Our Friends

Please Read This...

http://momentsofclaritybygretchen.blogspot.com/2008/10/hunger.html

Jesus wants to save Christians

I read this article today at Relevant about Rob Bell's new book Jesus Wants to Save Christians. David and I recently purchased the book and I am excited to dive in. I always enjoy reading, listening, or watching Rob Bell teach.

Here is a portion of the article I found really interesting.

As the title of the book suggests, Jesus Wants To Save Christians. In your opinion, what are the biggest things we need saving from?

Boredom. Which is really despair in its non-caffeinated form. And boxes. Where we live in fear and where we put those who unsettle us.

You describe the plan of God for the church to be a gift to the world. Many people today would say that the church is anything but. What are some crucial changes that our churches need to make to become a Eucharist that is broken and poured out for the world?

1. Master the art of doubt. Faith needs it to survive.

2. Surrender the compulsive need to constantly remind people that according to your worldview you're going to heaven forever when you die and they're going to burn in hell forever.

3. Celebrate the good and the true and the beautiful wherever and whenever you find it regardless of the label it wears or the person it comes from or the place you found it. All things are yours.

4. Remember that the tax collectors and prostitutes loved to feast with Jesus and the religious establishment gossiped about him and dissected his teachings and questioned his commitment to orthodoxy and eventually had him killed. There's a lesson for us there.

Morning Playlist

Gretchen just posted about a post from Mark Batterson.  So I'm going to post based off of the post Gretchen posted about Mark Batterson's post. *whew*

Batterson suggests that we need to wake our spiritual alarm clock each morning as much as we need to wake up our bodies.  So he has decided to listen to a few songs each day to start off his day with worship and asked for anyone reading to do the same.

My two songs right now would probably be...

"Breathing Air Again"  by Robbie Seay Band

"Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?" by delirious

Along these same lines, I was challenged a couple years ago by Dean Trune to write my own worship to God each morning.  This has really been great for me.  If you're feeling creative or you know that you've been gifted with creativity, or even if you don't think you're creative at all, try this out!  You might be surprised.  It can be awesome to really free up your heart before God and let loose the exact words that you would use to worship him.  

thanks Gretchen!  thanks Mark!

-dave

Canoe Trip

Here are some picture highlights from our trip. Thankfully, David and I did not tip! We had so much fun getting outside for the weekend and hanging out with friends. At one point on the trip, Brenna and I looked to our left and saw a break in the normal scenery. There was a beach area and right behind it was a group of trees all bent towards the water (see picture above). A light breeze blew by and leaves from the trees lazily started floating across the water...so beautiful.

Kenya Video

So I am going to attempt to upload this video. The resolution isn't the best because of how I had to save it show it on here but hopefully it is still enjoyable. Check out www.jumpforjoel.org for more info about or Kenya trip.

Banana Bread

I made banana bread (not from a box but from the bananas on my counter that were going bad) for the first time yesterday.

Verdict: My small group leaders thought it was good...I think I might be getting the hang of this cooking thing.

Consumed

I think sometimes...wait often times I fall into the whirlwind of worry and stress. I worry if I am doing enough in my life, in the ministry where God has placed me or too much. I stress out about meeting new students, what I should say in meetings, where am I going to find pictures for this week's powerpoints, if I am being kind and loving to my husband or just impatient and on and on. I let a lot of the little details of my life keep me down. I read this in Francis Chan's book Crazy Love last week:

Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives.

Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.

Ouch.