FredMcKinnon.Com

Hey Everyone -

I’m back from an awesome 3-day retreat with the SSCC Staff. I’ve often heard people say “don’t call it a retreat, call it an advance” theory. As if Believers would never have need to retreat. I think the word “retreat” is more than appropriate. There is a time to “advance” and charge. But there is also a time to retreat, pull back, regroup, rest, and recharge. That’s what Staff Retreat Fall ’07 was about. I never checked email, I never checked blogs … and had 1 missed call on my cell phone. Google Reader says I have 266 blogs to read – I think I’ll once again declare RSS Bankruptcy and click the “Mark All as Read” button and start afresh with your blogs!

We didn’t go far – a stone’s throw over the river to Sea Island … we were blessed with two homes (if you can call these homes) that were a couple of blocks apart – the girls stayed in one home that overlooked the marsh … we stayed in a mansion (literally) on the main street. You could get lost in that place.

We had some incredible times of worship, prayer, rest, and recreation. Unfortunately, the weather was so bad we didn’t get our fishing trip OR our kayaking trip. Hopefully we’ll do that again sometime soon.

When we arrived there was a package on everyone’s bed which was a nice, leather journal. We were encouraged to journal throughout the retreat on what God was speaking to us. I couldn’t blog, but at least I could journal. It was refreshing. Speaking of which, one declaration that Pastor David “casually floated” by was his desire to get into blogging. Chris and I jumped on that like “white on rice” and will have Pastor Yardbird in the blogging world ASAP. Rumor has it that Yobo himself visits my blog now and then … so if you’re reading … busted. We can’t wait to welcome YOU into the world of blogging. I’m sure that the discipline of journaling (blogging) your thoughts – downloading your concerns, expressing your triumphs, or just ranting … will help unload and unpack a lot of stuff. Not to mention the community that you’ll build by being transparent for everyone, as you already are. (OK, so if Yobo never reads this, at least you all know how I feel!).

On Tuesday night we had an intense, refreshing time of worship and asking God for a fresh filling of His Holy Spirit in our lives. As a staff we all surrendered to God and prayed for Him to “fill us” with His Holy Spirit afresh and anew.

On Wednesday night we went over to our construction site around 5:00 PM after the worker’s left and walked around praying in the new building for a while. Then Shannon led us in some awesome worship in the “soon-to-be-sanctuary” and we served one another communion. It was a sweet time where we remembered the Lord, prayed for one another and ministered to one another. I felt that I had a prophetic word for Jon, our Youth Pastor, and the next day David poured into him the exact same stuff – so it was awesome to hear God confirm the word that I’d just spoken over him the night before.

Probably the most meaningful time was yesterday morning. Our kayaking trip was canceled, so we gathered for a time of worship. They had made some “goodie bags” for all the staff and David handed these out, one-by-one, and took a minute to bless and speak into the life of each staff member. That was awesome, but then Jim (our Admin Pastor) pulled out the bag that had been prepared for Pastor David. Each person held that bag and poured into David, blessing him, encouraging him, and speaking life over him. Then we prayed for him like never before. It was so sweet and powerful.

On a less-spiritual note:

1. We went bowling as a staff. I never broke 90. How pitiful. Laura (the super-glue of the church, Admin Asst, secretary, receptionist, multi-purpose make-it-happen girl) beat me, too.
2. I was introduced to bocce ball. Fun … I did OK.
3. Travis brought his fancy, smanchy set of Texas Hold’em chips. Most of the guys played Hold’em Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The game started before dinner, and lasted until after 2:00 AM. Big-Daddy-Fred is the poker champion. I won both games. I stayed up ’til after 2:00 AM to win a poker game that involved no real money – just poker chips and a big ego. I donated both of my night’s winnings to the building fund. Unfortunately, Van Winkle (our builder) probably doesn’t accept plastic poker chips.

So, I was refreshed spiritually. I wasted an opportunity to get some physical rest, but at least I can be the poker king.

It was an incredible time of team-building and relationship building. I was, am, and continue to be overwhelmed with gratitude that God put me on the team.

Google Analytics said that because I didn’t blog, traffic nosedived on my site this week … so, I hope you’ll come back now! Did you miss me?

For the Kingdom,
Fred