– Awesome day today! 

– I taught Esther 2:1-18. I took a bit of a different angle on it. 

– Most Bible teachers focus on how godly Esther is. I just don't see that from the text. 

– Esther doesn't reveal that she's Jewish, eats non-kosher, and marries a Gentile (all Hebrew no-no's)

– Daniel on the other hand lets everyone know he's Jewish and won't eat the king's delicacies (Daniel 1)

– Thankfully, Esther turns things around by chapter 4. 

– Anyway, I talked about the stuff that we cover up. Great response to the message. 

– The band sounded great. Great to see new worship members serving. 

– It was cold this morning. Like 30 degrees cold. We're not equipped for that kind of chilly weather. 

– Yes, I rocked a scarf this morning. 

– Before the service, we filmed a new welcome video for newcomers. This is DVD that we're going to give out at our Miramar campus.  

– I'm amazed at the level of talent at Calvary. The guy shooting the video was part of the press team that followed President Obama during the campaign. 

– Plus, our video producer (who's on our staff) has won 3 Emmy's. 

– It's humbling to know that I'm the least educated guy on our staff 🙂

– By the way, special thanks to our set up team who get to the school every Sunday at 6AM. I know today was even more difficult. Thanks for all you do for the kingdom!

– I'm reviewing a great book in the www.church-strategies.com newsletter on Tuesday. You can subscribe here. Plus, I'm going to be giving away 5 copies of the book.  You'll find out how to win one on Tuesday! 

– If you DM'ed me on Twitter asking for a coupon code for our new resource, "Direct Mail Secrets", that code expires today.  Here's the link.

– Stay warm and have a great week!