Love is amazing...whether it's Valentine's Day or not! Right now I am collecting stories of times that somehow expressed love to another person. I am going to video people telling about a time when someone expressed love to them in some way. Yesterday afternoon I taped a video of Dennis Hall, Pastor here at Friendship Community Church, telling a simple story of how someone went out of their way to help him and what a difference it made to him. I'll be taping and editing and posting video tales of love. We all need to hear about how life can be good sometimes and what a difference a little love can make.
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Yesterday afternoon I spent a little time walking down memory lane. I went through a file I have of programs/schedules from an event I used to attend in Findlay, Ohio each year called Workshop. It was for teenagers and I first attended it in 1965...I was a week or so shy of being 15 then. I made a lot of great friends there over the years as I grew up and helped at the event by singing and being on staff and eventually getting to be one of the directors. I attended 25 in a row, through 1989. I experienced so many things there because it was a place that I looked forward to going back to each year. Seeing old friends, making new ones, and feeling comfortable in a life that wasn't always comfortable. I moved lots of times over those years but returning to Findlay was like a safe haven. Connecting with good friends and Jesus. There were good speakers and good music but the best was the friendship and the times spent with God. Maybe you have a memory like that. It could be a path you...
This morning I have been reading. First the Bible, a good place to start--finished up the Old Testament book of Ezra. Those guys had it rough trying to rebuild the temple and restore their relationship with God. Then I pulled out magazines that I "need" to read. I read/skimmed through the Nov./Dec. 2008 issue of Outreach . Good article on The Joy of Sacrifice about Francis Chan. He and his family moved from a nice 2,000 square foot California home into an old, beat-up 1,000 square foot home to give more to the poor around them and around the world. A lot of Christians didn't understand why he would do this. He's speaking at a conference I am going to in April so that should be good to learn more. And I could find a book by him, Crazy Love . Ever notice how reading one book or article often leads to another one? Then I moved on to Collide magazine. I'm still working through it but I came across a brief article on iamsecond.com . I went on their site and there are a...
Another day that it was supposed to snow, but nothing has happened yet. I gotta say that as a Worship Leader I'm glad for people to be able to get out to worship tonight and Sunday. So hold off snow, OK? This weekend we are going to introduce a new song at worship. It's called Pass It On. No, not the 1960's one that was a good one (and still is)... this is a more upbeat song from Tommy Walker. You can hear it and see it on video here:
The discussion for The Shack went well last night, there were 14 people out. It has such meaning and touches people differently with new insights and brings up emotions. I'm glad to have read it (twice) and glad to get to talk with others about it. Now I'm looking forward to our showing of "Fireproof" five times this next week. It ended up doing well in theatres and is coming out on DVD in a few weeks. We are showing it for free on our big screen in our Worship Center/Gym. We will be showing it Sunday at 5 p.m. (children are watching another movie in the teen room during this showing). Then we are showing it Tuesday at 6:45 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and there is a special showing for Teens at 12 Noon on Wednesday. It is about the need to fireproof our marriages. Kirk Cameron, the Growing Pains and Left Behind guy, stars in it and is a fireman who becomes a hero but not to his wife.
I went back to my first post on this blog and found this prayer. May it touch your life, encourage you, strengthen you, and remind you of what you need to be reminded of today...and may it be our true prayer to God. O Lord, by your dealings with us, whether of joy or pain, of light or darkness, let us be brought to you. Let us value no treatment of your grace simply because it makes us happy or because it makes us sad, because it gives us or denies us what we want; but may all that you send us bring us to you; that knowing your perfectness, we may be sure in every disappointment you are still loving us, in every darkness you are still enlightening us, and in every enforced idleness you are giving us life, as in his death you gave life to your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. [Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) Praise and Worship Study Bible, Tyndale House, 2002, page 54]
Today I am taking the day off. Still, I have been online searching for some discussion questions to use about The Shack for my Thursday night group. There are a ton of questions out there. Lots of people have been getting together with others to discuss this book. Meanwhile I have been reading the book again. It's interesting the things I missed the first time around and the things I anticipate happening. It should be fun to hear what others think of the book and the experiences they will share. I know some people think The Shack is way off base. I happen to think it is a good work of fiction with a lot of truth in it. The kind of book that is ripe for discussion. Bring it on!
This week I am re-reading "The Shack" by William Paul Young. I have been wanting to read it again since finishing it in August but just hadn't gotten around to it. But this Thursday at 7 PM I am leading a discussion group on it so I thought it would be a good idea to reacquaint myself with it. Between last night and this morning I have read the first 114 pages. It is an intriguing book, this story of Mack who feels The Great Sadness and is given an opportunity to share time with someone who can transform him. I've known The Great Sadness and experience it from time to time. A book like "The Shack" helps me to realize I'm not alone.
As the new year has begun I have been hanging out at home. My oldest daughter, Rosie, was home with her boyfriend, Sean, for the last few days. Today they took off to be with his family and go skiing before returning to college. Early in the morning, about 1:15 a.m., my youngest daughter, Emily, returned from her band trip to California. What a great time it was for her. I am so fortunate to have two such terrific daughters. My wonderful wife, Diane, and I are so blessed to share life with them. And I am blessed to have my beautiful wife Diane with me throughout life. I look forward to 2009 as we experience more change and live through it all together. All of this as we grow in our faith in Christ and try to share Him with others in very unique ways.
It's almost Christmas! Hurray! I like Christmas. I love the one we celebrate the birthday of at Christmas. And I enjoy cookies, gifts, smiles, music, and movies of Christmas. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. Today I edited a video of a drama and solo from this past weekend's worship at Friendship Community Church. Here it is for your enjoyment.
It's Sunday morning and I woke up early and decided to come on into the church. The roads are a little icy but I'll see what the morning brings. I enjoy worship so much that I am saddened that some people won't come today because of the weather. I understand that people need to be safe, but I will still miss them. We are a family and it's great when the family gathers on the weekend. But just in case the weather was bad today and people couldn't make it, last night after the Saturday evening service I put the sermon online . So if you are iced in today or snowed in or whatever, take some time to listen to the sermon and even a song if you wish . Have a wonderful day and merry Christmas!
This weekend I preached at Friendship Community Church. Usually I lead worship but with Pastor Hall away I had the opportunity to speak this past weekend. It was quite an interesting feeling to preach after not doing it since last November. I was nervous but knew that God would see me through it. My topic was Everybody Needs A Second Chance and I was reminded of how much I need second chances myself. But now it is over. The sermon was preached three times to three differing audiences. Now it has been placed on the internet for others to hear. If you are interested, the audio is here. There is no video, just the church logo. The sermon lasts about 30 minutes here , I had to trim off a little to get it under the 30 minute limit of GodTube. Feel free to leave comments and stories of what having a second chance has meant to you.
Everybody Needs A Second Chance. Sounds true enough to me. All of us mess up at times and even though we can never wipe it out like it never happened, we can start over. Most people want second chances for themselves but have a hard time granting second chances to those who hurt them or hurt people they care about. In any case, this weekend at Friendship Community Church this will be my topic. I will look at two brothers, a prodigal and the stay-at-home son, and a prophet named Jonah. All of them needed second chances. Some of them didn't want certain others to have them.