took pictures, and a few youth noticed how much makeup they were wearing for the pictures.  I looked around at this group of youth that I was just getting to know, and I realized that this was an opportunity for me to seem a bit cooler.  

Proverbs 16:18

Pride precedes a disaster, and an arrogant attitude precedes a fall.

not Matt Powell

I began telling the youth how years ago before Third Day was popular we had hired them to play music at a weekend retreat.  This was sorta true except that I had nothing to do with hiring them.  I was simply a volunteer with a youth group where another youth director had hired them, but my pride was in full stride.  As it neared time for us to head to Savannah one of our leaders, Donald Stephens, asked the band if they would come over and let us meet them and take a couple pictures.  The band agreed, took a break from their phot shoot, and came over and talked with the youth for a couple minutes.  I was still trying to act way cooler than I was.  I was talking to the band like I knew them, and I was really proud to call the lead singer by his first name without asking for it first.  I positioned myself in the center of the conversation and had a long conversation with the lead singer loud enough for everyone to realize exactly how cool I was.  After calling him by name 10-15 time the bass player spoke up in an tone that was loud enough for everyone to hear and clearly a bit irritated at me...  "His name is Mac not Matt."  I felt about two inches tall. 

The concert was great, the youth had a great time, and I got to revisit a fact I have known for a while...I AM NOT COOL!  

The hymnals and window pics are from The Church of the Cross.
There was also a band picture on the back cover, but
I was too lazy to scan it...maybe later.