I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that CCJ is growing up. We are a young church and I pray we will always be an ever changing missional church, but we are moving out of the new church area. We are in our six year of existence, we are in major building project and we now have two full time ministers on staff. All that is cool but just like myself at 33 I pray we always stay young at heart.
I’ve been tinkering with a new design for the web site for 2007 (thought I’d start now and work a bit at a time instead of waiting until Dec. 15 or something).
ANYWAY, I’ve come up with three different designs and trashed them all after being satisfied with them initially. What I kept coming back to was the one that was more or less similar to the one we already have. It’s got it’s differences to be sure, but it’s still a first or second cousin to the one we have now.
It’s strikes me as funny because I so often get dissatisfied with the status quo when, sometimes, the status quo is the right thing. Contentment is what I need.
I didn’t initially start this post with the idea of some great spiritual idea but there is one there I think. God’s grace and forgiveness are like the thing I THINK I need to add to or improve on when, in reality, it gets the job done. There’s nothing I can really do for myself (no matter how GOOD I try to be) that can add to God’s awesome mercy to me.
That may be a loose comparison but it struck me nonetheless.
I was trying to think the other day what my favorite song ever would be. I could not decided a lot because it kind of depends what kind of mood I am in. What (In your opinion) is the greatest song ever.? I am thinking from a purely secular point of view.
Real Life Ministries of Post Falls, Idaho is a seven-year-old church plant, yet it is running 6,600 on weekends with 6,000 in small groups – in a town with a population of 18,000. The church…
Read more here.
I am very fired up that football season is a little over a month away. It is one of my favorite things in life. I know in the grand scheme of things football means nothing but we all have to have our outlet and football is one of mine.
Mark Driscoll on what he sees wrong with many churches today: (found in this article over at Christianity Today)
The major blind spot of megachurches is that they tend to be very effeminate with aesthetics, music, and preaching perfectly tailored for moms. Manly men are repelled by this, and many of the men who find it appealing are the types to sing prom songs to Jesus and learn about their feelings while sitting in a seafoam green chair drinking herbal tea—the spiritual equivalent of Richard Simmons. A friend of mine calls them “evangellyfish” with no spiritual vertebrae. Statistically, traditional churches are in steep decline, contemporary churches will dominate in the foreseeable future, and emerging churches are just beginning to sort out what the future holds for them.
Hmm, we probably do some of those “prom songs to Jesus.” Maybe we should just play everything louder.
What are you reading these days?
What are you watching these days?
What are you listening to these days?
Me, I’m into the following these days:
Reading: Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. This is a very challenging book about “repainting the Christian faith.” I’m probably going to reread it after I get done. I’m not sure I agree with all that Bell is saying about the faith but he is addressing many issues that others never have (at least in my readings) about the nature of faith and the Bible.
Watching: Reruns of The Office and Season 2 of Arrested Development on DVD (the final season comes out on DVD in late August). It’s funny that The Office is pretty sucessful while AD struggled to find an audience. I guess AD was a little tougher to “get.” It certainly was a great show.
Listening: Johnny Cash’s American V: A Hundred Highways. These are songs Cash recorded just before his death in 2003. It’s funny that the American IV album was so death-haunted and kind of sad while this one is very aware of death but solemn and serene. Cash was at peace with God before he died it sounds like.
Also, I’m checking out The Elms, a rock band from Seymour, IN. I picked up their album last night at Wal-Mart pretty cheap so I threw caution to the wind and bought it not knowing any songs (like I used to do all the time in college). Pretty solid so far.
And you?
Hey all, I just figured I’d put out some random information about us. Feel free to leave any questions, comments, insults, tirades or snide remarks. Hopefully this will give you a bit more information than you may have presently about who we are.
I (Mark) am originally from Northern Ohio (Ashland to be precise), while Kara is from Northern Indiana (”Milford” if you have your atlas handy). I am an avid (some may say “rabid”) Ohio State football fan, but am also a fan of college football in general. Kara grew up in the middle of Notre Dame country…but resisted the pressure to conform and grew up a Purdue fan. However she’d freely admit that she’s more of a Buckeye now :).
We met at Kentucky Christian College and were married August 3, 2002 (yes we’re about to have our four-year anniversary). We lived our first two years in Grayson, KY - the first as students, the second working for a small ISP owned by the college. We moved to Louisville two years ago for Kara to go to U of L. This past May she graduated with her Master of Social Work & Marriage and Family Therapy degree.
My hobbies include tinkering with all sorts of computer stuff (hence why I was an administrator at an ISP while having a degree in Bible & Preaching), running (two marathons thus far - yes I am sick), computer games, reading, movies, etc. Kara also runs (one marathon thus far), crafting (her latest venture has been making cards while she also enjoys various other types of crafts), cake decorating (sort of falls under crafting…but I can eat it 
) and an assortment of other things.
Kara is passionate about ministering to families, married couples (hence the degree) and teens. The last has become more obvious in the last month as she’s attended a CIY conference with the youth group and worked a week of senior high church camp (yearly tradition for us - ask us about it sometime). She loves being able to be God’s hands, arms, ears and feet as she ministers to individuals and families.
Since I was in my mid-teens I’ve had a passion for preaching and proclaiming the word of God. This has played itself out in a variety of ways. From speaking to groups to one on one Q & A, I love the study and proclamation of God’s Word. I love helping individuals connect head knowledge & words on a page to a loving, growing relationship with Jesus Christ. So I’m very excited to be involved in the area of Discipleship and Small Groups where I believe this growth can happen the best.
Random items:
Ok. Enough of my typing…back to the grind. Hugs to all of you from the Eastern time zone!
I am really excited about Mark and Kara coming next week and their move to Jasper. I have really missed being a part of a multi-staff team in the ministry. There are so many things you can do when you have more then one minister on staff. I can’t really explain it but you will see.
Anyway I think everyone will really like Mark and Kara. I hope we bring out a big crowd to meet them both next Sunday.
There are many people putting in a lot of time in getting the new building up on the south side of Jasper. Randy Berg, pictured above in a photo provided by Glenda, is doing a fantastic job as the project manager. If you see him, take a second to thank him for the job he is doing.
Thank any member of the Interior Decorating & Design Team for the time they out in picking out the furnishings of the new building.
Thank Jeff Kerby & Kurt for working together to get all the sound and audio-visual stuff together.
Thank Jeff Shoemaker, Brett Abell, Adam Meyer and Jeremy Werner for using their talents for this project.
There are many others who I don’t know about or haven’t listed. Darrel mentioned in a previous post about 20+ people coming together to frame up the building Randy is pictured on.
Giving isn’t just about money as too many churches and preachers stress. It’s about time and talents as well.
Thank those you see doing this so that we can have a facility to worship in.
But most of all, thank Jesus for sacrificing His life for you.
Do.
It.
Now.
Gandhi on Christianity
“You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilzation to pieces, turn the world upside down, and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of good literature.
ya know he’s right. Alot of folk place the Bible up on the shelf next to books like Lord of the Rings or a steven king novel with out realizing the true power in this book. It’s not just a Guide to optional living, It’s the Randmcnally of life…how to get from point A to point B. And how not to get to point (H)
kurt
HOW TO POOP IN THE WILD
DEUTERONOMY 23:12-14
23:12
Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself.
23:13
As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement.
23:14
For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.
HOW CAN WE APPLY THIS TO OUR LIVES?
Should we filter as much excrement out of our lives as possible? What are some way we could all do this?
Have you ever wondered why people don’t comment to your post? I guess it is my ego but it really messes with my head. Oh well, I am kind in one of the moods I guess. I could not explain why if I tried because I don’t have a clue myself. Well Later.
I continue to be absolutely amazed at what a group of people working together for one goal can accomplish in a short period of time. Today about 20 volunteers started with a concrete slab and put up a 20′ by 60′ building in about 8 hours. The storage building has walls and rafters and is ready to have the metal roof put on Tuesday.
It is neat to see. Thanks for all who help and may that be an example of how the church can get things done on a bigger scale when we work together.
Pastor’s wife has surgery to ensure permanent smile
“It’s my duty to smile,” she says. “When I’m not projecting that joy of the Lord, I’m letting people down, no matter how crappy I feel.”
From the excellent satire site Lark News.