- I thought Sunday worship went well yesterday at OCC. Many thanks to Uncle Craig for coming and preaching the Word. Remember to “watch your walk” this week! Read James 1:12-18 as a refresher.

- Our family is blessed to have five Mulpas men in full-time Christian ministry. Craig and his two sons, Chris and Jeff, serve at local churches. And then there’s me and my dad. Pretty cool!

- Beth had another doctor’s appointment this morning. Noah and I tagged along. Everything is on schedule and looking great! Our baby girl is due August 30. We continue to pray for health.

- The Indians traded C.C. Sabathia today. You can kiss this season goodbye if you haven’t already.

- I’m looking forward to Browns and Buckeyes football this year. GO BUCKS!

- Time to mow.

- I’m glad last week is over. Beth and Noah were in Indiana visiting family so I was alone. I didn’t like that. Also, the sermon on predestination took a lot out of me. The reason I slept so much last night was because I was up until 1:30 Sunday morning working on it. I thought it went okay, but it was hard. Maybe it was predestined to be that way!

- We ate lunch with Larry and Anna Mae Martin today. They are wonderful friends from the Ripley Church of Christ. Anna Mae was my Sunday School teacher growing up. It’s always good to connect with them.

- Attendance was great yesterday! You never know what will happen the Sunday after Easter. We had 647. Our average before Easter was 569. Keep inviting friends and family!

- Beth is at the dentist right now. What fun!

- Noah is taking a nap right now. I love that little guy!

- Just heard about a new message series a lot of churches are doing together in June. It’s called “One Prayer.” If God would answer “one prayer” for the church at large, what would you pray? Sounds like a cool series. I’d love to hear what you would pray for. Click here for more details. Do you think showing a sermon on video for three weeks would work at OCC? Would love your feedback on this.

- I tanked this weekend in my NCAA March Madness picks. The only hope I have is for Memphis to win it all. Go Tigers!

- You don’t have to take a “membership class” to become a member at OCC anymore. Instead we’re going to invite newcomers to a new class called “Discover OCC.” Our goal is to give an overview of OCC (mission, vision, values, beliefs, etc.) and encourage people to take the next step – whatever that might be for them. I’m excited about the new format and direction.

Have a wonderful week!

- I asked Beth to get me a new shirt and tie for Easter. She came through with a nice pastel yellow shirt and a pastel multi-colored tie. Lots of pastels yesterday. Too bad we didn’t have the warm spring weather to go with it.

- The quartet sings this Sunday, March 30. I guess that means I’ll be wearing a tie again.

- We had 736 people show up yesterday. That’s almost 170 over our average for this year. Very cool!

- I saw lots of new people yesterday. One of the people I invited came. That was really cool! It sure does change your perspective about Sunday morning when one of the people you invite shows up. The stakes are high!

- A total of 4 people were baptized this week at OCC - 2 people yesterday. One person transferred membership.

- 55 people sat in the chapel first service and 60 people second service. Popular spot! More comfortable seats and it’s in the back. Great combo!

- Ensemble nailed “Run to the Cross.”

- I thought the message went well. It was a little long, but whenever someone responds to the gospel it’s always exciting! The word of God is powerful! I’ll post my manuscript later this week if you want some bedtime reading. The Bridge PowerPoint was cool. Thanks to our graphic designer, Josh Hamer, for putting this together.

- Did you like the Easter Bunny picture? Tom, thanks for your sense of humor and permission to use this.  

- We had a guy call the office last week looking for a church home. He just accepted Christ. He came Sunday and is pumped about following Jesus. Very refreshing!

- Last night we traveled to North Canton to spend time with family. It was nice to see everyone again. That’s one of the advantages of living in Ohio now. God’s country!

- What if we viewed every Sunday as Easter Sunday? Just think what God would do!

- I started having back spasms Saturday. I get these about twice a year really bad. I popped some Aleve. That helped get me through yesterday. I feel like a rusty gate today. How will I feel when I turn 40? Yikes!

- I’m actually doing pretty well on my NCAA tourney brackets. I picked Villanova and West Virginia to be in the Sweet 16. You’ve got to love Western Kentucky and Davidson! Where in the world is Davidson?

- We’re off to get pizza again today for lunch. That’s the Mulpas tradition! Noah loves his pizza. So does daddy!

Have a great week!  

- We had a great weekend at OCC. It started with our annual Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt. There were thousands of eggs “hidden” around the church building. The kids had lots of fun! Noah got lots of candy. Daddy is enjoying it too!

- Yesterday was Youth Sunday. Wow! Our youth rock! What a wonderful worship service. Props to all the Jr. and Sr. High students that were involved. We missed those of you who attended the RLCA Jr. High Retreat over the weekend. Looking forward to seeing you Easter Sunday.

- I’m home today with Noah. Beth is out shopping. She needed a day away.

- Noah wants to eat lunch at Pizza Hut. You can’t beat that. We’ll get some Starbucks for dessert!

- Isaac Leimeister preached a home run yesterday. Way to go, Isaac! The video was awesome. Your message was even better. I’m glad people at OCC can hear a great message once in awhile.

- Emily Swartzentruber and the youth band did a great job yesterday too. Way to go! It was definitely a change of pace and that’s a good thing.

- Cross+Winds Cafe rocked. Roberta Munsey is doing a wonderful job leading that ministry. Food was yummy!

- We had our auction/draft for Fantasy Baseball yesterday afternoon and evening. It was a marathon. Can you say 7 hours? Ouch!

- Love the spirit at OCC right now. I’m looking forward to a packed house this Sunday. Don’t forget to invite your friends and family to the Questions I’ve Wanted to Ask God series. It’s going to be fun and hopefully life-changing!

- Offering yesterday was good. We cancelled last Sunday so it needed to be good. It was just under $30,000. We’re still behind budget for the year, but I’m confident we’ll catch up. Thanks for your generous giving to OCC.

- I love our new mission statement. It’s simple. It’s easy to remember. It’s what we’re supposed to do. Win. Train. Send.

- We’ve got 26 people going to Louisiana this Saturday morning to help with various projects down there. Pray for their safety and success. There’s still a lot of work to be done!

- There’s a new Sunday School elective starting this Sunday. It’s a DVD series by Bill Hybels called Just Walk Across the Room. It’s a four week class (March 23, 30; April 6, 13). Tom Ledford is facilitating. The class will meet in the sanctuary.

- My seminary class is starting to wear on me. Pray that I can persevere.

- That last thought reminds me I’ve got work to do in my seminary class. Better go!