Noah Flood Practice

Well today my wife, whom I love deeply, works nights and so she sleeps during the day. So she used the facilities during her deep sleep this morning. She has been in the habit of not turing the water all the way off after washing her hands. Not usually blasting but flowing. Well today she left it on full blast and flooded the bathroom. Not to bad, and it’s almost all cleaned up now.

But it was good times and I thought those that know Kathy would appreciate this little story. She has been talking about redoing the bathroom for some time, maybe this is a subconscious way of speeding that up. Hmmmmmm.

last night

Well last night was a unique night at >>beyond>>.  We finished out the Gospel of Luke by reading sections from the Last Supper to the Resurrection and in between the readings we sang Christmas Carols that carried the Theme for section read.  It was pretty cool.  I enjoyed it.

I think it is so vital to keep Christmas in the same circle as the Cross.  Because if he never died for us and rose again then his birth wouldn’t be celebrated.  So we joined the two last night and it was pretty cool.

We also said farewell to our friend Tessie Brown.  Tessie has been leading worship for us for about a year and she has done a really great job, but she feels like God is telling her to move on to new ministry and so sadly we see her go.  But she is welcome back at any time.

We also celebrated jeff’s birthday.  And Jordan git his driver’s license.  So good times good times.

No Perfect People Allowed

Our Leadership team is going through this program called co-horts.  It’s something that our area network puts together for us. The leader is a brilliant man named Mel Ming.  He must read like a book a minute becuase he seems to be well versed on all things church leadership.

One of the books that we are supposed to read is John Burke’s No Perfect People Allowed 

I’m only two chapters into this book and already I’m totally diggin’ it.

Here’s a quote:

“Nothing poses a greater challenge and opportunity to the church than the overwhelming emotional pains that drive our generation into so many addictive behaviors.  If Christian leaders do not prepare and organize and pray so that healing can occur from the wounds caused by the Postmodern Experiment, we will lose a generation.  Trust issues make them cynical, tollerance issues may make them unwilling to listen, truth issues may confuse them, but acting out of brokeness will destroy them.” [italics mine]

I am sure I will be posting more from the book.  Pretty sure it’s going to challenge me and stretch me and remind me that people where ever they are in life are important to God and if they don’t surrrender to Jesus Christ and the Gospel then they are lost.  Tragic but True!

Young Adults Want Community

Came across this great article today on minstry to young adults.  Which happens to be part of my job responsibilities.

I love transit!  Its a great time to get together and talk about the Bible and what it means to us today.  We just finished a study of Ecclesiastes, one of the toughest but also one of the most enlightening books in the Old Testament.  This was probably my favorite book study that I have ever done.  I look forward to going over it again in 30 years and can look at my life and see if I’ve measured up to the way that Solomon challenged us to live our lives.  It was a great time.

change

good post from – Ben Arment

Starbucks on Leading Change

By Ben Arment

Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks says “When you’re failing, it’s easy to understand the need for self-renewal. The status quo is not working, and only radical change can fix it.

Howardschultz But we’re seldom motivated to seek self-renewal when we’re successful… Why change a winning formula?… Because the world is changing… Counting on the status quo can only lead togrief.”

Regardless of whether your church is 50, 500 or 5,000 people… what act of self-renewal could revolutionize your ministry? If everything “works,” what can you “break” to lead to greater effectiveness?

Mondays w/ Mitch

When you go to a resturant on the weekends and it’s busy so they start a waiting list, they say, “Dufrane, party of two, table ready for Dufrane, party of two.” And if no one answers they’ll say the name again: “Dufrane, party of two.” But then if no one answers, they’ll move on to the next name. “Bush party of three.” Yeah, but what happened to the Dufranes? No one seems to care. Who can eat at a time like this? People are missing. You people are selfish. The Dufranes are in someone’s trunk right now, with duct tape over their mouths. And they’re hungry. That’s a double whammy. We need help. “Bush, search party of three. You can eat once you find the Dufranes.”

                                            – M. Hedberg