stephen wayne hammond

The best burger on earth!

These are the servants who prepared my lunch today at In and Out.

By far In and Out is the freshest burger in America. Only problem is that they aren't in Texas. So when I am in California or Nevada I have to make a point to stop here.

God bless the family that has given such a quality fast food burger!

Sierra Nevada

This is my brother Kevin and two of his good friends. Today the 4 of us found ourselves in the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountains. This is a picture of this beautiful place.

On this min-vacation/sabbactical I have learned much about humility, honesty, seeking God, asking hard questions and overcooked prime rib. I am really enjoying my time with these guys and I pray that I am encouraging them to greater things in life concerning faith, love and hope.

I am blessed to have a generous brother who can afford to pay my way to such an awesome place. It's been fun having some of his co-workers/friends with us as well.

Pray for Kevin, KC, Randolph and myself that we all continue to meet with God as we celebrate life together this week in Lake Tahoe.

First Time Ever

This was the site of a local CiCi's pizza that my family visited recently. I had never seen such a sight at CiCi's, especially at 6pm (height of the dinner rush).

In all fairness to CiCi's, they did have a 40 pizza take out order they had to cover for a local Jr High.

What have you seen recently that is abnormal?

ESV Study Bible

I just received my new ESV Study Bible in the mail the other day, and man this thing is loaded up with great insights, maps, commentaries and of course the trust-worthiness of the English Standard Version.

If you are looking for a great new tool to help make the scriptures more applicable in your life then let me suggest you go grab one of these guys.

LifeWay is selling them for $40 but you can order them on Amazon for $30 (I think).  Or you can come by my office and buy a brand new copy for $25 (I found the best deal out there but can't give you the name or they promised me they would blow up my dog).  I have 2 copies left for the $25 price.

Check this out for more information on this great new resource for the emerging generations.

The Good Life

Today I learned some not too encouraging news regarding people and money. But my lunch buddy reminds me that God is still good and He has everything in control. God, my son Bryson and Sonic Ice Cream- Life is Good!

AHS Ballboys

Harrison and Bryce gearing up for the big game tonight.

Go Colts!

Sports Ministry

This is a picture of our pre-game chapel for the AHS football team.

Anywhere between 55-65 student athletes fill the locker room for this voluntary talk centered on faith, sports and life.

My good friend Doug (pictured above) and I have been working together now for 8 years serving these kids and coaches.

Probably the highlight of both of us is enjoying Friday Night Football with our oldest sons while we are on 'mission' to share our love for Christ and culture with AHS. Doug's son, Zach, is a team statastician for the offense and my son, Harrison, is a ballboy.

It's much fun to hang out with the Colts as they pursue a distict championship. It's even more fun living this life with our sons!

Baseball's Worst Nightmare

If the Rays defeat the Red Sox in the American League Championship series you will be able to hear the groans all the way from the east coast to the west coast.  

If this happen it will pit the Philadelphia Phillies (small market) against the unbelievable (going from last place last year to first place this year) Tampa Bay Rays (another small market team).  

The World Series will be a great one to watch if you are a true baseball fan, but most of the country will probably tune it out.  And by doing it millions will be lost on TV revenues.  

On the other hand, it would have been Baseball's dream come to true to have the Los Angeles Dodgers vs the Boston Red Sox (2 of the top 4 markets in the nation).  If LA would have had better pitching they could have defeated the Phillies, but not this year.  (All my Dodger friends need to be praying that Joe Torre gets CC Sabithia this off season as a free agent).

Isn't is funny how you can be so close to your 'greatest' whatever, only to end up with your worst nightmare.

Welcome to the MLB.

Things that make you go "Huh?"

I just read this and began to ask myself so many questions it's not even funny.

Any thoughts?

Sunday Mornings

I have been working for Christ and the Gospel in a local church setting now for 16 years.  That means my Sunday mornings are a bit different from most.  While I don't have the opportunity to help my wife get the kids ready, eat breakfast together or show up for a worship gathering together (I can't remember the last time we rode to 'church' together) there are some great things I love about Sunday mornings.

Getting up early to pray for those people who we will encounter in our community that morning is a great start to my Sunday.  A quick bite to eat, maybe a glance at the morning paper and then it's out the door.

Spending time up at CATS to do some minor set up work and to continue to pray that lives would be changed is another peaceful aspect of my Sunday mornings.  This morning I was up early enough to see the sun come up.  Beautiful!

Then it's usually off to a small group for a local group of high school coaches.  We are walking through what masculinity looks like according to the scriptures.  Great stuff!

After I go too long with the coaches (which I usually always) I find myself flying down Cooper street to make it back to CATS in time for a quick sound check, some mingling with friends and some more time to pray.  

Then it's on!  The band leads out in some music that focuses us on the great God that loves us so much. People sing, pray and connect with the Creator. My kids and wife stand next to me as I try to teach my children who God is and why He is worth our time, energy and passion. Sometimes we focus intensely on the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus through communion.  Every week we look at how God wants to shape us through the scriptures.  I have the honor to lead out this time most Sunday and it truly is getting more fun as the years.  After our time of encouragement through the Bible we offer our friends a chance to have others pray with them then we get our rental space all cleaned up.  By that time everyone is ready for lunch!

I love Sunday mornings!