Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Are you kidding me?


My almost two year old daughter is learning all kinds of phrases now and this happened to be one of them. She went around saying it all day. It was pretty funny I was trying to prepare her for the national championship game when we would see an incredible play she would say, "Are you kidding me!" but she was silent.

Toilet Smashing


This was one of the best things we have done in our youth ministry in a while. We used an old toilet for a prop in our camps a few years ago and I have been looking for what to do with them ever since. So for our Turkey Bowl this year we thought of giving the winner the opportunity to smash it with a sledge hammer! Little did I know how great it would turn out. It as AWESOME! Have a look and I am sure you will say the same thing!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Church Planting For Manly Men!



http://my.ekklesia360.com/Clients/sermonaudioplayer.php?CMSCODE=EKK&siteid=26&sermonid=796&useSkin=skin_plain.xml&CMS_LINK=http://my.ekklesia360.com

Talk by Mark Driscol on the requirements of a Church Planter! Pretty Funny! Enjoy!

Project 86 - Solace in your Silence?



Just listened to this song on the way back from my trip to South Carolina. I was sleeping during most of the song but one line actually woke me up and I even sat up to pay attention. The line in the song goes, "We will find our solace in your silence". Now Project 86 has been one of my long time favorite bands. I know they seek to imitate Christ like my info here in this blog seeks to do. I know the lyrics to this song may not be where I am going with them. These Guys are spirit filled and so the Spirit of God can say things to people that the authors maybe did not intend. So I will seek to understand what it might mean to "find our solace" in the silence of God. What happens in our faith walk when it seems like God is silent? I love Psalm 46:10 it is quoted a lot but the whole thing is sometimes not quoted. "Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations!" Sometimes it does seem as if God is silent in our times of pain especially. But the command still lingers Be still, and from that solitude and solace that He (Christ) will be exalted in our lives among the nations. We can as the psalmist says find our solace in the "shadow of His wings". Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings (Ps. 17:8) How precious is Your loving kindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings (Ps 36:7). Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge Until destruction passes by (Ps 57:1). For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy (Ps 63:7). This is the climax of the Solitude. In Him do we find our only true and lasting solace. Solace is defined as comfort in sorrow, misfortune, or trouble; alleviation of distress or discomfort. If we seek to find other avenues of alleviation of pain and suffering or quick fixes we are disallowing our great God the right and honor of being that comfort that He desires to be for us. What will bring great glory to Him is when we find our solace in silence and in His silence and sometimes when we are patient in the shadow of his wings...if we are patient we will hear that still soft voice speaking words of comfort to our hurting, broken, and needy souls. Wait on Him my friends He will never disappoint our needy souls.