Thanksgiving was great, thanks for the visit Dad & M. We had snow flurries on T'giving Day!
Trip to Montana for the Winter Rendezvous Retreat was incredible. I love snowmobiling!
Time in Dallas en route to Montana was totally fun. Mom & Mel & Briggs, it was some of our best family times ever.
We've had 12 to 14 inches of snow so far this year, I'm loving it! The ground is still covered in 3 inches of snow from last Sunday morning's snowfall. Even though it warms up above freezing, the snow still hangs on.
"Clash of the Choirs" - ok, I love this show. I don't care, I overlook all of its awkwardness and apparent staged sentimentality. I just love large groups singing great songs (I've got friends in love places was the show's low so far...) If it comes to Indy, and it should with Sandi Patty directing, then I'm auditioning...
www.gofishguys.com Check out their Christmas release, Snow. The song "It's about the Cross" will not leave my head, I love it! Props to Lee Ann who has put together an incredible video for our Christmas Eve Service.
Eli & Faith continue to be the highlight of every day. They are so precious. Eli is sleeping through the night much better (sounds of his crying emerge as I type that sentence, literally...it's midnight)
Faithy is so funny, we taught her to say "I'm sorry, Kimmie" a few days ago when she did something to Aunt Kimmie, and now she thinks "Kimmie" is part of what you say when you apologize. So when we tell her to apologize to Eli, it's "I'm sawee Kimmie". Ok, I guess you have to be here to appreciate how cute & funny it is.
Merry Christmas, everyone. Life is good, because God is good.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Eli is much better!
Hey everyone,
Thanks so much for praying for Baby Eli. As you can see on our blog, www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com, he recovered just in time for Halloween! Ha!
He's still finishing up his antibiotic, and the infection on his foot is almost gone. He is clearly feeling much better. He still enjoys being up at night. Last night at 4:00 am, he and I snuggled for a while, then he finally just said, "Dad, I'm getting up and either you or Mommy are as well. This is no time for sleeping, you silly snoozers." Thankfully, it was Jaime's night to take care of him (we alternate nights), so down the stairs she went to the swing, which he loves.
My mom is here and we're having a great visit with her...we went to the Circle City mall downtown last Friday, and the zoo on Saturday. She always helps so much. She heads back to Dallas tomorrow...
Jaime & I are headed to see Chris Tomlin this Sunday night in Evansville. We leave right after church. www.christomlin.com He's a gifted songwriter & worship leader.
Well, all I can say about the Colts & Patriots game is, we'd rather beat them in postseason than in regular season, if we have to pick one. So we'll see them again in January, and it won't come out the same way.
Have a great week everyone!
Thanks so much for praying for Baby Eli. As you can see on our blog, www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com, he recovered just in time for Halloween! Ha!
He's still finishing up his antibiotic, and the infection on his foot is almost gone. He is clearly feeling much better. He still enjoys being up at night. Last night at 4:00 am, he and I snuggled for a while, then he finally just said, "Dad, I'm getting up and either you or Mommy are as well. This is no time for sleeping, you silly snoozers." Thankfully, it was Jaime's night to take care of him (we alternate nights), so down the stairs she went to the swing, which he loves.
My mom is here and we're having a great visit with her...we went to the Circle City mall downtown last Friday, and the zoo on Saturday. She always helps so much. She heads back to Dallas tomorrow...
Jaime & I are headed to see Chris Tomlin this Sunday night in Evansville. We leave right after church. www.christomlin.com He's a gifted songwriter & worship leader.
Well, all I can say about the Colts & Patriots game is, we'd rather beat them in postseason than in regular season, if we have to pick one. So we'll see them again in January, and it won't come out the same way.
Have a great week everyone!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Great news, Eli came home!
Hey everyone, good news! Praise God, Eli is home!
Thank God, the tide turned quickly this morning as test results came in, and the pediatric infectious disease specialist got a good look at Eli's records and Eli himself. Except for one test that we don't yet have results for, Eli's bloodwork showed no signs of concern.
Bottom line, the infectious disease doc felt that he could send us home with a powerful oral antibiotic that would fight the infection in Eli's foot, which at this time appears to be staph (not MRSA, but some type of staph). He saw no advantage to keeping us in the hospital for observation, and the IV antibiotics did not contribute very well to Eli's rest and/or recovery. (or ours! He had 5 things hooked up to him...)
When the docs examined Eli, they were confounded by the number of health issues he has faced in his 4.5 months; they place their greatest confidence in kids who exude health & energy by outward signs in addition to test results which show no real reason for concern. Thus, even with his history, they really don't feel he has a problem with his immune system or any problem with his blood / bloodstream. Praise God!
We have two follow-up appointments and we will of course be watching Eli closely. For now, he and Faith are resting comfortably here at home with us. God is good, and He is the Great Physician and Healer. We have Him to thank most of all. We also thank you for lifting us up to the Father. We owe a debt of gratitude to the incredible hospital staff (nurses & docs) and the infectious disease guy who "spoke with authority" and let us come home today instead of Thursday.
Thanks for your concern & your prayers. We still need your prayers that Eli will heal from this staph infection, and that he will experience many months / years of good health. As we move forward, we'll keep you posted about Eli's progress, and hopefully it will be a long, long time before he experiences another infection.
Murray & Jaime
Thank God, the tide turned quickly this morning as test results came in, and the pediatric infectious disease specialist got a good look at Eli's records and Eli himself. Except for one test that we don't yet have results for, Eli's bloodwork showed no signs of concern.
Bottom line, the infectious disease doc felt that he could send us home with a powerful oral antibiotic that would fight the infection in Eli's foot, which at this time appears to be staph (not MRSA, but some type of staph). He saw no advantage to keeping us in the hospital for observation, and the IV antibiotics did not contribute very well to Eli's rest and/or recovery. (or ours! He had 5 things hooked up to him...)
When the docs examined Eli, they were confounded by the number of health issues he has faced in his 4.5 months; they place their greatest confidence in kids who exude health & energy by outward signs in addition to test results which show no real reason for concern. Thus, even with his history, they really don't feel he has a problem with his immune system or any problem with his blood / bloodstream. Praise God!
We have two follow-up appointments and we will of course be watching Eli closely. For now, he and Faith are resting comfortably here at home with us. God is good, and He is the Great Physician and Healer. We have Him to thank most of all. We also thank you for lifting us up to the Father. We owe a debt of gratitude to the incredible hospital staff (nurses & docs) and the infectious disease guy who "spoke with authority" and let us come home today instead of Thursday.
Thanks for your concern & your prayers. We still need your prayers that Eli will heal from this staph infection, and that he will experience many months / years of good health. As we move forward, we'll keep you posted about Eli's progress, and hopefully it will be a long, long time before he experiences another infection.
Murray & Jaime
Monday, October 29, 2007
Prayers for Baby Eli
Please pray for our infant son, Eli. We don’t want to alarm you, and we’re trying not to be alarmed, so here are the facts.
He was admitted to the “Peyton Manning Hospital for Children at St. Vincent’s” in Indianapolis today for a skin infection in addition to ear infection. The docs are giving him a strong combination of antibiotics intravenously, and they’ve told us Eli will be there at least 48 hours after the first dose, which wasn’t given until late tonight. So we’re thinking he’ll come home on Thursday, but there’s no guarantee.
Here are our specific prayer requests:
Pray that God will heal Eli of this skin infection, and his ear infections.
Pray that that today’s extensive blood tests will reveal that Eli has no other underlying issues with his blood or immune system.
Ask God to keep Faith safe & healthy during this trying time for our little family. (What a blessing to be near Jaime’s family at times like these…and my mom was already headed here for a visit and arrives Wednesday…)
Thank God for the great medical care we have in this country!
For more background, go to our blog www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com
BACKGROUND
Eli had a mild case of pneumonia in August, then a stomach virus earlier this month, followed by a significant ear infection that has lasted 2 weeks. This ear infection wasn’t phased at all by the low grade antibiotic, Amoxicillin. As an aside, I think doctors will soon be giving out Amoxicillin to trick or treaters, as it seems to compare only to candy in its impact on bacteria. After our 2nd trip to the ER this month for a fever spike a week ago, the docs upgraded him to Omnicef, the antibiotic a level up from Amoxicillin.
At this point, with Eli having pneumonia, stomach virus and ear infection all by 3 months of age, our pediatrician set an appointment for us to see an Infectious Disease specialist in mid-November. This caused us alarm, but hey, whatever it takes…
Then just before his bath last Saturday night, we found a quarter-sized red bump on his left ankle…I immediately thought it was a spider bite, but on further investigation, our docs now believe it is a skin infection caused by bacteria of some type, a type that is not eradicated by Omnicef.
Ok, we’re talking about a 4 ½ month old here…what a medical history he has! So our pediatrician advised us this morning that the best course was to admit him to the hospital, and then we would better be able to get an MRI and bloodwork completed, and get evaluation from pediatric specialists and an infectious disease specialist.
The MRI took 60 to 70 minutes, our boy is strong and he kept waking up from the mild sedation and moving around before they could finish the test. It took them awhile, but they finally got what they needed. (They had to administer the maximum amount of sedation, which weren’t crazy about…but you do what you have to do.) Thankfully, the MRI revealed that the infection is not in his bone, and appears to be only in the skin and the underlying tissue.
After the MRI, they took significant amounts of blood from him (don’t get me started on the pain of this process) and we’ll hopefully get those results tomorrow.
All of the docs who examine him just say how adorable he is, and how strong he is. He is very healthy if you’re just looking at him…he’s “chunky” in the words of the supervising pediatrician, and he has great color, a great appetite, smiles a lot, and sings quite loudly in notes just under those which shatter glass. He has lots of wet & dirty diapers (that’s my boy!) and he has a sparkle in his beautiful blue eyes. Because of how he looks and acts, they really don’t feel there’s anything wrong with his immune system, they just think we’ve been really unlucky, and that he’ll improve with this round of treatment and be just fine.
We thank you in advance for your prayers, and we look forward to updating you as soon as possible. Lord willing, the next email you get from us will be on Wednesday or Thursday, saying that we’re headed home and they didn’t find anything more serious.
(When I have time and have gotten more sleep, I'll say more about how cool it is to be in Peyton Manning's hospital and the upcoming Colts game...)
He was admitted to the “Peyton Manning Hospital for Children at St. Vincent’s” in Indianapolis today for a skin infection in addition to ear infection. The docs are giving him a strong combination of antibiotics intravenously, and they’ve told us Eli will be there at least 48 hours after the first dose, which wasn’t given until late tonight. So we’re thinking he’ll come home on Thursday, but there’s no guarantee.
Here are our specific prayer requests:
Pray that God will heal Eli of this skin infection, and his ear infections.
Pray that that today’s extensive blood tests will reveal that Eli has no other underlying issues with his blood or immune system.
Ask God to keep Faith safe & healthy during this trying time for our little family. (What a blessing to be near Jaime’s family at times like these…and my mom was already headed here for a visit and arrives Wednesday…)
Thank God for the great medical care we have in this country!
For more background, go to our blog www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com
BACKGROUND
Eli had a mild case of pneumonia in August, then a stomach virus earlier this month, followed by a significant ear infection that has lasted 2 weeks. This ear infection wasn’t phased at all by the low grade antibiotic, Amoxicillin. As an aside, I think doctors will soon be giving out Amoxicillin to trick or treaters, as it seems to compare only to candy in its impact on bacteria. After our 2nd trip to the ER this month for a fever spike a week ago, the docs upgraded him to Omnicef, the antibiotic a level up from Amoxicillin.
At this point, with Eli having pneumonia, stomach virus and ear infection all by 3 months of age, our pediatrician set an appointment for us to see an Infectious Disease specialist in mid-November. This caused us alarm, but hey, whatever it takes…
Then just before his bath last Saturday night, we found a quarter-sized red bump on his left ankle…I immediately thought it was a spider bite, but on further investigation, our docs now believe it is a skin infection caused by bacteria of some type, a type that is not eradicated by Omnicef.
Ok, we’re talking about a 4 ½ month old here…what a medical history he has! So our pediatrician advised us this morning that the best course was to admit him to the hospital, and then we would better be able to get an MRI and bloodwork completed, and get evaluation from pediatric specialists and an infectious disease specialist.
The MRI took 60 to 70 minutes, our boy is strong and he kept waking up from the mild sedation and moving around before they could finish the test. It took them awhile, but they finally got what they needed. (They had to administer the maximum amount of sedation, which weren’t crazy about…but you do what you have to do.) Thankfully, the MRI revealed that the infection is not in his bone, and appears to be only in the skin and the underlying tissue.
After the MRI, they took significant amounts of blood from him (don’t get me started on the pain of this process) and we’ll hopefully get those results tomorrow.
All of the docs who examine him just say how adorable he is, and how strong he is. He is very healthy if you’re just looking at him…he’s “chunky” in the words of the supervising pediatrician, and he has great color, a great appetite, smiles a lot, and sings quite loudly in notes just under those which shatter glass. He has lots of wet & dirty diapers (that’s my boy!) and he has a sparkle in his beautiful blue eyes. Because of how he looks and acts, they really don’t feel there’s anything wrong with his immune system, they just think we’ve been really unlucky, and that he’ll improve with this round of treatment and be just fine.
We thank you in advance for your prayers, and we look forward to updating you as soon as possible. Lord willing, the next email you get from us will be on Wednesday or Thursday, saying that we’re headed home and they didn’t find anything more serious.
(When I have time and have gotten more sleep, I'll say more about how cool it is to be in Peyton Manning's hospital and the upcoming Colts game...)
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Note from Christian Chronicle Editor
I've posted multiple times about my frustration with the extensive ads placed in the Christian Chronicle boasting that a cappella singing is the only scriptural way to worship God.
Well, the Chronicle recently asked my congregation if we would be making our annual contribution and that gave me a chance to voice my concern, and say NO, we would not be offering them support any longer since they seem to be amenable to running such divisive ads.
I am VERY PLEASED to post this note that I received today from Lynn McMillon, the editor of Christian Chronicle...and I shall resubscribe to the paper, cautious but optimistic about their tone on the subject of instruments in worship. (Please note that I lead worship for an a cappella church, and am so thankful for my a cappella heritage. I just refuse to teach it as the only scriptural way, or the way that God is most pleased with...that is heresy and represents a very divisive way of thinking/acting.)
Dear Murray,
Thank you for your recent note regarding the music ad in the paper. I understand your frustration and wanted you to know that I have decided not to run that type of thing in the future. Please note the editorial this month that explains the change. In the meantime I have attached the new policy and the editorial for you. If you would like to discuss it further please let me know. Be assured that I do understand. I hope that you might give us another chance.
Lynn McMillon, CEO/Editor
Well, the Chronicle recently asked my congregation if we would be making our annual contribution and that gave me a chance to voice my concern, and say NO, we would not be offering them support any longer since they seem to be amenable to running such divisive ads.
I am VERY PLEASED to post this note that I received today from Lynn McMillon, the editor of Christian Chronicle...and I shall resubscribe to the paper, cautious but optimistic about their tone on the subject of instruments in worship. (Please note that I lead worship for an a cappella church, and am so thankful for my a cappella heritage. I just refuse to teach it as the only scriptural way, or the way that God is most pleased with...that is heresy and represents a very divisive way of thinking/acting.)
Dear Murray,
Thank you for your recent note regarding the music ad in the paper. I understand your frustration and wanted you to know that I have decided not to run that type of thing in the future. Please note the editorial this month that explains the change. In the meantime I have attached the new policy and the editorial for you. If you would like to discuss it further please let me know. Be assured that I do understand. I hope that you might give us another chance.
Lynn McMillon, CEO/Editor
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Meeting Adam Vinatieri
I just met Adam Vinatieri, kicker for the World Champion Indianapolis Colts, at the Sharp Business Systems Expo at the Colts Center here in Indy.
I got an autographed picture, and I'm trying to figure out how to load my pic with him from my phone to my blog.
We had a nice chat, here's an excerpt (ok, it's the entire text of the chat.)
Murray: You guys are going to kill the Patriots, no problem.
Adam: Hope so, we're gonna stick it to 'em.
I think I'm his new best friend.
You would not believe the size of that Superbowl ring, and then his wedding ring is the biggest man's wedding ring I've ever seen and it was covered with a band of diamonds.
How did I get to do that? We took a field trip as an entire church staff (sans Jason) to learn about new business products from Sharp, and for a free lunch, and to meet an unnamed Colts player. I actually met a guy who could do color banners and other promo stuff for us, and I also found out about other cool products. So it was actually productive as well as fun!
(Nancilynn, thanks for the comment...what's your email? Send it to me at murray@nccoc.org)
I got an autographed picture, and I'm trying to figure out how to load my pic with him from my phone to my blog.
We had a nice chat, here's an excerpt (ok, it's the entire text of the chat.)
Murray: You guys are going to kill the Patriots, no problem.
Adam: Hope so, we're gonna stick it to 'em.
I think I'm his new best friend.
You would not believe the size of that Superbowl ring, and then his wedding ring is the biggest man's wedding ring I've ever seen and it was covered with a band of diamonds.
How did I get to do that? We took a field trip as an entire church staff (sans Jason) to learn about new business products from Sharp, and for a free lunch, and to meet an unnamed Colts player. I actually met a guy who could do color banners and other promo stuff for us, and I also found out about other cool products. So it was actually productive as well as fun!
(Nancilynn, thanks for the comment...what's your email? Send it to me at murray@nccoc.org)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Oct 16 - various
Well, we went to Nashville for the ZOE worship conference, but never left our hotel room except for runs to Target for pedialyte, and trips to the Emergency Room. Everyone in our family except me got the stomach bug...Eli ran a high fever so we took him in to Vandy Children's Hosp at 2 am one morning, then the following night, Jaime got dehydrated so we headed back to the ER to get help for her. If you're ever wondering, it's not fun to have 3 people regurgitating in one small hotel room. I do not recommend it.
Thanks to be God, we are all better now! Since we missed being encouraged & inspired at the conference, we are heading down to Evansville, IN for the Chris Tomlin/Matt Redman worship event on November 11th...I can't wait. Thanks to the Elmores & the Beasleys, we already saw this concert once in Fairfax in February of 2007, but we simply must go back. It is such a good one.
We just finished up a fun weekend with our friends the McClures who visited us from Jermantown, MD. Ben & I have been friends since we were 4 years old...who would have known our 1st children would have been born 4 days apart?!!
I wish so badly the Cowboys had beated the Patriots, but it will make the Colts victory over the Patriots that much sweeter when they come to Indy on Nov 4th...
Loving the fall here in Indiana...
Thanks to be God, we are all better now! Since we missed being encouraged & inspired at the conference, we are heading down to Evansville, IN for the Chris Tomlin/Matt Redman worship event on November 11th...I can't wait. Thanks to the Elmores & the Beasleys, we already saw this concert once in Fairfax in February of 2007, but we simply must go back. It is such a good one.
We just finished up a fun weekend with our friends the McClures who visited us from Jermantown, MD. Ben & I have been friends since we were 4 years old...who would have known our 1st children would have been born 4 days apart?!!
I wish so badly the Cowboys had beated the Patriots, but it will make the Colts victory over the Patriots that much sweeter when they come to Indy on Nov 4th...
Loving the fall here in Indiana...
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
My Thoughts Exactly
I've always liked Mike Cope...it all started when he was my preacher for 4 years while I attended Harding University. I this is still true, he's the only one who went through Harding Grad with a 4.0 grade point average. Anyway, he's brilliant, a great orator, a sincere follower of Christ, and the best student of Scripture that I know of.
On Aug 27, I posted about an ad in the Christian Chronicle...well, a similar ad has run again in this month's issue, and it's even worse. Here is Mike's post from a few days ago, and they are my thoughts exactly...and the thoughts of most, if not all, of the church leaders with whom I've worked in the past 15 years.
http://www.preachermike.com/ and go to his post entitled "A Time to Speak".
On a more positive note, we leave tomorrow for the ZOE worship conference in Nashville, and we are SO EXCITED! Besides hearing some awesome speakers and spending lots and lots of time in worship, we'll get to see some of my mom's family as well in our free time.
On Aug 27, I posted about an ad in the Christian Chronicle...well, a similar ad has run again in this month's issue, and it's even worse. Here is Mike's post from a few days ago, and they are my thoughts exactly...and the thoughts of most, if not all, of the church leaders with whom I've worked in the past 15 years.
http://www.preachermike.com/ and go to his post entitled "A Time to Speak".
On a more positive note, we leave tomorrow for the ZOE worship conference in Nashville, and we are SO EXCITED! Besides hearing some awesome speakers and spending lots and lots of time in worship, we'll get to see some of my mom's family as well in our free time.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Words to Live By
The passage I put here yesterday was a bit heavy, especially for a Monday morning. Nonetheless (what a fun word to use), it contains an essential teaching.
Today's message from Jesus is this, from Matthew 7 again (sometimes I go for weeks or months without dwelling in the Sermon on the Mount, what a mistake!):
24-25"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
Ok, now for a few random things that I really like:
1. getting a good night's sleep (last night, 11 pm to 6:30 am, thank you God!)
2. Monday Night Football with Eli, he was actually watching last night. He might just be a budding Titans fan, in honor of his father's birth state, and his cousin Eileen with which he shares the same 1st 3 letters of his name and his middle name.)
3. Faith's hair when she wakes up. I think someday her hair might incorporate.
4. Starbuck's new drip coffee "Joya".
5. Anything at Starbucks.
6. Reading the paper early in the morning.
7. Driving over the new bridge on Westfield.
Have a great day everyone!
Today's message from Jesus is this, from Matthew 7 again (sometimes I go for weeks or months without dwelling in the Sermon on the Mount, what a mistake!):
24-25"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
Ok, now for a few random things that I really like:
1. getting a good night's sleep (last night, 11 pm to 6:30 am, thank you God!)
2. Monday Night Football with Eli, he was actually watching last night. He might just be a budding Titans fan, in honor of his father's birth state, and his cousin Eileen with which he shares the same 1st 3 letters of his name and his middle name.)
3. Faith's hair when she wakes up. I think someday her hair might incorporate.
4. Starbuck's new drip coffee "Joya".
5. Anything at Starbucks.
6. Reading the paper early in the morning.
7. Driving over the new bridge on Westfield.
Have a great day everyone!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Helpful Translation of Matthew 7
We had a great elders/ministers meeting last Saturday morning. Almost 3 hours long...wow. Thank you God for caffeine. (We start at 7:30 am on 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month...)
We talked about many things, dreamed about how God will use us in His overall mission of loving and reconciling the world...somewhere during the discussion we brought up Matthew 7:21ff...which at the outset is not all that encouraging...but in this version, it really helped us internalize and personalize what Jesus was saying about true obedience to Him.
From Matthew 7, The Message version:
15-20"Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.
21-23"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
Definitely worth pondering....
Go Colts! Go Cowboys! Go Carl Edwards! (what a nasty wreck near the end, huh? Kasey Kahne is one of my favorite drivers, and he took the brunt of it...how cool that they've designed those cars to handle such impact.)
Let's see if the Titans can show up tonight and get a W.
Happy Monday everyone.
We talked about many things, dreamed about how God will use us in His overall mission of loving and reconciling the world...somewhere during the discussion we brought up Matthew 7:21ff...which at the outset is not all that encouraging...but in this version, it really helped us internalize and personalize what Jesus was saying about true obedience to Him.
From Matthew 7, The Message version:
15-20"Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.
21-23"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
Definitely worth pondering....
Go Colts! Go Cowboys! Go Carl Edwards! (what a nasty wreck near the end, huh? Kasey Kahne is one of my favorite drivers, and he took the brunt of it...how cool that they've designed those cars to handle such impact.)
Let's see if the Titans can show up tonight and get a W.
Happy Monday everyone.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Other Worship Recordings
Thanks for the comment, Amy. Didn't like Vicky Beeching so much, huh? Not even "The Wonder of the Cross", track 5? Ok, moving on...her english accent and high-pitched keys are not for everyone. I've already decided my arrangement of that will be pitched lower.
Here are some of my favorites.
Chris Tomlin - His See the Morning cd has worship hit after hit after hit...
Hallal's latest CD Immeasurable is really great...Mostly they cover many great instrumental worship songs, but there are a few originals by Ken that are spectacular (effective, moving, well written, good hook, etc.)
Shane & Shane's new cd Pages is solid.
I'm reserving judgment on Dennis Jernigan's new cd I Cry Holy , but I don't think it contains anything like his monster hits "You are my All in All" or "Thank You, Lord" but I haven't finished listening to all of it yet...he has admitted to not being aware of current worship music / styles, and I think that shows in this newest release. It's great heartfelt stuff, it's just a little obvious and plain for me at "first listen".
Another great resource for up & coming worship artists is www.independentbands.com you could just sample some of their new releases.
Lastly, I'd be interested in hearing some of your favorite worship songs. Kelli B, you might even say "give me the old hymns" and that's great too. If you like fresh covers for them, I could hook you up. Amy Grant's are some of my favorite hymn redux.
Bottom line, just keep on singing!
Here are some of my favorites.
Chris Tomlin - His See the Morning cd has worship hit after hit after hit...
Hallal's latest CD Immeasurable is really great...Mostly they cover many great instrumental worship songs, but there are a few originals by Ken that are spectacular (effective, moving, well written, good hook, etc.)
Shane & Shane's new cd Pages is solid.
I'm reserving judgment on Dennis Jernigan's new cd I Cry Holy , but I don't think it contains anything like his monster hits "You are my All in All" or "Thank You, Lord" but I haven't finished listening to all of it yet...he has admitted to not being aware of current worship music / styles, and I think that shows in this newest release. It's great heartfelt stuff, it's just a little obvious and plain for me at "first listen".
Another great resource for up & coming worship artists is www.independentbands.com you could just sample some of their new releases.
Lastly, I'd be interested in hearing some of your favorite worship songs. Kelli B, you might even say "give me the old hymns" and that's great too. If you like fresh covers for them, I could hook you up. Amy Grant's are some of my favorite hymn redux.
Bottom line, just keep on singing!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
various
Still loving Vicky Beeching's CD Painting the Invisible. Just go to itunes now and get it. Don't even think twice about it. You'll thank me later. www.vickybeeching.com
Stood in line 30 minutes today, yes 30, for Dunkin Donuts coffee & donuts, the new store in Carmel. I had promised to bring it to the staff, or else I would have blown it off. The parking lot, which was staffed with one Dunkin Donuts attendant, and 2 Dunkin Donuts staffers who were giving out free samples, was a circus. There was a funny sort of community feeling though, as we all stood in line for what was obviously just a luxury and not a need. It was sort of that feeling you get at an amusement park when everyone's standing in line for the best coaster...everyone's chatty, in a good mood, etc.
Eli is now 3 months old and laughs freely & easily. However, I, at 6:30 am this morning, was not the one laughing at his idea of a fountain-imitation. I'm just thankful it wasn't 4:30 am. He's doing great at sleeping from midnight to 6:30 am.
This cooler weather has got me so pumped up! I love it! I was actually cold this morning driving to work! Thank you God for 4 seasons! (Texans don't realize there are actually 4...down there, you just have summer and winter.)
Have a great weekend everyone!
Save the date...Harvest Sunday, October 14th
Stood in line 30 minutes today, yes 30, for Dunkin Donuts coffee & donuts, the new store in Carmel. I had promised to bring it to the staff, or else I would have blown it off. The parking lot, which was staffed with one Dunkin Donuts attendant, and 2 Dunkin Donuts staffers who were giving out free samples, was a circus. There was a funny sort of community feeling though, as we all stood in line for what was obviously just a luxury and not a need. It was sort of that feeling you get at an amusement park when everyone's standing in line for the best coaster...everyone's chatty, in a good mood, etc.
Eli is now 3 months old and laughs freely & easily. However, I, at 6:30 am this morning, was not the one laughing at his idea of a fountain-imitation. I'm just thankful it wasn't 4:30 am. He's doing great at sleeping from midnight to 6:30 am.
This cooler weather has got me so pumped up! I love it! I was actually cold this morning driving to work! Thank you God for 4 seasons! (Texans don't realize there are actually 4...down there, you just have summer and winter.)
Have a great weekend everyone!
Save the date...Harvest Sunday, October 14th
Monday, September 10, 2007
New insights
Thanks for a great Bible study yesterday morning, Russ! Jaime & I attended the Matthew class yesterday morning, and it was really good, helpful, insightful, encouraging, crowded, and all the things you want a class to be.
Here are just 2 quick insights I gained...
The wise men coming to visit baby Jesus when he was born...I've always thought, how cool, rich foreigners coming to see Jesus, with the little drummer boy in the background ;) It just seemed like a neat story, quaint and a nice rounding out of the nativity scene.
BUT
if you stop & reflect on that...it would be like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Donald Trump traveling to the tip of south America to BOW DOWN And worship a little baby boy born in a hut in a remote village. They would each present him with a million dollar gift and then travel back, completely ignoring the false pretenses of a request from President Bush to tell him where to find the baby.
When you stop & think about it, that is awesome. Everything about Jesus is awesome, to say the least, but even the cute little birth story is filled with mystery and wealth and poverty and prestige and humility and world leaders, etc.
I also just realized this morning after further reflection that those gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, were very helpful to Mary & Joseph to PROVIDE for that little baby on all of their travels and relocations. (They moved 3 times it seems before settling down.)
God is awesome, and His Word has so many levels. As Russ said, the longer you live, the more you learn...and at different stages of your life, you see/learn/observe different things in Scripture.
Have a great week in the Word, blogfriends.
Here are just 2 quick insights I gained...
The wise men coming to visit baby Jesus when he was born...I've always thought, how cool, rich foreigners coming to see Jesus, with the little drummer boy in the background ;) It just seemed like a neat story, quaint and a nice rounding out of the nativity scene.
BUT
if you stop & reflect on that...it would be like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Donald Trump traveling to the tip of south America to BOW DOWN And worship a little baby boy born in a hut in a remote village. They would each present him with a million dollar gift and then travel back, completely ignoring the false pretenses of a request from President Bush to tell him where to find the baby.
When you stop & think about it, that is awesome. Everything about Jesus is awesome, to say the least, but even the cute little birth story is filled with mystery and wealth and poverty and prestige and humility and world leaders, etc.
I also just realized this morning after further reflection that those gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, were very helpful to Mary & Joseph to PROVIDE for that little baby on all of their travels and relocations. (They moved 3 times it seems before settling down.)
God is awesome, and His Word has so many levels. As Russ said, the longer you live, the more you learn...and at different stages of your life, you see/learn/observe different things in Scripture.
Have a great week in the Word, blogfriends.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
A teachable moment
What an awesome 3 day weekend!
On Saturday, we spent time at Mounds State Park at a reunion with Jaime's mother's father's side of the family. Very cool to meet Jaime's grandfather's close relatives...he passed away before Jaime came along.
On Sunday after church, we enjoyed going to lunch (Babeaux in Broad Ripple, great suggestion PJ) with a friend from Fairfax (Megan C.) who is attending Butler University here in Indy, and a new North Central friend.
Then Jaime's dad and his wife came over to hang out and help us with our guest bath remodel. And yes, I helped him put in the new sink...I can do some things around the house, like get him a diet coke and go next door to borrow "channel locks". Whatever those are. We watched a bit of the NASCAR race as well. You know you're a fan when you yell out, "there's a wreck on pit road!" Jaime was like, don't distract my dad, he's getting a lot done!
Labor Day began perfectly with breakfast at Bob Evans, then there was napping and shopping and time with the family at the pool. (Our neighborhood has a mandatory HOA and part of what you get is pool membership...glad I finally made it on the last day of the year for the pool!) Jaime's dad came back over later and put the finishing touches on the new vanity/sinks/faucets in the kids' bathroom. Amazing what an upgrade a vanity/sinks can be! Thanks Mike! Now for the texture on the walls, and new lights...I'm so thankful to have a wife with great taste and an eye for decorating.
At one point Monday afternoon, the whole family was on the couch playing and wrestling and just hanging out. Faithy was doing something which I didn't want her to do: eating Graham crackers in the den without a plate...spreading crumbs evenly throughout the den...I "called her down" and told her what not to do. Her response was to give me a great big hug...BOTH little arms around my neck, and her cheek right next to mine. It was so precious and sweet. I had a hard time maintaining my "calling her down" tone...
THEN IT HIT ME!
That's how God feels about us when we love Him and worship Him and have all of these great feelings about Him, but we don't do what He says...like take care of the poor and oppressed and shut-ins and imprisoned. He loves us dearly, of course, but He wants us to OBEY Him. Loving Him must also contain a consistent obedience aspect. Without obedience, there really is no love. "If you love me, you will obey what I command." John 14:15
I know Faithy loves me, and she is learning to obey, and she does so regularly. But I just couldn't miss the point when God opened my eyes to her hugs of love in contrast with her desire to continue eating plate-less crumb-creating crackers.
Thanks God, I got it.
On Saturday, we spent time at Mounds State Park at a reunion with Jaime's mother's father's side of the family. Very cool to meet Jaime's grandfather's close relatives...he passed away before Jaime came along.
On Sunday after church, we enjoyed going to lunch (Babeaux in Broad Ripple, great suggestion PJ) with a friend from Fairfax (Megan C.) who is attending Butler University here in Indy, and a new North Central friend.
Then Jaime's dad and his wife came over to hang out and help us with our guest bath remodel. And yes, I helped him put in the new sink...I can do some things around the house, like get him a diet coke and go next door to borrow "channel locks". Whatever those are. We watched a bit of the NASCAR race as well. You know you're a fan when you yell out, "there's a wreck on pit road!" Jaime was like, don't distract my dad, he's getting a lot done!
Labor Day began perfectly with breakfast at Bob Evans, then there was napping and shopping and time with the family at the pool. (Our neighborhood has a mandatory HOA and part of what you get is pool membership...glad I finally made it on the last day of the year for the pool!) Jaime's dad came back over later and put the finishing touches on the new vanity/sinks/faucets in the kids' bathroom. Amazing what an upgrade a vanity/sinks can be! Thanks Mike! Now for the texture on the walls, and new lights...I'm so thankful to have a wife with great taste and an eye for decorating.
At one point Monday afternoon, the whole family was on the couch playing and wrestling and just hanging out. Faithy was doing something which I didn't want her to do: eating Graham crackers in the den without a plate...spreading crumbs evenly throughout the den...I "called her down" and told her what not to do. Her response was to give me a great big hug...BOTH little arms around my neck, and her cheek right next to mine. It was so precious and sweet. I had a hard time maintaining my "calling her down" tone...
THEN IT HIT ME!
That's how God feels about us when we love Him and worship Him and have all of these great feelings about Him, but we don't do what He says...like take care of the poor and oppressed and shut-ins and imprisoned. He loves us dearly, of course, but He wants us to OBEY Him. Loving Him must also contain a consistent obedience aspect. Without obedience, there really is no love. "If you love me, you will obey what I command." John 14:15
I know Faithy loves me, and she is learning to obey, and she does so regularly. But I just couldn't miss the point when God opened my eyes to her hugs of love in contrast with her desire to continue eating plate-less crumb-creating crackers.
Thanks God, I got it.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
All In a Day's Work / New Shane & Shane CD
Most of you know my life's passion is worship ministry and I'm so blessed to be able to use my gifts in a way that puts a roof over our heads & clothes on our backs (and much more, obviously).
But I also love, in a very different way, being a church administrator.
Today I drained the baptistry and refilled it. It's fun to work with water that washes the sins of the world away.
After refilling, I was in the process of adding chlorine when I had an experience slightly similar to that of Former President Bill Clinton. He did not inhale, apparently, but I did today over the bucket of chlorine granules.
I'm fairly sure after that inhalation experience I'll never have pneumonia, and I'll never get lung cancer. I think the insides of my lungs are now pearly white and hospital-sterile. I hope the strong pungent breath-taking odor also whitened my macchiato-stained teeth as it made its way down.
I just feel clean all over and now everything I touch is also instantly santized. (I did not use gloves, but will next time.) I hope when I pick up Faithy tonight when I get home, that I don't bleach out her clothes with my fingertips.
Now, back to worship, the new Shane & Shane CD is out...It's called "Pages" and I'm getting to know it. "We Love you, Jesus" is very powerful and musically interesting. There's a cool song about Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego also, a story for which I wish there were more songs, since it's so many people's favorite O.T. story (mine & Jaime's for sure.) It's called "Burn us up." I love their guitar work and tight duet vocals. But you just have to enjoy the good and skip over a few tracks on all of the CDs, if you ask me. They are rarely in the middle of my musical-taste palette. They're either knocking them out of the park, or should be getting kicked out of a park.
Regardless, I recommend it. I bought mine off www.independentbands.com and they always have low pricing.
Have a great weekend everyone! Walk with Jesus every moment. He's right beside, inside you. How humbling and reassuring and powerful to know.
But I also love, in a very different way, being a church administrator.
Today I drained the baptistry and refilled it. It's fun to work with water that washes the sins of the world away.
After refilling, I was in the process of adding chlorine when I had an experience slightly similar to that of Former President Bill Clinton. He did not inhale, apparently, but I did today over the bucket of chlorine granules.
I'm fairly sure after that inhalation experience I'll never have pneumonia, and I'll never get lung cancer. I think the insides of my lungs are now pearly white and hospital-sterile. I hope the strong pungent breath-taking odor also whitened my macchiato-stained teeth as it made its way down.
I just feel clean all over and now everything I touch is also instantly santized. (I did not use gloves, but will next time.) I hope when I pick up Faithy tonight when I get home, that I don't bleach out her clothes with my fingertips.
Now, back to worship, the new Shane & Shane CD is out...It's called "Pages" and I'm getting to know it. "We Love you, Jesus" is very powerful and musically interesting. There's a cool song about Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego also, a story for which I wish there were more songs, since it's so many people's favorite O.T. story (mine & Jaime's for sure.) It's called "Burn us up." I love their guitar work and tight duet vocals. But you just have to enjoy the good and skip over a few tracks on all of the CDs, if you ask me. They are rarely in the middle of my musical-taste palette. They're either knocking them out of the park, or should be getting kicked out of a park.
Regardless, I recommend it. I bought mine off www.independentbands.com and they always have low pricing.
Have a great weekend everyone! Walk with Jesus every moment. He's right beside, inside you. How humbling and reassuring and powerful to know.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Reply from Christian Chronicle
Earlier in the week I posted about my frustration with a full-page ad appearing in the current issue of Christian Chronicle.
I shared my frustration with Bobby Ross, editor of the paper. We had a good email exchange that was followed by a good telephone conversation.
To sum it up, the board of Christian Chronicle was already slated to review their policy on "adver-torials" at the October 2007 board meeting. The ad I questioned was not the first one to raise the ire of subscribers. Bobby said they receive numerous complaints throughout the year from people at various places on the long continuum of people in churches of Christ. It seems no one likes advertising or advertorials that bespeak ideas foreign to their own theology.
I like the paper, and I'll continue taking it. In this issue, there's a solid article covering Graham Kervin's mission team in Olomouc, CR...and there are always newsy tidbits of what's going on in other churches across the world. So the good being done by the paper far outweighs the few negative advertorials, to be sure.
And I'm learning to frame my frustration with this a cappella vs. instrumental issue. I'm learning that if I want our movement to move past it (which means many things...remaining happily a cappella as a matter of choice not doctrine, or integrating instruments in a meaningful and encouraging way that never drowns out the voices) , then maybe I should set an example, and do just that...move on.
From time to time, people will assert views such as the ad in the current issue. Or someone may start a discussion about which version is scripturally sound, KJV, NIV or RSV. Or someone may question whether we should use 8 song leaders or one song leader. It's my responsibility as a follower of Christ to expend my energies on issues Christ was passionate about, and to kindly smile and move away from debates and arguments about such things.
I shared my frustration with Bobby Ross, editor of the paper. We had a good email exchange that was followed by a good telephone conversation.
To sum it up, the board of Christian Chronicle was already slated to review their policy on "adver-torials" at the October 2007 board meeting. The ad I questioned was not the first one to raise the ire of subscribers. Bobby said they receive numerous complaints throughout the year from people at various places on the long continuum of people in churches of Christ. It seems no one likes advertising or advertorials that bespeak ideas foreign to their own theology.
I like the paper, and I'll continue taking it. In this issue, there's a solid article covering Graham Kervin's mission team in Olomouc, CR...and there are always newsy tidbits of what's going on in other churches across the world. So the good being done by the paper far outweighs the few negative advertorials, to be sure.
And I'm learning to frame my frustration with this a cappella vs. instrumental issue. I'm learning that if I want our movement to move past it (which means many things...remaining happily a cappella as a matter of choice not doctrine, or integrating instruments in a meaningful and encouraging way that never drowns out the voices) , then maybe I should set an example, and do just that...move on.
From time to time, people will assert views such as the ad in the current issue. Or someone may start a discussion about which version is scripturally sound, KJV, NIV or RSV. Or someone may question whether we should use 8 song leaders or one song leader. It's my responsibility as a follower of Christ to expend my energies on issues Christ was passionate about, and to kindly smile and move away from debates and arguments about such things.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
More, More About Boz
Hey, please also read my other post from today on this subject...
After ranting about Boz, I remembered that in the videos, when the children are praying to God at night in their joint bedroom with their parents, a CROSS is prominently displayed. So while they do not pray in Jesus' Name, nor mention Him at all, they do display the cross.
And when I further questioned Exclaim Entertainment about their stance, they assured me Jesus would be mentioned in the upcoming Christmas release "It's a Wowee Bozowee Christmas!" As I told Kelli B, they should be congratulated for being bold enough to mention Christ at Christmastime. Oh, the risk involved! They ALSO told me they would consider mentioning him in future releases.
The co-creator of Boz was also a co-creator of the big purple dinosaur "Barney". He has taught values and 1-2-3's for years without any mention of Jesus and I never once protested him. I think it's the marketing aspect of Boz that gets me...Family Christian and churches and other Christian bookstores. Barney never claimed to be a theologian. But Boz is appearing in all Christian circles without mentioning him at all...I'm not asking for "the sermon on the mount", simply a reference to "As Jesus taught us, we should seek to serve one another first..." at mealtimes or something.
Thanks for listening.
In JESUS' Name,
Amen.
After ranting about Boz, I remembered that in the videos, when the children are praying to God at night in their joint bedroom with their parents, a CROSS is prominently displayed. So while they do not pray in Jesus' Name, nor mention Him at all, they do display the cross.
And when I further questioned Exclaim Entertainment about their stance, they assured me Jesus would be mentioned in the upcoming Christmas release "It's a Wowee Bozowee Christmas!" As I told Kelli B, they should be congratulated for being bold enough to mention Christ at Christmastime. Oh, the risk involved! They ALSO told me they would consider mentioning him in future releases.
The co-creator of Boz was also a co-creator of the big purple dinosaur "Barney". He has taught values and 1-2-3's for years without any mention of Jesus and I never once protested him. I think it's the marketing aspect of Boz that gets me...Family Christian and churches and other Christian bookstores. Barney never claimed to be a theologian. But Boz is appearing in all Christian circles without mentioning him at all...I'm not asking for "the sermon on the mount", simply a reference to "As Jesus taught us, we should seek to serve one another first..." at mealtimes or something.
Thanks for listening.
In JESUS' Name,
Amen.
Boz doesn't want to mention Jesus / Christian Chronicle reply
This may only be relevant to parents of toddlers/preschoolers, but I am curious to others' feedback as well.
About a year ago, on a flight from Dallas back to Washington, I met a man who worked for Exclaim Entertainment...we chatted, and when he learned I had a toddler, he gave me a promotional DVD of "Boz the Bear" and told me all about it.
I was done with my 3 oz of coke & 4 pretzels, so we chatted quite a bit. It sounded like a great new alternative for teaching my little one basic colors, shapes, numbers, and also about values & faith. (Teaching faith to Faith will strengthen my faith, I'm sure. I just had to say that.)
Well, since then we've purchased 2 DVDs of Boz the Bear (I know, wow!) and Faithy has fallen in love with him. He's a large green Bear who lives next door to the Baxter family, and they have all kinds of fun in their little Utopia, while learning about numbers, letters and values. The songs are quite catchy actually, and I find myself singing them around the house.
3 days ago, however, my infatuation with Boz the Bear came to a sudden halt. I turned to Jaime and asked, "Honey, I don't ever hear Boz mention JESUS...he talks about God's love, but does he ever mention JESUS?" She paused, reflected, and flatly said, "No, he sure doesn't." We were both caught off guard, and I was incensed.
BOZ DOESN'T MENTION JESUS!
It is impossible to talk about God's love and exclude Jesus. It's impossible to teach values and faith without Jesus. I thought, certainly I have overlooked it.
I wrote to the company at their Dallas headquarters.
Sure enough, I got a standard reply from them, stating that they are trying to build bridges with parents, and hopefully at some point later the parents can flesh out what God's love means as they teach their kids. They strategically avoid the name of Jesus to reach a broader market and not offend people.
I am so angry at that reply I can't even think straight. I am still trying to figure out what to do about it, I sure will write people at Exclaim Entertainment who are higher up than the first person who answered my mail. But what do you do about someone who won't mention Jesus' name, but still wants to talk about God? All of their videos are sold at Family Christian (see the CHRIST in the name) and Boz is doing a summer tour of churches in the Christian faith. But he won't mention Christ on screen.
That is wrong, very wrong. He's marketed to Christians like me who are lapping up the product, and only after we've purchased can we determine that Boz won't have anything to do with Jesus.
Thoughts?
Tomorrow or Thursday, I'll post about Bobby Ross' reply to my post yesterday. It really helped me out, and I know it definitely grew my perspective on things.
Please keep praying for Baby Bennett http://www.prayingforbennett.blogspot.com/
And my wife's blog is better http://www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com/
About a year ago, on a flight from Dallas back to Washington, I met a man who worked for Exclaim Entertainment...we chatted, and when he learned I had a toddler, he gave me a promotional DVD of "Boz the Bear" and told me all about it.
I was done with my 3 oz of coke & 4 pretzels, so we chatted quite a bit. It sounded like a great new alternative for teaching my little one basic colors, shapes, numbers, and also about values & faith. (Teaching faith to Faith will strengthen my faith, I'm sure. I just had to say that.)
Well, since then we've purchased 2 DVDs of Boz the Bear (I know, wow!) and Faithy has fallen in love with him. He's a large green Bear who lives next door to the Baxter family, and they have all kinds of fun in their little Utopia, while learning about numbers, letters and values. The songs are quite catchy actually, and I find myself singing them around the house.
3 days ago, however, my infatuation with Boz the Bear came to a sudden halt. I turned to Jaime and asked, "Honey, I don't ever hear Boz mention JESUS...he talks about God's love, but does he ever mention JESUS?" She paused, reflected, and flatly said, "No, he sure doesn't." We were both caught off guard, and I was incensed.
BOZ DOESN'T MENTION JESUS!
It is impossible to talk about God's love and exclude Jesus. It's impossible to teach values and faith without Jesus. I thought, certainly I have overlooked it.
I wrote to the company at their Dallas headquarters.
Sure enough, I got a standard reply from them, stating that they are trying to build bridges with parents, and hopefully at some point later the parents can flesh out what God's love means as they teach their kids. They strategically avoid the name of Jesus to reach a broader market and not offend people.
I am so angry at that reply I can't even think straight. I am still trying to figure out what to do about it, I sure will write people at Exclaim Entertainment who are higher up than the first person who answered my mail. But what do you do about someone who won't mention Jesus' name, but still wants to talk about God? All of their videos are sold at Family Christian (see the CHRIST in the name) and Boz is doing a summer tour of churches in the Christian faith. But he won't mention Christ on screen.
That is wrong, very wrong. He's marketed to Christians like me who are lapping up the product, and only after we've purchased can we determine that Boz won't have anything to do with Jesus.
Thoughts?
Tomorrow or Thursday, I'll post about Bobby Ross' reply to my post yesterday. It really helped me out, and I know it definitely grew my perspective on things.
Please keep praying for Baby Bennett http://www.prayingforbennett.blogspot.com/
And my wife's blog is better http://www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com/
Monday, August 27, 2007
Thoughts and Bad Reaction to ad in Christian Chronicle
Here's a funny saying David shared with us yesterday..."When I was growing up, we couldn't even afford to pay attention." I thought that was hilarious. You may have heard it before, but I never have. That was good.
David's message yesterday entitled "Crossing Over" (yes, from John 5:24) was very convicting and encouraging. Go to http://www.nccoc.org/ to listen if you need a boost. Toward the end of the sermon, he used a seires of contrasts to make his point...with his permission I reprint them here:
This eternal life now can be yours...
"not because you are good, but because God is good.
not because you went to church, but because Jesus went to the cross.
not because you came out of your old habits, but because Jesus came out of the tomb.
not because you shed your irreligious ways, but because Jesus shed his blood."
What a great reminder. Thank you David!
And for those of you who read the Christian Chronicle, if your reaction to the full-page ad on page 10 is anything like mine (sheer revulsion), then I encourage you to let the editor know. Bobby Ross is the editor, he's a great guy; he & his wife did a story on Fairfax in 2005 and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. But I just hate that they have to run ads like this...
Ok, if you don't have the paper in front of you, go to http://www.foracappella.org/ and just get a taste of it. Then email bobby.ross@christianchronicle.org and ask him to consider NOT running ads that are completely irrelevant and off-point to our mission in the kingdom of God. If they had merely encouraged people to sing without instruments and appreciate the joyful sound of voices singing together, then fine...but they present a cappella format as "the scriptural plan for the church", and I wholeheartedly disagree with that conclusion.
David's message yesterday entitled "Crossing Over" (yes, from John 5:24) was very convicting and encouraging. Go to http://www.nccoc.org/ to listen if you need a boost. Toward the end of the sermon, he used a seires of contrasts to make his point...with his permission I reprint them here:
This eternal life now can be yours...
"not because you are good, but because God is good.
not because you went to church, but because Jesus went to the cross.
not because you came out of your old habits, but because Jesus came out of the tomb.
not because you shed your irreligious ways, but because Jesus shed his blood."
What a great reminder. Thank you David!
And for those of you who read the Christian Chronicle, if your reaction to the full-page ad on page 10 is anything like mine (sheer revulsion), then I encourage you to let the editor know. Bobby Ross is the editor, he's a great guy; he & his wife did a story on Fairfax in 2005 and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. But I just hate that they have to run ads like this...
Ok, if you don't have the paper in front of you, go to http://www.foracappella.org/ and just get a taste of it. Then email bobby.ross@christianchronicle.org and ask him to consider NOT running ads that are completely irrelevant and off-point to our mission in the kingdom of God. If they had merely encouraged people to sing without instruments and appreciate the joyful sound of voices singing together, then fine...but they present a cappella format as "the scriptural plan for the church", and I wholeheartedly disagree with that conclusion.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
This Weekend
Keep praying for Baby Bennett...
www.prayingforBennett.blogspot.com
I'm looking forward to Sunday...I think the entire song line-up is solid, but there are 2 songs I'm particularly excited about:
We Delight
Beautiful One
We're singing the Zoe arrangements on both songs www.zoegroup.org Wow, am I ever thankful for their resourceful ministry.
At rehearsal last night, the team sounded great on these...tons of energy, excitement, and just plain ole good singin'.
Of course, we're also singing the classic "Be Thou My Vision"... undoubtedly one of my favorite hymns. Great musical movement, great harmonies (hard to find a good arrangement though...we're using a Hallal arrangement with some added verses), and superb prayerful lyrics.
Thanks to God for all of the rain earlier this week...I'll be mowing this weekend which I always enjoy. Really I do. Especially now that I have a riding lawnmower, I'm beyond cool.
Ok, that's all the non-important forgettable stuff I can think of...have a great weekend everyone!
www.prayingforBennett.blogspot.com
I'm looking forward to Sunday...I think the entire song line-up is solid, but there are 2 songs I'm particularly excited about:
We Delight
Beautiful One
We're singing the Zoe arrangements on both songs www.zoegroup.org Wow, am I ever thankful for their resourceful ministry.
At rehearsal last night, the team sounded great on these...tons of energy, excitement, and just plain ole good singin'.
Of course, we're also singing the classic "Be Thou My Vision"... undoubtedly one of my favorite hymns. Great musical movement, great harmonies (hard to find a good arrangement though...we're using a Hallal arrangement with some added verses), and superb prayerful lyrics.
Thanks to God for all of the rain earlier this week...I'll be mowing this weekend which I always enjoy. Really I do. Especially now that I have a riding lawnmower, I'm beyond cool.
Ok, that's all the non-important forgettable stuff I can think of...have a great weekend everyone!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Prayers for Baby Bennett
My friends' Travis & Kelly had a precious baby boy named Bennett yesterday morning. He is currently in NICU for fever and possibly acidosis. I solicit your fervent prayers for him and his family as they go through this difficult time.
Here is a blog that contains updates & other info:
www.prayingforbennett.blogspot.com
Here is a blog that contains updates & other info:
www.prayingforbennett.blogspot.com
Monday, August 13, 2007
Heat Wave & New Worship Artist
We had a great trip to Charlottesville, VA for my cousin Stuart Burkhalter's (his last name is Eli's middle name) wedding. It was hot, but a great weekend. Stuart's new wife's family threw quite a party for a reception. The band was great, and in addition to enjoying a dance with each other, Jaime & I enjoyed dancing with Faithy as well. She loves music & dancing, so she was right at home. Seeing her enjoy herself is an incredible blessing I didn't know to anticipate as a father. I also got to play golf with my brother and my nephews who all live in Dallas. Those fun times always fly by... (Thanks Bennett for the coaching...and thank you God that the lightning didn't start until the 18th hole.)
Now back home in Indy, we're experiencing the city's 3rd worst heat wave on record. We've had the longest number of consecutive days at 90 degrees or higher in years, and the end is 5 days away at best. Oh well, I grew up in Memphis, lived for 13 years in Dallas, so this is no prob for me. But I keep thinking, THIS IS WHY I moved north of the Mason Dixon line...to get away from this weather. :)
Thanks to the "contemporary Christian" channel on our cable TV, I am discovering several new Christian artists. You must check out http://www.vickybeeching.com/ She is an up & coming new worship leader. Her song "The Wonder of the Cross" from her latest CD "Painting the Invisible" will be sung in churches everywhere really soon. Great song, great sentiment, powerful hook in the chorus. I can't wait to teach it to the NC praise team. She's a Starbucks fan as well, so it's no surprise that she writes good worship songs. ;) (I learned that from her blog...) There are actually several songs on this CD that I'd like to teach, so just stay tuned. It's not often that I listen to a song over & over, but when it happens, it's such a blessing. The Psalms talk over & over about singing a new song to the Lord, and I'm always discovering reasons why...one is that new music encourages us singers soooo much! I mean, I love "Just As I Am" which was the invitation song at Jaime's grandma's church service which we attended last night in Anderson, IN...but I love love love new expressions of praise as well.
I always put this, but it's true...my wife's blog is better (except for the fact that my picture is there right now...) www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com
Now back home in Indy, we're experiencing the city's 3rd worst heat wave on record. We've had the longest number of consecutive days at 90 degrees or higher in years, and the end is 5 days away at best. Oh well, I grew up in Memphis, lived for 13 years in Dallas, so this is no prob for me. But I keep thinking, THIS IS WHY I moved north of the Mason Dixon line...to get away from this weather. :)
Thanks to the "contemporary Christian" channel on our cable TV, I am discovering several new Christian artists. You must check out http://www.vickybeeching.com/ She is an up & coming new worship leader. Her song "The Wonder of the Cross" from her latest CD "Painting the Invisible" will be sung in churches everywhere really soon. Great song, great sentiment, powerful hook in the chorus. I can't wait to teach it to the NC praise team. She's a Starbucks fan as well, so it's no surprise that she writes good worship songs. ;) (I learned that from her blog...) There are actually several songs on this CD that I'd like to teach, so just stay tuned. It's not often that I listen to a song over & over, but when it happens, it's such a blessing. The Psalms talk over & over about singing a new song to the Lord, and I'm always discovering reasons why...one is that new music encourages us singers soooo much! I mean, I love "Just As I Am" which was the invitation song at Jaime's grandma's church service which we attended last night in Anderson, IN...but I love love love new expressions of praise as well.
I always put this, but it's true...my wife's blog is better (except for the fact that my picture is there right now...) www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Headed Back to Virginia
We're headed back to Virginia tomorrow, we just can't take it anymore.
KIDDING
We love our new Indy home & church & etc., but we're headed down to Charlottesville, VA for my cousin's wedding. It will be a great family time, and road trips with 2 kids under 2 are always a joy.
Seriously, we are looking forward to it. Once the kids doze off, (yeah right) Jaime and I have great talks as the van rolls down the highway.
Well, I said I would post about the "woman at the well" and Jesus, and their discussion in John 4. Our senior minister is continuing his series and will be teaching from this passage over the next 2 Sundays. It was just such a profound realization to see that Jesus revealed his best and greatest teaching on worship to this woman who he shouldn't have been talking to in the 1st place! (culturally) We don't even know her name! Isn't that so true of what worship should result in...we discover who Jesus is, and we forget about who we are completely. But there again, that's the irony...Jesus told the lady things about herself that even she had tried to forget...so he affirmed her, he didn't crush and treat her like a no-name...
Wow, God is completely awesome and His grace is unbelievable.
How can I keep from singing? (Thank you Chris Tomlin for your update of that song.)
KIDDING
We love our new Indy home & church & etc., but we're headed down to Charlottesville, VA for my cousin's wedding. It will be a great family time, and road trips with 2 kids under 2 are always a joy.
Seriously, we are looking forward to it. Once the kids doze off, (yeah right) Jaime and I have great talks as the van rolls down the highway.
Well, I said I would post about the "woman at the well" and Jesus, and their discussion in John 4. Our senior minister is continuing his series and will be teaching from this passage over the next 2 Sundays. It was just such a profound realization to see that Jesus revealed his best and greatest teaching on worship to this woman who he shouldn't have been talking to in the 1st place! (culturally) We don't even know her name! Isn't that so true of what worship should result in...we discover who Jesus is, and we forget about who we are completely. But there again, that's the irony...Jesus told the lady things about herself that even she had tried to forget...so he affirmed her, he didn't crush and treat her like a no-name...
Wow, God is completely awesome and His grace is unbelievable.
How can I keep from singing? (Thank you Chris Tomlin for your update of that song.)
Monday, July 23, 2007
Coming to you from Indianapolis, Indiana, for the 1st time!
July 23, 2007
My last post was from Chantilly, VA, to announce the arrival of our baby boy, Eli.
A lot has happened since then.
I write now from Indianapolis, IN, our new home! After 3.5 years of ministry and fellowship with the Fairfax Church of Christ in northern VA, God called us to work with the North Central congregation here in Indy. www.nccoc.org is the church’s website.
We are getting settled into our new house in Carmel, the suburb just north of Indy. We’ve got almost all of the boxes unpacked, and we’re almost ready to start hanging pictures/artwork, etc. on the walls.
Eli is now 6 weeks old, and cuter than ever. I’ve been teasing him lately about filling out a bit. He’s gaining weight nicely (8 lbs when he was born, so not a concern, just an observation). He loves being held, and is really starting to smile & react a lot. He’s fighting a nasty cold presently, and I hate to hear him cough. The doc says it’s normal and will go away eventually.
Faith is totally healthy & doing great. She seems to get more beautiful every day. I love her so much, and am so crazy about her. She said 'Eli" this morning and is adding more words to her vocabulary every day. (outside, inside, etc.) She sleeps in her “big girl” bed…a twin bed that Jaime’s aunt is loaning us. She only cried a little bit at the new arrangement, and has apparently already adjusted to it.
I am eager to get back to more regular posts about my thoughts/lessons learned/reflections on worship…the best pastime on earth. For now, let me just say how thankful I am to be here in IN, serving alongside the people of the North Central church. (Even though we miss our church family in Fairfax dearly!)
In my next post, I'll share a thought I had spurred on from David’s sermon yesterday on John 3 about Nicodemus & the woman at the well & worship…
My last post was from Chantilly, VA, to announce the arrival of our baby boy, Eli.
A lot has happened since then.
I write now from Indianapolis, IN, our new home! After 3.5 years of ministry and fellowship with the Fairfax Church of Christ in northern VA, God called us to work with the North Central congregation here in Indy. www.nccoc.org is the church’s website.
We are getting settled into our new house in Carmel, the suburb just north of Indy. We’ve got almost all of the boxes unpacked, and we’re almost ready to start hanging pictures/artwork, etc. on the walls.
Eli is now 6 weeks old, and cuter than ever. I’ve been teasing him lately about filling out a bit. He’s gaining weight nicely (8 lbs when he was born, so not a concern, just an observation). He loves being held, and is really starting to smile & react a lot. He’s fighting a nasty cold presently, and I hate to hear him cough. The doc says it’s normal and will go away eventually.
Faith is totally healthy & doing great. She seems to get more beautiful every day. I love her so much, and am so crazy about her. She said 'Eli" this morning and is adding more words to her vocabulary every day. (outside, inside, etc.) She sleeps in her “big girl” bed…a twin bed that Jaime’s aunt is loaning us. She only cried a little bit at the new arrangement, and has apparently already adjusted to it.
I am eager to get back to more regular posts about my thoughts/lessons learned/reflections on worship…the best pastime on earth. For now, let me just say how thankful I am to be here in IN, serving alongside the people of the North Central church. (Even though we miss our church family in Fairfax dearly!)
In my next post, I'll share a thought I had spurred on from David’s sermon yesterday on John 3 about Nicodemus & the woman at the well & worship…
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Praise God on High!
What an awesome Sunday...
Today was Missions Sunday at FXCC. Even though God sent a much-needed day of showers our way, no one's spirit was dampened. Everyone sang out with energy and zeal, in mulitple languages no less! Talk about speaking/singing in tongues! You guys were incredible.
Then to see Keith Jones sitting in the auditorium with his sweet wife by his side...Keith, I didn't know you were coming today, but God did...He had me select "How Great Is Our God" which is your favorite...isn't God awesome. It was so great to see you.
Then to see all the children file down front with their coin cannisters...their offerings to God for MISSION Sunday...
Then to see the Bynums officially be commissioned & prayed for as our new missionary family. How incredible...
And then the GENEROUS outpouring from our church for our special MISSIONS offering of over $60,000!!! (after you gave generously for our regular offering of almost $34,000, which is only $800 shy of our weekly goal.)
Did you get that? Our church gave almost $100,000 in one day for the mission of God in this world. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE with GOD.
And thanks to Mark & Cassey Gibson for a wonderful day of Prayer & Fasting yesterday...they coordinated Fairfax's special devotionals during the day, and did all the promo work. For more info, www.dayofprayerandfasting.org or go to our website for more info on FXCC's mission work www.fxcc.org
Keep on praying everyone....
Then to a delicious lunch served by FSM and Paul Wert & crew...a fiesta meal to beat all fiesta meals...
WOW, I'm still reeling from the day.
now, back to my song, (feel free to sing along...any key will do) "Praise God on High...every wounded soul will be made whole, so let's worship Him with a mighty voice, like we're already with Him in paradise, Praise God on High, Praise God! "
Today was Missions Sunday at FXCC. Even though God sent a much-needed day of showers our way, no one's spirit was dampened. Everyone sang out with energy and zeal, in mulitple languages no less! Talk about speaking/singing in tongues! You guys were incredible.
Then to see Keith Jones sitting in the auditorium with his sweet wife by his side...Keith, I didn't know you were coming today, but God did...He had me select "How Great Is Our God" which is your favorite...isn't God awesome. It was so great to see you.
Then to see all the children file down front with their coin cannisters...their offerings to God for MISSION Sunday...
Then to see the Bynums officially be commissioned & prayed for as our new missionary family. How incredible...
And then the GENEROUS outpouring from our church for our special MISSIONS offering of over $60,000!!! (after you gave generously for our regular offering of almost $34,000, which is only $800 shy of our weekly goal.)
Did you get that? Our church gave almost $100,000 in one day for the mission of God in this world. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE with GOD.
And thanks to Mark & Cassey Gibson for a wonderful day of Prayer & Fasting yesterday...they coordinated Fairfax's special devotionals during the day, and did all the promo work. For more info, www.dayofprayerandfasting.org or go to our website for more info on FXCC's mission work www.fxcc.org
Keep on praying everyone....
Then to a delicious lunch served by FSM and Paul Wert & crew...a fiesta meal to beat all fiesta meals...
WOW, I'm still reeling from the day.
now, back to my song, (feel free to sing along...any key will do) "Praise God on High...every wounded soul will be made whole, so let's worship Him with a mighty voice, like we're already with Him in paradise, Praise God on High, Praise God! "
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Even More Undignified Than This
Today's Bible reading on www.oneyearbibleblog.com is the great story about David bringing the ark back to Jerusalem...He was leading the multitudes in celebrative worship without all of his clothing. (Don't worry, I'm not going to try that on Sunday...)
His wife wasn't so enthralled with the king of Israel, or the true King of Israel (Jehovah), and she scorned her husband-king for dancing and celebrating in such an undignified manner.
His reply was simple...I will celebrate unto the Lord. This is about God, not me, not my honor, not my dignity. God has been good to us, and we will celebrate appropriately. You think that was undignified? I will go to even greater lengths to show my zeal and my joy and my gratitude for the Lord Almighty.
Wow, I just love it! It makes me think of the song "and I will be even more undignified than this...some may say its foolishness..." I think the band is Delirious.
Have a great day in the Lord, and celebrate Him with all your might. He has been good to you.
He has certainly been good to me.
We got a contract on our house on Tuesday! Thank you, God! We're set to close on June 22, and then rent back until Friday, July 6. We pull out of town for Indy that day. And somewhere in there, Baby #2 is set to arrive! June 18th is our induction date. Very exciting...It's hard to imagine loving a little baby as much as we love Faith, but I think God has a way of enlarging our hearts to increase our love capacity. I know when I fell in love with Jaime, I couldn't believe all the love I felt (and still feel) and then when Faithy came along, it just doubled, so I'm sure God will provide.
His wife wasn't so enthralled with the king of Israel, or the true King of Israel (Jehovah), and she scorned her husband-king for dancing and celebrating in such an undignified manner.
His reply was simple...I will celebrate unto the Lord. This is about God, not me, not my honor, not my dignity. God has been good to us, and we will celebrate appropriately. You think that was undignified? I will go to even greater lengths to show my zeal and my joy and my gratitude for the Lord Almighty.
Wow, I just love it! It makes me think of the song "and I will be even more undignified than this...some may say its foolishness..." I think the band is Delirious.
Have a great day in the Lord, and celebrate Him with all your might. He has been good to you.
He has certainly been good to me.
We got a contract on our house on Tuesday! Thank you, God! We're set to close on June 22, and then rent back until Friday, July 6. We pull out of town for Indy that day. And somewhere in there, Baby #2 is set to arrive! June 18th is our induction date. Very exciting...It's hard to imagine loving a little baby as much as we love Faith, but I think God has a way of enlarging our hearts to increase our love capacity. I know when I fell in love with Jaime, I couldn't believe all the love I felt (and still feel) and then when Faithy came along, it just doubled, so I'm sure God will provide.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Pray for Keith Jones
Check your email, or go to www.fxcc.org to see a list of prayer concerns for Keith Jones.
URGENT PRAYERS NEEDED!
We'll be having a prayer session tomorrow night at 7 pm here in the auditorium specifically for Keith. If you are able to go by and say hello to his family, contact the office and we'll let you know how to find them at Fairfax Hospital.
URGENT PRAYERS NEEDED!
We'll be having a prayer session tomorrow night at 7 pm here in the auditorium specifically for Keith. If you are able to go by and say hello to his family, contact the office and we'll let you know how to find them at Fairfax Hospital.
Monday, April 23, 2007
A note to the Fairfax Church of Christ from the Sanderson family…
We've recently embarked on an excited study of the book of Romans on Sunday mornings...this scripture on worship & God's will seems appropriate for the occasion.
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Over the last few months, Jaime & I have been earnestly trying to test and approve what God’s will is for our lives.
After much prayer and consideration, we feel that God is calling us to a new church home where we can be closer to family. In July, I will begin my work with the North Central Church of Christ in Indianapolis as their Worship & Administration Minister.
From the time we left Dallas and transitioned to northern Virginia back in the fall of 2003, you have been our family. Even though we were brand new here, 3 elders along with Bruce & Jeannette attended our wedding in Nashville on Valentines Day 2004. (Bill & Nancy McKevley actually drove down to Nashville with our wedding cake in the back of their truck!! They got stuck in a snowstorm on the way back...ask them for details.) When God brought our baby girl to us in the fall of 2005, you were there to celebrate with us as well. There have been countless times over the past three and a half years that we have experienced God’s goodness to us by His placing us in this body of Christ.
When God made us aware of this opportunity, we felt the time could be right to make a transition, especially as our family grows from 3 to 4. Jaime and I have made it a top priority to have her stay at home with our kids, and the cost of living in this area is not cooperating with that priority, even though the elders are generous with me in every way. Additionally, Jaime’s family lives in the Indianapolis area, and will be a great source of support for us.
Worshipping God with all of you has been such a blessing to me and my family; we will always cherish our time at Fairfax. Spiritually, we have grown immensely under Bruce’s preaching, the elders’ leadership and through our small group studies. And for Faith, I don’t know if she’ll ever find a Bible teacher that can hold a candle to Mrs. Belknap.
Our hope and prayer is that you’ll continue showing Jesus to each other and to lost people, and continue worshipping God joyfully, in spirit and in truth.
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Over the last few months, Jaime & I have been earnestly trying to test and approve what God’s will is for our lives.
After much prayer and consideration, we feel that God is calling us to a new church home where we can be closer to family. In July, I will begin my work with the North Central Church of Christ in Indianapolis as their Worship & Administration Minister.
From the time we left Dallas and transitioned to northern Virginia back in the fall of 2003, you have been our family. Even though we were brand new here, 3 elders along with Bruce & Jeannette attended our wedding in Nashville on Valentines Day 2004. (Bill & Nancy McKevley actually drove down to Nashville with our wedding cake in the back of their truck!! They got stuck in a snowstorm on the way back...ask them for details.) When God brought our baby girl to us in the fall of 2005, you were there to celebrate with us as well. There have been countless times over the past three and a half years that we have experienced God’s goodness to us by His placing us in this body of Christ.
When God made us aware of this opportunity, we felt the time could be right to make a transition, especially as our family grows from 3 to 4. Jaime and I have made it a top priority to have her stay at home with our kids, and the cost of living in this area is not cooperating with that priority, even though the elders are generous with me in every way. Additionally, Jaime’s family lives in the Indianapolis area, and will be a great source of support for us.
Worshipping God with all of you has been such a blessing to me and my family; we will always cherish our time at Fairfax. Spiritually, we have grown immensely under Bruce’s preaching, the elders’ leadership and through our small group studies. And for Faith, I don’t know if she’ll ever find a Bible teacher that can hold a candle to Mrs. Belknap.
Our hope and prayer is that you’ll continue showing Jesus to each other and to lost people, and continue worshipping God joyfully, in spirit and in truth.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Praying for VA Tech Community
Like everyone else, I've had this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach since Monday morning. I can hardly stop thinking about it.
My goal is to redirect my thoughts, my fears, my sadness into prayers to God...prayers for hope, healing, peace, comfort...but I also am more motivated to keep an eye out for hurting, isolated people.
Let's move forward together, both as a community of Christ-followers, but as a subset of our global village, more determined to relate well to each other...to listen to each other...to take time to say hello and connect.
At times like these, what a blessing to be a part of the body of Christ.
I'll post specific VMV Prayer Team concerns after tomorrow's "day of mourning/prayer" for the VA Tech community.
Peace everyone.
My goal is to redirect my thoughts, my fears, my sadness into prayers to God...prayers for hope, healing, peace, comfort...but I also am more motivated to keep an eye out for hurting, isolated people.
Let's move forward together, both as a community of Christ-followers, but as a subset of our global village, more determined to relate well to each other...to listen to each other...to take time to say hello and connect.
At times like these, what a blessing to be a part of the body of Christ.
I'll post specific VMV Prayer Team concerns after tomorrow's "day of mourning/prayer" for the VA Tech community.
Peace everyone.
Friday, April 13, 2007
VMV Prayer Team Forming!
VMV PRAYER TEAM
WANTED CHRISTIAN PRAYER WARRIORS
For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers. I Peter 3:12
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16b
What? We are forming a Prayer Team to pray in a focused way for the Vision, Mission, Values Process!
Why? We will soon be receiving the results of our church-wide survey as well as other quantitative data and in late April, we will begin formulating our Vision, Mission and Value statements. The process is scheduled to wrap up in June, but of course, this process has long-term implications for our church.
Who? Members of our congregation, and anyone else who wants to pray for God's will to be done at the Fairfax congregation.
Scriptural Emphasis?
In Matthew 6, Jesus taught his disciples (us) how to pray. Verse 10 of this chapter contains a phrase which is critical to our VMV process:
“…Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
We’ve chosen this scripture as our key verse, in keeping with our motto:
Seeking God’s Vision Beyond Our Own.
Length of Commitment? The next 3 months, from April 10 to July 10. (I realize many people have been praying from the very inception of the process back in August 2006 up until now, and that we as a church will continue praying after these 90 days. It’s just important to hit our knees hard for the next 90 days of this vital process.)
When? Pray anytime! Pray without ceasing! Designated prayer times are as follows:
Sundays, 9:00 am to 10:05 am, in Room 201 (not a class, just quiet time)
Sundays, 10:20 am to 11:35 am, in Room 204 (not a class, just quiet time)
*We may call for an additional “prayer meeting” at other times as the VMV process continues, so stay tuned for an announcement.
**Consider fasting as a spiritual discipline along with your prayer times. See Acts 13 & 14, and a one-page brief about fasting at www.fxcc.org/worship.
What else is there to do? Recruit others to participate! Such as former members, a family member who has visited here with you, a friend who attends another church, etc.
Sign up!
Email Murray Sanderson at murray@fxcc.org.
Call the office at 703-631-2100 to be placed on the VMV Prayer Team.
You’ll receive detailed prayer requests every 10 to 14 days during the VMV process.
WANTED CHRISTIAN PRAYER WARRIORS
For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers. I Peter 3:12
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16b
What? We are forming a Prayer Team to pray in a focused way for the Vision, Mission, Values Process!
Why? We will soon be receiving the results of our church-wide survey as well as other quantitative data and in late April, we will begin formulating our Vision, Mission and Value statements. The process is scheduled to wrap up in June, but of course, this process has long-term implications for our church.
Who? Members of our congregation, and anyone else who wants to pray for God's will to be done at the Fairfax congregation.
Scriptural Emphasis?
In Matthew 6, Jesus taught his disciples (us) how to pray. Verse 10 of this chapter contains a phrase which is critical to our VMV process:
“…Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
We’ve chosen this scripture as our key verse, in keeping with our motto:
Seeking God’s Vision Beyond Our Own.
Length of Commitment? The next 3 months, from April 10 to July 10. (I realize many people have been praying from the very inception of the process back in August 2006 up until now, and that we as a church will continue praying after these 90 days. It’s just important to hit our knees hard for the next 90 days of this vital process.)
When? Pray anytime! Pray without ceasing! Designated prayer times are as follows:
Sundays, 9:00 am to 10:05 am, in Room 201 (not a class, just quiet time)
Sundays, 10:20 am to 11:35 am, in Room 204 (not a class, just quiet time)
*We may call for an additional “prayer meeting” at other times as the VMV process continues, so stay tuned for an announcement.
**Consider fasting as a spiritual discipline along with your prayer times. See Acts 13 & 14, and a one-page brief about fasting at www.fxcc.org/worship.
What else is there to do? Recruit others to participate! Such as former members, a family member who has visited here with you, a friend who attends another church, etc.
Sign up!
Email Murray Sanderson at murray@fxcc.org.
Call the office at 703-631-2100 to be placed on the VMV Prayer Team.
You’ll receive detailed prayer requests every 10 to 14 days during the VMV process.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
We're back!
We had a great trip to Indiana for Jaime's 13th (yes, 13th) high school reunion at Pendleton Heights High School in Pendleton, IN. (30 miles west of Indy) It's a long story why it was the 13th, so maybe she'll explain it on her blog.
It was also nice to reconnect with her family/extended family while in Indiana...Faith got to demonstrate her walking skills many, many times. She can now turn around while in motion, and she no longer sits down to applaud herself every few steps anymore.
Oh, and she now waves goodbye! According to the experts, that was supposed to happen at 12 months, but she waved for the 1st time to a sweet little girl at Bob Evans (our going away breakfast with Grandma Kinder) yesterday morning. Too precious. By the way, Bob Evans is always a great way to start a 580 mile day. Traveling with a 15 month old, and a wife who is 26 weeks pregnant is no quick trip. Jaime was/is an awesome wife, and the conversations you can have on a long road trip like that are so fun.
If you've ever driven west on interstate 70 through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio...wow, aren't those views amazing? The mountains are absolutely breathtaking anytime of year. Keep in mind I've spent most of my life in Memphis/Dallas, so those are MOUNTAINS! :) But the vistas from the interstate are truly amazing, and help to make the long trip do-able. Some of the best views are on 15 once you've crossed the Potomac as you're coming south through Lucketts and Leesburg...those Virginia horse farms are beautiful! And we drove in around 7:30 pm, just as the sun was setting!
We are thankful to be home safe, and to start gearing up for an awesome Easter.
It was also nice to reconnect with her family/extended family while in Indiana...Faith got to demonstrate her walking skills many, many times. She can now turn around while in motion, and she no longer sits down to applaud herself every few steps anymore.
Oh, and she now waves goodbye! According to the experts, that was supposed to happen at 12 months, but she waved for the 1st time to a sweet little girl at Bob Evans (our going away breakfast with Grandma Kinder) yesterday morning. Too precious. By the way, Bob Evans is always a great way to start a 580 mile day. Traveling with a 15 month old, and a wife who is 26 weeks pregnant is no quick trip. Jaime was/is an awesome wife, and the conversations you can have on a long road trip like that are so fun.
If you've ever driven west on interstate 70 through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio...wow, aren't those views amazing? The mountains are absolutely breathtaking anytime of year. Keep in mind I've spent most of my life in Memphis/Dallas, so those are MOUNTAINS! :) But the vistas from the interstate are truly amazing, and help to make the long trip do-able. Some of the best views are on 15 once you've crossed the Potomac as you're coming south through Lucketts and Leesburg...those Virginia horse farms are beautiful! And we drove in around 7:30 pm, just as the sun was setting!
We are thankful to be home safe, and to start gearing up for an awesome Easter.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
BIG Faith Announcement
Ok, friends, we have big news to share about Faithy. Check Jaime's blog
www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com
it'll be posted sometime today
and WOW, the GOOD NEWS singers from Harding University were totally awesome last night...
great blend, great volume, great song set, great facial expressions....down to the last one of them, they were great worship leaders. And one of them is MAJORING in Worship Ministry at Harding University.
To know that Harding University, one of the most conservative Christian colleges out there, now has a formal worship ministry major just encourages me to no end. There is such a great future for our movement worship-wise!
www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com
it'll be posted sometime today
and WOW, the GOOD NEWS singers from Harding University were totally awesome last night...
great blend, great volume, great song set, great facial expressions....down to the last one of them, they were great worship leaders. And one of them is MAJORING in Worship Ministry at Harding University.
To know that Harding University, one of the most conservative Christian colleges out there, now has a formal worship ministry major just encourages me to no end. There is such a great future for our movement worship-wise!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
A Talking Donkey
I've just finished reading the incredible story of Balaam & his talking donkey from Numbers 20ff.
It just makes me smile every time I read it...our God is so awesome, so creative, so interested in interacting with us and guiding us and leading us the right way. But He's also curious (not in a "i don't know what will happen" sort of way, but in a "let's see how he/she will take this..." sort of way) about how much we will trust Him or listen to Him.
I think my favorite part in the story is when Balaam and the donkey are talking...yes, talking, as in having a conversation. It's not enough to simply be in awe that the donkey spoke, Balaam has to talk back to her. Let's listen in...
26 Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. 28 Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"
29 Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."
30 The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" "No," he said.
It's such an amusing story. Go to www.biblegateway.com and look up Numbers 22 to see how it ends. You'll have to go into chapters 23 & 24 as well.
After reading that, I have a new sense of openness to the Lord's voice, as I just really don't know where it might originate! :)
It just makes me smile every time I read it...our God is so awesome, so creative, so interested in interacting with us and guiding us and leading us the right way. But He's also curious (not in a "i don't know what will happen" sort of way, but in a "let's see how he/she will take this..." sort of way) about how much we will trust Him or listen to Him.
I think my favorite part in the story is when Balaam and the donkey are talking...yes, talking, as in having a conversation. It's not enough to simply be in awe that the donkey spoke, Balaam has to talk back to her. Let's listen in...
26 Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. 28 Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"
29 Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."
30 The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" "No," he said.
It's such an amusing story. Go to www.biblegateway.com and look up Numbers 22 to see how it ends. You'll have to go into chapters 23 & 24 as well.
After reading that, I have a new sense of openness to the Lord's voice, as I just really don't know where it might originate! :)
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Names for Baby Sanderson
To see what names we've picked out for our second baby, who is quite the kicker, click here
www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com
Random thoughts...we went to Occuquan yesterday and had the best time strolling the sidewalks and window shopping. Loving the spring weather...
And then we went to IKEA! Words cannot express how cool that store is...we made a long list of "when we hit the lottery, we'll get..." I've always heard about IKEA and everyone was right, much to my surprise ( I thought people were just exaggerating.)
We had game night at small group tonight, very fun.
www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com
Random thoughts...we went to Occuquan yesterday and had the best time strolling the sidewalks and window shopping. Loving the spring weather...
And then we went to IKEA! Words cannot express how cool that store is...we made a long list of "when we hit the lottery, we'll get..." I've always heard about IKEA and everyone was right, much to my surprise ( I thought people were just exaggerating.)
We had game night at small group tonight, very fun.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
IMMEDIATE URGENT CHURCH-WIDE SERVICE OPPORTUNITY
Would you be willing to prepare a meal for one of our families?
Church family, the Schwambs need our help. They would never ask for this, so I am happy to stand in the gap for them.
Baby Lauren has hit some very rough spots on her road to recovery recently. To sum it up, she was born on January 14, 2006, 2 months premature, and immediately had major health complications. She has been in the hospital for much of her little life. Last night, she had to be transferred urgently from Walter Reed to Children's Hospital in D.C. The doctors believe she is stable now, but she still faces a long hospital stay, perhaps two weeks.
Tim & Cristi have kept everything going for their family of 5 with smiles on their faces, rarely missing church even amidst major health challenges and crises. Big sister Addison, age 8, and big brother Brennan, age 6, have been incredibly supportive and helpful during all of Lauren's trials. And hats off to their wonderful small group that has been encouraging them and holding up their arms every step of the way. But this family needs our prayers, love and support now more than ever.
Now, 14 months into this trying time for the Schwambs, we want to broaden the "helping hands" base beyond their small group, and beyond the church staff.
Would you be willing to prepare a meal for the Schwambs?
Regarding food allergies, Cristi doesn’t tolerate dairy products well. Brennan is severely allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts. But don’t let these restrictions intimidate you. Cristi assured me that Brennan is fine with eating a different meal from the rest of the family, custom prepared by mom.
It would be helpful for them to have meals or snacks they can easily transport to the hospital and throw in a microwave up there.
Grocery store gift cards are great, too, if you’re high on cash and low on time.
You may deliver your meal to the hospital, to the Schwambs’ home directly, or to the church office.
Contact Murray at murray@fxcc.org or 703-631-2100 for more specifics, and to register your desired “date of delivery”. We can accommodate more than one meal per day, but my goal is to even it out reasonably.
Thanks, everyone.
Church family, the Schwambs need our help. They would never ask for this, so I am happy to stand in the gap for them.
Baby Lauren has hit some very rough spots on her road to recovery recently. To sum it up, she was born on January 14, 2006, 2 months premature, and immediately had major health complications. She has been in the hospital for much of her little life. Last night, she had to be transferred urgently from Walter Reed to Children's Hospital in D.C. The doctors believe she is stable now, but she still faces a long hospital stay, perhaps two weeks.
Tim & Cristi have kept everything going for their family of 5 with smiles on their faces, rarely missing church even amidst major health challenges and crises. Big sister Addison, age 8, and big brother Brennan, age 6, have been incredibly supportive and helpful during all of Lauren's trials. And hats off to their wonderful small group that has been encouraging them and holding up their arms every step of the way. But this family needs our prayers, love and support now more than ever.
Now, 14 months into this trying time for the Schwambs, we want to broaden the "helping hands" base beyond their small group, and beyond the church staff.
Would you be willing to prepare a meal for the Schwambs?
Regarding food allergies, Cristi doesn’t tolerate dairy products well. Brennan is severely allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts. But don’t let these restrictions intimidate you. Cristi assured me that Brennan is fine with eating a different meal from the rest of the family, custom prepared by mom.
It would be helpful for them to have meals or snacks they can easily transport to the hospital and throw in a microwave up there.
Grocery store gift cards are great, too, if you’re high on cash and low on time.
You may deliver your meal to the hospital, to the Schwambs’ home directly, or to the church office.
Contact Murray at murray@fxcc.org or 703-631-2100 for more specifics, and to register your desired “date of delivery”. We can accommodate more than one meal per day, but my goal is to even it out reasonably.
Thanks, everyone.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Vision Coming Soon
I am so looking forward to our new vision, which will be forthcoming by June 2007...a bold statement of faith and belief and action which we will all sign up to and support...obviously it will be some expression of Matthew 28:19-20, but it will be tailored for our unique time, place, resource pool, etc.
There's such great talent and resource at FXCC...with God, there are no limits to what He can accomplish through us, once we all get on the same page behind a common vision.
And thanks for the incredible response to the survey...over 500 were completed.
Keep praying! Work is going on behind the scenes...although perhaps the most important work is your continued prayer.
There's such great talent and resource at FXCC...with God, there are no limits to what He can accomplish through us, once we all get on the same page behind a common vision.
And thanks for the incredible response to the survey...over 500 were completed.
Keep praying! Work is going on behind the scenes...although perhaps the most important work is your continued prayer.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Various
My mom is here for a week's visit, we're having a great time. Headed to the spy museum tomorrow...
Faith is getting cuter every day, she's started blowing kisses now...
We're singing an "oldie but a goodie" on Sunday, "Salvation Has Been Brought Down" at Melissa B's request...be ready, it demands your best. (which you should always bring to God in worship)
SUNSHINE...what a concept! Today's a great day, and I'm proud to report we need no shovellers to come early on Sunday AM...
Chris Tomlin's new CD "See the Morning"...incredible...at least spend 99 cents & download the 6th track, 'How can I keep from singing' ...
Father Daugher Diner is tomorrow evening, my first event with Faithy! How fun.
Happy weekend everyone. See you Sunday!
Faith is getting cuter every day, she's started blowing kisses now...
We're singing an "oldie but a goodie" on Sunday, "Salvation Has Been Brought Down" at Melissa B's request...be ready, it demands your best. (which you should always bring to God in worship)
SUNSHINE...what a concept! Today's a great day, and I'm proud to report we need no shovellers to come early on Sunday AM...
Chris Tomlin's new CD "See the Morning"...incredible...at least spend 99 cents & download the 6th track, 'How can I keep from singing' ...
Father Daugher Diner is tomorrow evening, my first event with Faithy! How fun.
Happy weekend everyone. See you Sunday!
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Rich Man who went away sad...or eventually glad?
I read today the story in Mark 10 about the rich man who kept all the commandments and still wanted to know if there was anything else he should/could to to inherit eternal life...it always makes an impact on me.
Did he only go away sad, or did he go away sad at first, then to proceed to do what Jesus said? Most scholars say no, because he was sad, and that surely meant he had no intention of doing it. Or what about Jesus' statement as he walked off...how hard it is for the rich to capture the meaning of KINGDOM. Did that mean the rich man was never going to "get it"?
I just want to throw out the option that the man DID INDEED turn his life more toward God at this point. Yes, he was sad as he parted with things, property, etc. to share with others. But his earthly sadness could have yielded to a much more mature, deeper joy as he released the tight grip he had on his own obedience, his own wealth, his own ACTIONS to earn God's favor...maybe he realized the joy and grace of living in a totally surrendered, simple lifestyle.
I'm not a rich man by Fairfax County standards, but globally, I am rich. Extremely rich. Can I turn away from Christ's pervasive call on my life, my finances? Can I share in Christ's vision of the Kingdom of God? Will I experience a Godly sorrow that leads to repentance? Or will I just get sad?
Turn our mourning into dancing, Lord, as we discover each day how to give ourselves away.
Did he only go away sad, or did he go away sad at first, then to proceed to do what Jesus said? Most scholars say no, because he was sad, and that surely meant he had no intention of doing it. Or what about Jesus' statement as he walked off...how hard it is for the rich to capture the meaning of KINGDOM. Did that mean the rich man was never going to "get it"?
I just want to throw out the option that the man DID INDEED turn his life more toward God at this point. Yes, he was sad as he parted with things, property, etc. to share with others. But his earthly sadness could have yielded to a much more mature, deeper joy as he released the tight grip he had on his own obedience, his own wealth, his own ACTIONS to earn God's favor...maybe he realized the joy and grace of living in a totally surrendered, simple lifestyle.
I'm not a rich man by Fairfax County standards, but globally, I am rich. Extremely rich. Can I turn away from Christ's pervasive call on my life, my finances? Can I share in Christ's vision of the Kingdom of God? Will I experience a Godly sorrow that leads to repentance? Or will I just get sad?
Turn our mourning into dancing, Lord, as we discover each day how to give ourselves away.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Snow and Waffles
Yesterday's snowfall, while quick and high stacking, was the most beautiful snow I've seen in a long, long time. What a way to begin our Sunday!
I was a nervous wreck from 6 am to 7 am, but I finally felt we had made the right decision to carry on with a normal schedule...well, that's when God likes to remind us that He is God. The sleet turned to snow by 8 am, and dumped 4 to 5 inches on our parking lot in about 2 hours!
Thanks to everyone who was a good sport...At least 8 people came for our 10:20 am service, only to discover that we canceled it to encourage people to return home safely.
Since the roads were getting progressively worse, our small group decided to meet for lunch instead of our normal Sun PM gathering time, and we met at Eggspectations in Chantilly. I really really love that place! That's the place I chose when it came my turn for a b'day lunch last month with our staff. The coffee is good, the service is good, and oh yeah, the food is delicious!
We had a great lunch/fellowship time, and oh yeah, we got a waffle for free because BOTH of their waffle irons broke, and they had to bust out a new one for us, so it took a long time...but it was worth the wait!
I love our small group, and I'm so thankful to have people to walk this road of life with. People who are real, funny, authentic, and deeply in pursuit of God.
So that's it, my Sunday was wrapped up in snow & waffles. (Not to mention the great time of praise & proclamation at our 9 am service...great job by our guest speaker)
I was a nervous wreck from 6 am to 7 am, but I finally felt we had made the right decision to carry on with a normal schedule...well, that's when God likes to remind us that He is God. The sleet turned to snow by 8 am, and dumped 4 to 5 inches on our parking lot in about 2 hours!
Thanks to everyone who was a good sport...At least 8 people came for our 10:20 am service, only to discover that we canceled it to encourage people to return home safely.
Since the roads were getting progressively worse, our small group decided to meet for lunch instead of our normal Sun PM gathering time, and we met at Eggspectations in Chantilly. I really really love that place! That's the place I chose when it came my turn for a b'day lunch last month with our staff. The coffee is good, the service is good, and oh yeah, the food is delicious!
We had a great lunch/fellowship time, and oh yeah, we got a waffle for free because BOTH of their waffle irons broke, and they had to bust out a new one for us, so it took a long time...but it was worth the wait!
I love our small group, and I'm so thankful to have people to walk this road of life with. People who are real, funny, authentic, and deeply in pursuit of God.
So that's it, my Sunday was wrapped up in snow & waffles. (Not to mention the great time of praise & proclamation at our 9 am service...great job by our guest speaker)
Monday, February 19, 2007
Psalm 37:4
If you're reading through the "Bible in One Year" Daily readings at www.oneyearbibleblog.com , then you know it's getting tough...we're in the thick of Leviticus! Thankfully, the organizers planned some New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs for each day as well.
One of today's verses is one of Jaime's favorites, and mine as well:
Psalm 37:4
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."
What an awesome verse! We've seen this verse come true over & over in our lives.
Like Friday night, we were treated to two tickets to the Chris Tomlin / Louie Giglio event at the Patriot Center. Incredible, awesome, powerful, refreshing, inspiring, rejuvenating...these words don't even come close. Chris Tomlin led worship along with his buddy Matt Redman (author of "the Heart of Worship"), and Louie brought powerful messages from God's Word in between sets. It was such an amazing time of delighting in the Lord under the leadership of very humble yet internationally reknown worship leaders ! They are SO NOT concerned about themselves, but they are totally concerned with God's fame, His renown, His glory....
Jaime and I both left there walking about 2 feet above the ground.
Thank you Paul, Susie, Mike & Wanda for this generous gift of the concert, and many thanks to James & Ramona & kids for watching Faith at our place while we went to the event.
Delight in the Lord today!
www.christomlin.com
One of today's verses is one of Jaime's favorites, and mine as well:
Psalm 37:4
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."
What an awesome verse! We've seen this verse come true over & over in our lives.
Like Friday night, we were treated to two tickets to the Chris Tomlin / Louie Giglio event at the Patriot Center. Incredible, awesome, powerful, refreshing, inspiring, rejuvenating...these words don't even come close. Chris Tomlin led worship along with his buddy Matt Redman (author of "the Heart of Worship"), and Louie brought powerful messages from God's Word in between sets. It was such an amazing time of delighting in the Lord under the leadership of very humble yet internationally reknown worship leaders ! They are SO NOT concerned about themselves, but they are totally concerned with God's fame, His renown, His glory....
Jaime and I both left there walking about 2 feet above the ground.
Thank you Paul, Susie, Mike & Wanda for this generous gift of the concert, and many thanks to James & Ramona & kids for watching Faith at our place while we went to the event.
Delight in the Lord today!
www.christomlin.com
Thursday, February 15, 2007
3rd Anniversary
Wow, what a week!
We started the week with Jaime's kidney stone, and it's gotten drastically better ever since!
Thanks John & Jena for the abundance of yummy gourmet food from Whole Foods, our favorite "we would so shop there if we had money" grocery store. Don't worry, Bottom Dollar, we still love you. Thanks also for the "feast for 2" from Famous Dave's which we turned in to 3 meals .
Thanks Jeff & Jesse for coming over Monday night and sharing your lives with us.
Thanks to God for a few snow days which make life so fun!
Thanks to Jaime for the delicious Valentine's Day dinner...you + Whole Foods = DElish!
Thanks to Faithy for the Pez dispenser and the sweet card...
Thanks to Morgan & Mallory (and Stan & Sheila) for babysitting Faithy tonight so we could enjoy an anniversary dinner at the Cheesecake Factory...have they got the dining experience nailed or what?
Thanks to Darla for the gift card to above mentioned establishment so we didn't have to use our HELOC for dinner :)
Thanks to Jaime for 3 awesome years of marriage, and to God for your incredible faithfulness. I was 36 when I walked down the aisle, and there was a time I wasn't sure when I would be married! Now look and see what God has done and how He has answered my prayers. 'My cup runneth over' has never been more true...
We started the week with Jaime's kidney stone, and it's gotten drastically better ever since!
Thanks John & Jena for the abundance of yummy gourmet food from Whole Foods, our favorite "we would so shop there if we had money" grocery store. Don't worry, Bottom Dollar, we still love you. Thanks also for the "feast for 2" from Famous Dave's which we turned in to 3 meals .
Thanks Jeff & Jesse for coming over Monday night and sharing your lives with us.
Thanks to God for a few snow days which make life so fun!
Thanks to Jaime for the delicious Valentine's Day dinner...you + Whole Foods = DElish!
Thanks to Faithy for the Pez dispenser and the sweet card...
Thanks to Morgan & Mallory (and Stan & Sheila) for babysitting Faithy tonight so we could enjoy an anniversary dinner at the Cheesecake Factory...have they got the dining experience nailed or what?
Thanks to Darla for the gift card to above mentioned establishment so we didn't have to use our HELOC for dinner :)
Thanks to Jaime for 3 awesome years of marriage, and to God for your incredible faithfulness. I was 36 when I walked down the aisle, and there was a time I wasn't sure when I would be married! Now look and see what God has done and how He has answered my prayers. 'My cup runneth over' has never been more true...
Monday, February 12, 2007
What's "old" to you?
"I wish we sang more of the older hymns"...we can do that. But FXCC is made up of people from across the country who are transferring here for a short duration, and what is 'old, familiar and encouraging' to you may be perfectly unknown to many others.
For example, I grew up singing the OLD communion hymn "In Memory of the Savior's Love", a beautifully, musically-sound hymn to set our minds on the Lord's Supper. The first Sunday I led that at FXCC, you would have thought I was speaking in tongues. What was old to me was obviously not old to many at FXCC.
So let me know what you mean by older hymns, and we can work it out! Thanks to Jerry, Alice, Kathy and Melissa who have been very good about requesting hymns that mean a lot to them.
By the way, the response to the congregational survey was outstanding...we ran out of Scantron forms! A great problem to have...Thanks to the VMV team for crafting and conducting such a thorough survey. May God receive the glory as we fine tune our activities and leadership strategies to more gloriously accomplish Matthew 28:19-20.
We had a great attendance yesterday as well, praise God. The singing was incredible, and I'm not paying myself a compliment b/c as you could tell if you were there, I've got a horrible cold...but you all sang out so strongly! What a joy.
On a minor chord, we were $10,000 under budget yesterday...let's keep on digging deep for God's work at FXCC.
Thanks for your concern & prayers for Jaime...we're hoping that kidney stone has passed, but the after-pain still continues. We're hoping to see the doc today. When I first called to make the appt, the secretary said, "our 1st available is Feb 20th", I should have said, "It's obvious you've never had a kidney stone!" She quickly got a nurse on the phone when I further explained the situation....
Have a great day in the Lord, and bring on the snow!
For example, I grew up singing the OLD communion hymn "In Memory of the Savior's Love", a beautifully, musically-sound hymn to set our minds on the Lord's Supper. The first Sunday I led that at FXCC, you would have thought I was speaking in tongues. What was old to me was obviously not old to many at FXCC.
So let me know what you mean by older hymns, and we can work it out! Thanks to Jerry, Alice, Kathy and Melissa who have been very good about requesting hymns that mean a lot to them.
By the way, the response to the congregational survey was outstanding...we ran out of Scantron forms! A great problem to have...Thanks to the VMV team for crafting and conducting such a thorough survey. May God receive the glory as we fine tune our activities and leadership strategies to more gloriously accomplish Matthew 28:19-20.
We had a great attendance yesterday as well, praise God. The singing was incredible, and I'm not paying myself a compliment b/c as you could tell if you were there, I've got a horrible cold...but you all sang out so strongly! What a joy.
On a minor chord, we were $10,000 under budget yesterday...let's keep on digging deep for God's work at FXCC.
Thanks for your concern & prayers for Jaime...we're hoping that kidney stone has passed, but the after-pain still continues. We're hoping to see the doc today. When I first called to make the appt, the secretary said, "our 1st available is Feb 20th", I should have said, "It's obvious you've never had a kidney stone!" She quickly got a nurse on the phone when I further explained the situation....
Have a great day in the Lord, and bring on the snow!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Heart of Worship - a new idea?
Exodus 25:1 says… 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give."
I love this little phrase from Ex. 25…”whose heart prompts him to give”. Sometimes I think we envision the OT being about law, and the NT being about heart. We got it wrong there; that’s a gross oversimplification. God always wanted our hearts…He always wanted a relationship with his children. He expressed it beautifully and plainly in both testaments.
The new-ish worship song “The Heart of Worship” seems to be expressing what so many in our congregation feel right now. I say that based on the response to the song the two times we’ve sung it in the past 3 months. (overwhelming, enthusiastic participation followed by positive comments post-Sunday)
It's cool to know that God has always wanted a heart of worship from his children…even back to the very beginning…that’s not an idea from a modern day songwriter, it’s a desire of God from the beginning of creation.
So worship on, and tune in to your heart! It’s ok to do that!
(and let me just say I'm learning lessons every day about obedience and discipline as we work with Faith on obeying us around the house...like not touching the electric outlets (even though they're safely plugged with a plastic insert)...she'll do that sometimes even in spite of me breathing down her neck saying, "no touch, no touch". It breaks my heart when she deliberately disobeys, but only in a minuscle amount compared to what God's gone through with me, no doubt.)
I love this little phrase from Ex. 25…”whose heart prompts him to give”. Sometimes I think we envision the OT being about law, and the NT being about heart. We got it wrong there; that’s a gross oversimplification. God always wanted our hearts…He always wanted a relationship with his children. He expressed it beautifully and plainly in both testaments.
The new-ish worship song “The Heart of Worship” seems to be expressing what so many in our congregation feel right now. I say that based on the response to the song the two times we’ve sung it in the past 3 months. (overwhelming, enthusiastic participation followed by positive comments post-Sunday)
It's cool to know that God has always wanted a heart of worship from his children…even back to the very beginning…that’s not an idea from a modern day songwriter, it’s a desire of God from the beginning of creation.
So worship on, and tune in to your heart! It’s ok to do that!
(and let me just say I'm learning lessons every day about obedience and discipline as we work with Faith on obeying us around the house...like not touching the electric outlets (even though they're safely plugged with a plastic insert)...she'll do that sometimes even in spite of me breathing down her neck saying, "no touch, no touch". It breaks my heart when she deliberately disobeys, but only in a minuscle amount compared to what God's gone through with me, no doubt.)
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Tomorrow is Sunday!
I love Saturdays...Faith & I spent the afternoon together while Jaime went to a scrapbook crop session. Faith's been a sleep for about 2 hours now, so that's been wonderful, in a tired parent sort of way.
Tomorrow is Sunday.
What are you going to wear?
What's for breakfast that will ensure you have energy to speak, sing, listen, encourage, fellowship, lift others burdens?
With what attitude will you come to church?
How will you approach the throne of grace in worship?
What will you bring to God as an offering...time...talent...treasure?
What are you expecting from a half-hour message in His Word?
Are you praying for the spiritual success of our corporate assembly?
Are you praying that God will speak in a mighty way through Bruce, so that we are all changed and matured in the study?
Are you praying for your Bible class teacher, that the Word might truly go out and not return void?
Did you check the worship order on the website to see what songs we are singing? (Ok, that would be truly the 2nd mile if any of you have done that...www.fxcc.org but it is a good idea to do that weekly).
COME with an EXPECTANT HEART! See you then.
Tomorrow is Sunday.
What are you going to wear?
What's for breakfast that will ensure you have energy to speak, sing, listen, encourage, fellowship, lift others burdens?
With what attitude will you come to church?
How will you approach the throne of grace in worship?
What will you bring to God as an offering...time...talent...treasure?
What are you expecting from a half-hour message in His Word?
Are you praying for the spiritual success of our corporate assembly?
Are you praying that God will speak in a mighty way through Bruce, so that we are all changed and matured in the study?
Are you praying for your Bible class teacher, that the Word might truly go out and not return void?
Did you check the worship order on the website to see what songs we are singing? (Ok, that would be truly the 2nd mile if any of you have done that...www.fxcc.org but it is a good idea to do that weekly).
COME with an EXPECTANT HEART! See you then.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Favorite Psalm?
By the way, it's not too late to jump in on the daily Bible reading schedule, the one where you can read through the entire Bible in a year...I've found it to be extremely helpful in "making myself" (we are to 'make disciples', right? That includes me. Sometimes I have to 'make myself' get up & read and I don't always know where to jump in...) get a good daily dosage of God's Word. Go to www.oneyearbibleblog.com The commentary is helpful as well, as long as you stay balanced in what is God's Word vs. what is someone's interpretations/reflections.
Today's psalm was Psalm 25...what an incredible psalm! Go to www.biblegateway.com and type in "psalm 25"...
And the sequence of psalms that it follows makes it even more meaninful:
Psalm 22 - despondence, dependence on God, desperation, forsakenness
Psalm 23 - the beautiful tribute to God's guidance and presence
Psalm 24 - a bold proclamation of what's what in the world, and who's in charge
Then Psalm 25...to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul! And every verse after the first is just one home run thought/prayer after another. Wow!
I'd love to know your favorite psalm...make a comment!
Today's psalm was Psalm 25...what an incredible psalm! Go to www.biblegateway.com and type in "psalm 25"...
And the sequence of psalms that it follows makes it even more meaninful:
Psalm 22 - despondence, dependence on God, desperation, forsakenness
Psalm 23 - the beautiful tribute to God's guidance and presence
Psalm 24 - a bold proclamation of what's what in the world, and who's in charge
Then Psalm 25...to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul! And every verse after the first is just one home run thought/prayer after another. Wow!
I'd love to know your favorite psalm...make a comment!
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Auto Show 2007
At the risk of appearing materialistic, I post some pics from our recent trip to the 2007 Auto Show in DC. It was an afternoon of envy to be sure. Just so you'll know, we drive an 8 year old mini-van with 113,000 miles, and also a 2 year old Camry with 16,000 miles. So we don't drive any of my dream cars, although I am thankful for both our autos...
Black 2007 Bentley Arnage (my face says it all...I was that close to ultimate posh)
Black 2007 Rolls Royce Phantom, $325,000, custom orders only
White 2005 Rolls Royce Phantom
Red 2007 Maserati
oh yeah, and my darling redhead is enjoying the cargo bay of her & Mommy's choice, a top of the line 2007 Toyota Sienna, Touring edition, $40,000. It had every bell & whistle imaginable.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Auto Show / Blue Like Jazz
Ok, the 2007 Auto Show was terrific. Go to www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com in a few days to see pics of all the great cars...
Darla just sent me this quote about our motives for reaching out, getting the church to grow...from the book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller...
(This guy was trying to plant a church)
“We didn’t grow much, to be honest. We stayed at about thirty or so, all Christians who had moved from other churches. One day the preacher showed up, saying he felt we all needed to repent and start living missional lives…he had just been to some pastors’ reception where a guy spoke about how the church has lost touch w/ people who don’t know about Jesus. He said we need to intentionally befriend people who are different from us. I didn’t like the sound of that, to be honest. I didn’t want to befriend somebody just to trick them into going to my church. Rick (the preacher) said he wasn’t talking about that. He said he was talking about loving people just because they exist---homeless people and Gothic people and gays and fruit nuts. And then I liked the sound of it. I liked the idea of loving people just to love them, not to get them to come to church. If the subject of church came up, I would tell them about it, but until then, who cared….lots of people started coming after that.” (they had 500 people in 2 yrs)
Quote is over, Murray again...
Before someone runs to the elders saying that I want us to teach that homosexuality is acceptable (see "gays" above), then please know that all this guy is talking about is that we show Jesus to all people, and let the Lord renew people's minds as they come to know Him. My sense is, Jesus was a friend of sinners...I don't know, call me crazy.
Great quote. Thanks Darla!
Darla just sent me this quote about our motives for reaching out, getting the church to grow...from the book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller...
(This guy was trying to plant a church)
“We didn’t grow much, to be honest. We stayed at about thirty or so, all Christians who had moved from other churches. One day the preacher showed up, saying he felt we all needed to repent and start living missional lives…he had just been to some pastors’ reception where a guy spoke about how the church has lost touch w/ people who don’t know about Jesus. He said we need to intentionally befriend people who are different from us. I didn’t like the sound of that, to be honest. I didn’t want to befriend somebody just to trick them into going to my church. Rick (the preacher) said he wasn’t talking about that. He said he was talking about loving people just because they exist---homeless people and Gothic people and gays and fruit nuts. And then I liked the sound of it. I liked the idea of loving people just to love them, not to get them to come to church. If the subject of church came up, I would tell them about it, but until then, who cared….lots of people started coming after that.” (they had 500 people in 2 yrs)
Quote is over, Murray again...
Before someone runs to the elders saying that I want us to teach that homosexuality is acceptable (see "gays" above), then please know that all this guy is talking about is that we show Jesus to all people, and let the Lord renew people's minds as they come to know Him. My sense is, Jesus was a friend of sinners...I don't know, call me crazy.
Great quote. Thanks Darla!
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
"Do not mock the poor..." Tweeter's latest Ad campaign
First let me say, I'm a fan of the Colts, and most everything I know about Peyton Manning reveals that he is the highest caliber person. I was very impressed by the many mentions of God (gratitude to Him, giving glory to Him for the victory) in Sunday's post-game show by the Colt's owner and coach. (What an incredible game!) I'm really looking forward to watching the Colts beat the Bears on Feb 4th...
However...
I was offended by Tweeter's ad during the game in which Peyton Manning is the star spokesman (go to www.tweeter.com to watch the TV ad). I've purchased home video/audio goods from Tweeter before (in my wealthier single days!) and I've always gotten great service and quality products from them.
But I believe their campaign "Help us wipe out low def in our lifetime" is a mockery of the frequent poverty campaign slogan "Help us wipe out poverty in our lifetime." (that slogan has probably been used for AIDS, HIV, cancer, other seriously insurmountable issues) I, for one, would enjoy having HD over LD, and I have no problem with people getting it, or with ads to promote it. But when they put low def on a par with poverty, as a serious problem that needs to be eliminated, then I don't appreciate it, and I think it qualifies as mocking the poor.
Proverbs 17:5 says, "He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker..."
I know, it's a tongue-in-cheek ad, but I still don't appreciate it. Did anyone else have that reaction? I told our church staff yesterday about my reaction, and NONE of them had a problem with it. So unless I'm a spiritual giant among them, maybe I'm being too sensitive...
The ads during these championship games/Superbowl are the best of the year, so I have high expectations of them. Maybe Tweeter can come up with a more positive way of promoting HD instead of comparing LD to poverty or other real crises.
Just for some positive PR on Peyton, here's a quick blurb I found on the foundation he established to help others:
The PeyBack Foundation would like to thank all the applicants that applied for grants this year. PeyBack received proposals from a wide variety of community agencies that believe strongly in helping underprivileged children. As the foundation continues to grow, we will be able to support more organizations each year. Since its inception in 1999, the PeyBack Foundation has donated more than $1,300,000 to a wide-variety of worthwhile causes. The PeyBack Foundation would like to thank everyone who has helped us fund these important programs.
However...
I was offended by Tweeter's ad during the game in which Peyton Manning is the star spokesman (go to www.tweeter.com to watch the TV ad). I've purchased home video/audio goods from Tweeter before (in my wealthier single days!) and I've always gotten great service and quality products from them.
But I believe their campaign "Help us wipe out low def in our lifetime" is a mockery of the frequent poverty campaign slogan "Help us wipe out poverty in our lifetime." (that slogan has probably been used for AIDS, HIV, cancer, other seriously insurmountable issues) I, for one, would enjoy having HD over LD, and I have no problem with people getting it, or with ads to promote it. But when they put low def on a par with poverty, as a serious problem that needs to be eliminated, then I don't appreciate it, and I think it qualifies as mocking the poor.
Proverbs 17:5 says, "He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker..."
I know, it's a tongue-in-cheek ad, but I still don't appreciate it. Did anyone else have that reaction? I told our church staff yesterday about my reaction, and NONE of them had a problem with it. So unless I'm a spiritual giant among them, maybe I'm being too sensitive...
The ads during these championship games/Superbowl are the best of the year, so I have high expectations of them. Maybe Tweeter can come up with a more positive way of promoting HD instead of comparing LD to poverty or other real crises.
Just for some positive PR on Peyton, here's a quick blurb I found on the foundation he established to help others:
The PeyBack Foundation would like to thank all the applicants that applied for grants this year. PeyBack received proposals from a wide variety of community agencies that believe strongly in helping underprivileged children. As the foundation continues to grow, we will be able to support more organizations each year. Since its inception in 1999, the PeyBack Foundation has donated more than $1,300,000 to a wide-variety of worthwhile causes. The PeyBack Foundation would like to thank everyone who has helped us fund these important programs.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
To our Sun PM Small Group at the Building: I was wrong!
Please allow me to publicly apologize to the FXCC small group that meets at the building each Sunday night. By 8:45 am this morning, they had made the decision to cancel due to inclement weather. At that point, it was merely cold. I scoffed at them with crinkled nose...
However, beginning at 12 pm, just as www.weather.com predicted, a light snow begin to fall. As Jaime & I sat with friends around the lunch table at Olive Garden, marveling in the surely-it's-not-bad-yet winter wonderland that surrounded us, we had no idea that treacherous conditions were beginning to develop. When we finally sobered up & ventured out (just kidding on the sobered up part, I mean, we were sober, but we were never not sober...I'm just seeing if anyone's really reading this...), the roads were extremely hazardous. We passed 3 cars on the side of the FX County Pkwy. I was very happy to get Faithy & Jaime home safely, and I'm setting aside 78 cents a week now to save up for an All-Wheel Drive minivan.
So, to the Sun PM Small Group at the Building, I humbly apologize for calling you wimps, and for openly mocking you during the announcements this morning. Your wisdom/weather prediction ability far exceeds mine, and I hope you are all resting at home in front of a fire (safely confined in your fireplace) with hot cocoa and the Colts game on...We just saw the Mavs win, which I'm always glad to see Dallas sporting teams do well.
I will greatly miss our own small group tonight, but we are looking forward to having family night together for sure. Hot cocoa with the Colts is definitely on the agenda (Jaime was born and raised in Indy...)
Enjoy the snow!
"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." from Isaiah 1
However, beginning at 12 pm, just as www.weather.com predicted, a light snow begin to fall. As Jaime & I sat with friends around the lunch table at Olive Garden, marveling in the surely-it's-not-bad-yet winter wonderland that surrounded us, we had no idea that treacherous conditions were beginning to develop. When we finally sobered up & ventured out (just kidding on the sobered up part, I mean, we were sober, but we were never not sober...I'm just seeing if anyone's really reading this...), the roads were extremely hazardous. We passed 3 cars on the side of the FX County Pkwy. I was very happy to get Faithy & Jaime home safely, and I'm setting aside 78 cents a week now to save up for an All-Wheel Drive minivan.
So, to the Sun PM Small Group at the Building, I humbly apologize for calling you wimps, and for openly mocking you during the announcements this morning. Your wisdom/weather prediction ability far exceeds mine, and I hope you are all resting at home in front of a fire (safely confined in your fireplace) with hot cocoa and the Colts game on...We just saw the Mavs win, which I'm always glad to see Dallas sporting teams do well.
I will greatly miss our own small group tonight, but we are looking forward to having family night together for sure. Hot cocoa with the Colts is definitely on the agenda (Jaime was born and raised in Indy...)
Enjoy the snow!
"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." from Isaiah 1
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Boundary lines in pleasant places
From Psalm 16...
5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.
Every now & then I am overwhelmed at the blessings I enjoy. These verses are ones I can concretely echo with the psalmist.
I mean, if you had a little girl with this hair, wouldn't you be grateful? She made this face when I told her that yes, she did have to memorize the entire book of Psalms by her 2nd birthday...
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Discipleship
(for tomorrow...story of Jake, his baptism & pics of him with Scott B., husband of the sweet Christian who inspired Jake to commit his life to Christ.)
We're (church leaders) going to be talking more & more about discipleship this year...Matt 28:19-20 says to make disciples, so what does a disciple look like? We're relatively good with how a disciple is "born" (baptism into Christ), but how does a disciple grow, and what fruit should be on the tree as it matures? Are we (me / you) growing in discipleship?
From Matthew 8...
18When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
20Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
Jesus' reply to the teacher puzzles me. Here's a responses I might have guessed:
"Thank you. It's a worldwide revolution I'm after, so I can use all the help I can get. That's great, it means a lot to me that you're joining the team."
But Jesus is wiser than me. (to state the obvious)
There's something to the fact that #1, Jesus knew this guy's heart. As a teacher of the law, perhaps Jesus knew this man's propensity to get "it" all right, but to miss the heart of the teaching. Perhaps Jesus knew his tendency to obey in superficial matters, but to draw the line there. I think the guy has honest intent, but Jesus was trying to tell him, you think you know what it means to follow me. To join my crusade. (It had to have appeared prestigious to join with Jesus to many law teachers, since Jesus always drew a crowd, and since his hearers always felt he taught with authority.)
But Jesus was actually giving the guy something to think about...He didn't say, "No, don't follow me because you can't hack it." He just said, look, this is how it is, if you're still in, come on.
Let's allow this Scripture to speak to us and shed light on our view of discipleship, and let's allow Jesus to redefine it for us, and challenge us mightily in the process. Are you ready for the challenge?
We're (church leaders) going to be talking more & more about discipleship this year...Matt 28:19-20 says to make disciples, so what does a disciple look like? We're relatively good with how a disciple is "born" (baptism into Christ), but how does a disciple grow, and what fruit should be on the tree as it matures? Are we (me / you) growing in discipleship?
From Matthew 8...
18When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
20Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
Jesus' reply to the teacher puzzles me. Here's a responses I might have guessed:
"Thank you. It's a worldwide revolution I'm after, so I can use all the help I can get. That's great, it means a lot to me that you're joining the team."
But Jesus is wiser than me. (to state the obvious)
There's something to the fact that #1, Jesus knew this guy's heart. As a teacher of the law, perhaps Jesus knew this man's propensity to get "it" all right, but to miss the heart of the teaching. Perhaps Jesus knew his tendency to obey in superficial matters, but to draw the line there. I think the guy has honest intent, but Jesus was trying to tell him, you think you know what it means to follow me. To join my crusade. (It had to have appeared prestigious to join with Jesus to many law teachers, since Jesus always drew a crowd, and since his hearers always felt he taught with authority.)
But Jesus was actually giving the guy something to think about...He didn't say, "No, don't follow me because you can't hack it." He just said, look, this is how it is, if you're still in, come on.
Let's allow this Scripture to speak to us and shed light on our view of discipleship, and let's allow Jesus to redefine it for us, and challenge us mightily in the process. Are you ready for the challenge?
Monday, January 08, 2007
To Keep the Way of the Lord
Like most people, I struggle with finding WHAT to read in my daily Bible reading. And...like most people, I find myself recommitting here at the first of the year to have a meaningful daily time with the Lord, before the day's demands kick in...
I would love it if you would share what's been helpful for you. Here's what's been helpful for me...
I am reading the One Year Bible again (when I first did this back in 1989, I thought it was something I would do one year, and then not repeat it for some silly reason. I haven't used it for daily readings for many years...I've just tried to work through a gospel or Genesis or the Psalms or whatever on a daily basis, always finding it a challenge to keep my momentum up...)
Well, it's available online now, which I at first thought was too cultural/too media-driven. But alas...I gave it a try...
www.oneyearbibleblog.com is a very tech savvy way of doing it, and for whatever reason, reading online has been extremely fresh & new for me this time. Like today's reading, where God instructs Abraham to teach his children to "keep the way of the Lord". It's just a unique way of saying "bring them up right". I think with a lot of things, now that I have little Faithy in my life, I'm seeing scripture through new eyes. Lord willing, by His grace & strength, Jaime & I will teach her to keep the way of the Lord in all things.
As an aside, let me publicly say thank you to Dave & Melinda G for their incredible teaching last night at small group. They were our guest teachers, and both of them said things that were true epiphanies for me and for Jaime. Once again, the value of the body of Christ for spiritual growth & transformation is beautifully obvious.
I would love it if you would share what's been helpful for you. Here's what's been helpful for me...
I am reading the One Year Bible again (when I first did this back in 1989, I thought it was something I would do one year, and then not repeat it for some silly reason. I haven't used it for daily readings for many years...I've just tried to work through a gospel or Genesis or the Psalms or whatever on a daily basis, always finding it a challenge to keep my momentum up...)
Well, it's available online now, which I at first thought was too cultural/too media-driven. But alas...I gave it a try...
www.oneyearbibleblog.com is a very tech savvy way of doing it, and for whatever reason, reading online has been extremely fresh & new for me this time. Like today's reading, where God instructs Abraham to teach his children to "keep the way of the Lord". It's just a unique way of saying "bring them up right". I think with a lot of things, now that I have little Faithy in my life, I'm seeing scripture through new eyes. Lord willing, by His grace & strength, Jaime & I will teach her to keep the way of the Lord in all things.
As an aside, let me publicly say thank you to Dave & Melinda G for their incredible teaching last night at small group. They were our guest teachers, and both of them said things that were true epiphanies for me and for Jaime. Once again, the value of the body of Christ for spiritual growth & transformation is beautifully obvious.
Friday, January 05, 2007
This Sunday
Here's the worship order for this Sunday...see you then!
Seeking God’s Vision Beyond Our Own
9:00 am and 10:20 am
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah – Hymn 390
Welcome / Scripture Reading
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21
Trust and Obey – Hymn 915
The Lord’s Supper – Leroy Chamness at 1st / Jeff Taylor at 2nd
Prayer for the Bread
Prayer for the Cup
Beneath the Cross of Jesus – Hymn 314
Prayer for the Offering
He Is Able – Hymn 213
Blessed Jesus – Hymn 218
We Will Worship You – The Source, p. 47
Nobody Fills My Heart Like Jesus – Hymn 602
Message from the Word
Shine, Jesus, Shine – Hymn 290
Shepherd’s Prayer
Seeking God’s Vision Beyond Our Own
9:00 am and 10:20 am
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah – Hymn 390
Welcome / Scripture Reading
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21
Trust and Obey – Hymn 915
The Lord’s Supper – Leroy Chamness at 1st / Jeff Taylor at 2nd
Prayer for the Bread
Prayer for the Cup
Beneath the Cross of Jesus – Hymn 314
Prayer for the Offering
He Is Able – Hymn 213
Blessed Jesus – Hymn 218
We Will Worship You – The Source, p. 47
Nobody Fills My Heart Like Jesus – Hymn 602
Message from the Word
Shine, Jesus, Shine – Hymn 290
Shepherd’s Prayer
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
The Prayer of a Living Sacrifice
[I'm experimenting with a new style of blogging today...leading a prayer on a blog. I hope it's encouraging to you.]
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
Romans 12:1
Dear Father,
As we begin another year with You, we pause to reflect on Your glory and goodness. Thank you for giving us breath of life for another year; actually, this day...this hour...this moment is all we have, and for it we are grateful.
Please forgive us for debating the logistics of worship (John 4~style) instead of concerning ourselves with your radiant glory, and your abundant goodness to us. Thank you that worship is all about you, and make us aware of the times when we are tempted to make it about us.
God, help us to become true living sacrifices of worship. We long to worship you in spirit and in truth every moment of our lives, in addition to the 70 minutes in which we gather as a body on Sunday mornings. Open our eyes to the daily opportunities for worship...to the little deaths we can continually experience as we place others first...to the hymns of praise we can sing while driving down the parkway...to the smiles & gratitude we can give at the coffee shop...to the mercy we show to those who offend us...may all of our moments rise up as an offering of praise to you. And as we worship you, we will experience the transformation of our character more and more to be like your Son.
Your mercies, new every morning, are our daily provision, and we survive only upon them. The steadfastness of your love is our sustenance.
We praise you, We love you, we thank you.
In Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
Romans 12:1
Dear Father,
As we begin another year with You, we pause to reflect on Your glory and goodness. Thank you for giving us breath of life for another year; actually, this day...this hour...this moment is all we have, and for it we are grateful.
Please forgive us for debating the logistics of worship (John 4~style) instead of concerning ourselves with your radiant glory, and your abundant goodness to us. Thank you that worship is all about you, and make us aware of the times when we are tempted to make it about us.
God, help us to become true living sacrifices of worship. We long to worship you in spirit and in truth every moment of our lives, in addition to the 70 minutes in which we gather as a body on Sunday mornings. Open our eyes to the daily opportunities for worship...to the little deaths we can continually experience as we place others first...to the hymns of praise we can sing while driving down the parkway...to the smiles & gratitude we can give at the coffee shop...to the mercy we show to those who offend us...may all of our moments rise up as an offering of praise to you. And as we worship you, we will experience the transformation of our character more and more to be like your Son.
Your mercies, new every morning, are our daily provision, and we survive only upon them. The steadfastness of your love is our sustenance.
We praise you, We love you, we thank you.
In Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.
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