Things here are good.  I have received a promotion at work.  My new title is Associate Pastor of Spiritual Development.  I oversee a great team of ministers and directors from preschool through senior adult.  Its more of a management and administrative job.  I like it.

We are getting ready to open 24 million dollars worth of new buildings at the church.  God has definitely been good.  He has blessed us so much.  Its an exciting time to be at First Baptist Concord.

The family is doing great.  David is 9 years old and in the thrid grade.  He is so smart and developing so fast.  He is a great little boy.  So much fun.

Joshua is 7  and just began the first grade.  He is doing well.  He is reading well and doing a great job with school.

We love our boys so muc.  They bring so much into our lives.  We are so very proud of them.  But we continually realize how much we need God to guide us and direct us as we parent.  Man…its the hardest thing I have ever done.  But it is also so ver rewarding.  The hugs, the holding of my hand, the look in their eyes all means so much to me.  They love football and scouts.  Of course TV and video games are fun in moderation.

Molly is of course managing our family very well.  She is working a lot too.  I don’t know how she does it all.  And now she is the popcorn queen for scouts.

Things are going well.  God is so good.  I can’t imagine where I would be or what I would be doing without Him in my life.

One thing is for sure.  God is still on His throne!  He still reigns!  The economy may fail.  The next president will  make mistakes.  All of us might have to ride our bikes more.  But one thing is for certain.  God is in control.  My resolution for 2009 is to honor Him with all that I do.  My resolution for 2009 is to recognize His sovereignity in my life and in my family.  I can’t do it on my own.  We can’t do it on our own.  Our country and our world need Him.  We can’t do it by ourselves.  Nothing…Nothing has a more solid foundation than the Rock of Ages.

God has given me so many opportunities this past year.  He has broadened my territory.  For 2009, I look for Him to continue to broaden and callenge me.  God seems to have prepared me for something bigger for 2009.  What I had thought for 2008 was more my thought than His I think.  But God had something different in store for me.  For 2009 I am going to be chalenged at work to take on more administrative responsibility.  I will be in a transition of sorts administratively.  Its a good thing.  This gives me the opportunity to use my gifts talents and strengths in a broader perspective to impact the Kingdom of God.  I am excited yet scared.  Its beyond my comfort zone but I think God has prepared me for the task.

The family is doing well.  The kids keep growing!  I can not believe how God has blessed me so with these wonderful boys.  David is 8 and so tall.  He is the tallest boys in the 2nd grade basketball league.  I think he has great promise for basketball.  Joshua is 6 and is such a joy.  He loves art and is so cute drawing his pictures.  I can not tell you how proud I am of my boys.  I love them so much.

David I hope for you this year that you will experience all that God has planned for you.  I keep telling you to trust in the Lord with ALL of your heart and He will direct you paths.  David you are a special little boy.  God loves you David.  He has great plans for you.  He created you so special.  Always keep you eyes fixed on Him in all that you do.  He will always be with you…right by you where ever you go.  I love you my son, more than you know. David God has given you a great personality, and a love for people.  You have incredible leadership qualities.  Use these attributes for Gods glory son.  Put these gifts in Gods hands and He will use you mightily.

My little Joshua.  When you put your hand in mine as we walk along, it makes me soar.  You are such a sweet and sensitive little boy.  God has indeed gifted you in some very special ways.  My prayer is that you will also trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Let God direct your paths.  He loves you and has great plans for you.  God wants to be a part of each day of your life.  Always be open to Him.  Tune your sensitivty towards God, Joshua.  I love you very much.  More than words can say.

Then theres Molly.  My beautiful bride.  2009 marks 13 years of marriage for us.  I love you very much.  Thanks for putting up with me.  Thanks for taking care of me.  You are the brightest star in the universe.  I can not imaginge what my life would be like without you.  You have made me so happy.  You are my best friend.  My greatest companion.  Thank you for being you.  I pray that 2009 will see us grow closer and closer to each other.  Thank you God for creating Molly for me.

As you can see I am very reflective this evening.  I am looking forward to 2009.  I think God has some great things in store for all of us.  Look to Him in all you do.  Don’t lean on your own understanding.  In every way of your life, aknowledge His sovreaignity…and he will make your paths straight.  I love Proverbs 3: 5,6.

Happy New Year!

The boys have been doing well.  Both of them are so smart and learning so much in school.  They both like to read.  Joshua is sort of the star of his class.  He is the only one in his class that is reading and taking Accelerated Reading books and tests.  His kindergarten teacher really bragged on him in our conference this past week.  David is also doing really well.  He is such a joy to be around.  He is funny and also very bright.

Church is getting interesting.  The westlake campus is going well.  Upward Basketball starts up next week.  Today we had our first coaches meeting.  I hope it all goes well.  Next week we begin our evaluations.  This is the buiest time of the year for me with so much basketball going on.

We finished up our soccer season last week.  We celebrated with Kids Celebration at our Upward Soccer award night last Monday.  We had 10 professions of faith.  Bill Buchannon did a great job with the Kids Celebration thing.  It was fun!  The kids and parents all had a blast.

We’ve had a great fall so far.  We went camping to Jellystone park in Gatlinburg a few weeks ago.  It was great.  We had so much fun!  Its a Yogi Bear themed cam ground.  It was great.  Then a week later we went up to the smoies for the day and just had a great time hiking around and enjoying the family.  Then for Fall Break we went to pigeon forge and stayed a few days.  We stayed in the resort at governors crossing.  They have a cool indoor water slide and swimming pool set up.  We had a blast!  Then last weekend my mom came to visit.  We went to the Maple Lane Farms pumpkin patch and hay maze.  I love doing stuff with the family.

Molly and I celebrate our 12th anniversary Sunday November 2.  Its hard to believe we have been married for 12 years.  She really has been good to me.  I love her very much.  And we have such a wonderful family.  God has blessed both of us.  No telling what I would be doing or where I would be without her in my life.  She’s the best!

Yesterday I took David to football and took him off of the team.  I was reminded yesterday just how important my family is.  I also realized how important my role as father and leader for my family is.  I was in a meeting and someone made a comment about how the church needs to be careful about occupying too much family time and that getting folks wrapped up in being busy can actually rob them of family joy and peace.  I realized that David is not really enjoying football and that I am sacrificing precious family time for David to go to football practice.  I realized that our family time was too high a price.  Now if David was just loving football, I would break my back to keep him involved.  But with Molly and I working so much right now, its just not worth it.  For the past month we have not seen each other very much at all.  I think its the right choice.  I also don’t want David to totally hate football in the future.

Church stuff is going pretty well.  The WestLake campus launches this coming Sunday.  Its exciting!  There has been a TON of work to do to get ready.

David and Joshua like their teachers and their classes.  I hope we have a good school year this year.

Well thats all for now…

• I went to Spain for the fourth time this summer. I went with 16 others to Madrid to conduct an Upward Basketball Camp for kids there in the Alcobendas area. We went the week of July 13. It was great! We had something like 120 kids register. Last year we had something like 70. It was phenomenal. I had the privilege each day to share the Gospel with each camper. It was great. The are really is a mixture of the world. We had Spanish kids, Moroccan kids, North African kids and more. Many of them asked questions about God. Sharing with the kids this year was more exciting than it has ever been. Many of them were very much listening. I pray for the seeds that we cast that week that they will land on fertile soil.
• While in Spain, I went to Toledo on my free day. Toledo was really cool. Its kn own around the world for sword making. COOL!
• David is my oldest son. He turns 8 August 4.
• David is playing tackle football with the FBC Warriors. Its interesting! Check out the Warriors website here.
• First Baptist Concord did vote to begin a new venue at the former WestLake church campus.  It will be known as First Baptist Concord – WestLake.  I think it will be a huge success.
• We are having Flag Football this fall for the first time.  We will have teams for 5/6 year olds and 7/8 year olds.
• We had Davids birthday today Saturday Aug 2.  We played laser tag!  I came in first in the first game and fourth in the second game.  But is there something wrong with me winning against a bunch of 7 and 8 year olds?
• Molly and I saw the Dark Knight last night.  It was good.  Not great.  Ledger did a great job with the Joker.  He should win the academy.  But the movie was too long….
• I am going to cook a beef brisket soon like I used to when I was in seminary.  It will be a traditional Texas style brisket.  Yummy!
• Well…my bridge across the creek left us the other night.  Many of you know that I built a bridge in the Spring to get across the creek in our back yard.  I was so proud of my bridge.  Last week we had a couple of days of really heavy rain.  The first rain brought the creek over the bridge…but she held!!  I was proud!  But before the creek could go back to normal level, we had another really heavy rain that must have really roared down the creek.  The next morning I looked out the window and noticed the bridge was gone.  I looked a little way down “river” and noticed my bridge washed up over turned in the neighbors yard.  I have since gotten the bridge back into my yard but have not re set it.  I will soon and with steps to make it higher so the water will be sure to pass under it in the future.

First Baptist Concord is developing a new venue or satellite. Years ago we started a church nearby in West Knoxville. It has struggled over the past 5 years or so and it has come to a point where we are going to re assume responsibilities on that campus. It is an exciting opportunity for us to continue to reach our community and our city for Christ. Our pastor has asked me to help spear head the administrative side of things for this new campus. Needless to say this had filled much of my time over the past several weeks. But it has been fun.

We went on vacation to Gulf Shores June 20 thru 25. It was really nice. This was the vacation that Molly won from my entering her on RAYCOM Sports in a contest. Her name was drawn and we won the trip! It was really nice to get away for a few days. My mom was able to go with us too. I was glad she could go and spend time with us but especially with David and Joshua.

I am getting ready to go to Madrid Spain again next week July 12 thru 20. We will be conducting basketball and English as a second language camps there. This is my 4th time to go to Spain. Its fun but I am so busy I feel a little stressed about going. I am sure God will bless as He always seems to do. Pray for us as we go. We will work with about 100 children at the camp. We will also have many other opportunities that the missionary and his family create for us. Our goal is to go and assist the missionary we are working with. We hope to improve existing relationships and create new ones for the missionary.

Our construction campaign at the church is getting crazy. One building is almost finished. Part of an existing building has been demolished to make way for 2 more new buildings. So in all of this process the Family Life Center has been closed for 6 weeks. My office and my staffs offices have all been moved. Actually I don’t have an office right now. Its crazy! But it is exciting to see all of the new opportunities that are being created with the new buildings. We have needed more space for so long.

The family is doing good. We went to the fourth of july parade the other day. It was fun! We went to the smokies game and saw the post game fireworks. I took David and Joshua to the fireworks store. I have never seen so many people at the fireworks store. We bought about $50 of fireworks and shot them off qith friends over Saturday night July 5th. Also over the weekend I steamed off wall paper in a guest room and a bathroom in our house. Then I painted the bathroom. It was a busy but rewarding weekend.

Take Care for now! Drop me a comment if you like. I would love to hear from any readers.

• We bought a boat!  Its nothing fancy.  Its a 1984 Glastron with a mercury 115.  It is in great condition!  We’ll have lots of Ogle Family fun on the lake this summer.
• We won another contest.  I know, I know…what can I say?  When you have the touch, youve got it.  I was at home on Saturday afternoon watching some basketball on RAYCOM SPORTS.  They advertised their contest page on their website duringa  time out.  I picked up my laptop and entered.  I entered myself to win their “Be one of the Crew” contests.  While I was at the site I entered Molly in the Alabama Tip Off Tee Off contest.  The next Monday they called her and told her she had been selected as the winner!  We won a vacation at Gulf Shores this summer for 4 days.  The vacation includes golf, some meals and some area attraction admissions.  COOL!
• Joshua is playing TBALL.  He is on the Marlins again this year with coach Jon.  Its fun!
• I am so glad the LADY VOLS won the National Championship last night.  The Lady Vols really have an amazing history.  Pat Summitt is amazing!
• I guess after 12 years of living in Tennessee, I am now a UT Sports fan.
• Pat Summitt attended a basketball game at our Family Life Center a few years ago.  She illegally parked her Mercedes on the curb outside….I didn’t say anything to her about it though.  She was here watching her son play a game while he attended Webb.
• I am rethinking my Super Star Sports idea.  I am thinking of changing the name to something else that is a little bit farther away from any Upward likeness.  I still want to do it though.
• I stunk it up in the NCAA March Madness for fun bracket that I had.  I came in second to last place just ahead of Corey.
• I mowed the grass Monday.  Man our yard is so big and hilly.  Its scary mowing especially on the hills.  I have to shift my weight from side to side so the lawn mower won’t tip over and roll down the hill.
• I built a bridge over the creek.
• I am building a clubhouse for the boys on their island in the creek.  The island is about 10 feet wide and about 20 feet long.  It will be cool when I am done.  If I can just find the time to get done.
• Molly is working a lot lately.  He part time job turned into a full time job pretty much from day one.  It ads a different dynamic to the family.  Thankfully my schedule is flexible enough that I can bring the boys to school and pick them up.  Plus they can hang out with me at the FLC.
• Joshua went to the Doctor a week or so ago.  It was his regular check up.  He had Strep throat!!  Poor guy.  He also got 4 SHOTS.  2 in each leg.  They were his regular shots.  But boy did he cry.  I felt so bad for him.  Plus he got 2 finger pokes for blood tests.  Needless to say I rewarded him for being so brave and bought him a snake webkinz animal.
• Webkinz are COOL!  Molly and I are even hooked on the games.  We can play games and earn David and Joshua Webkinz Cash so they can buy virtual stuff for their pets.  Its a kids virtual world!
• We are going to Peter Pan this weekend at Cumberland Playhouse.
• I am thinking of signing David up to play football!
• The buildings at First Baptist are going well.  I am excited to see them progrssing.  There is still A LOT of work to be done.

Well thats all for now.  Thanks for reading!  Hopefully I will do a better job of posting.

My goal for 2008 is to get Super Star Sports started.

Pray for me to get this thing going.

Stay tuned…