October 30th, 2006 by Marc
We decided to do a bit of Servant Evangelism last week. I love Sjogren’s assertion that most of our US culture has been told about Jesus. But very, very few have actually seen Christians being kind with no strings attached. So one Saturday morning, we handed out around 30 pumpkins to the people in the neighborhood of the church. It’s mostly residential, but there are a few business establishments at the end of the street.
Our worship leader and her son went into “Are You Ready To Party??” and did the pumpkin delivery perfectly. Something like, “Hi, we’re from the Vineyard Church down the street. We’re doing a community service project giving away pumpkins. We’re doing it as a practical way to show God’s love. Would you like one?”
The store folks were thrilled and displayed it prominently on the counter that everyone sees upon entering the store.
Not exactly where I would’ve put it. Looks like something ugly out of Raiders of the Lost Ark, doesn’t it?
And check out the card, propped up against the pumpkin.
Who knows who will be blessed. I bet some people will even be praying for us to have new life! *grin*
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Here’s a copy of the card:
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Never a dull moment in a church plant in Waterville, ME!!
Huh, I wonder if this is why I got the AARP card a week later…someone might have thought that was the pastor.
Category: church planting, odd |
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October 28th, 2006 by Marc
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Check out what came in the mail today!
Is it the gray hair? Is it that I’m a pastor?
I know that at 34 years old I don’t get included in “young people’s” stuff anymore, but this is a bit extreme, don’t you think?
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Category: odd, personal |
4 Comments »
October 15th, 2006 by Marc
Toying with doing some sermons on intercession, I came across this sermon from David Schmelzer of the Boston Vineyard.
The audio is located at:Â
STREAMING: mms://sermons.cambridgevineyard.com/020428-sermon.mp3Â
DOWNLOAD: http://sermons.cambridgevineyard.com/020421-sermon.mp3It’s at the sermons page of their site, down in the 2002 section, “Series: Prayer Can Change Your Lifeâ€.
http://www.bostonvineyard.org/sunday/sermons/
Category: church planting |
1 Comment »
October 13th, 2006 by Marc
I remember seeing Emo Philips years ago and loving his ability to play with the English language.
Here’s one that has stuck with me:
I was in San Fransisco once, walking along the Golden Gate Bridge, and I saw this guy on the bridge about to jump. So I thought I’d try to stall and detain him, long enough for me to put the film in. I said, “Don’t jump!” and he turns… You’ve heard of the elephant man. He was kind of like that, he had a, well, you could say he had the head of a horse. And my heart went out to him. I said, “Why the long face?”
He said, “‘Cause all my life people have called me mean names like horses-head or Flicka or chess-piece or Trigger…”
I said, “Well, don’t worry about it, Ed. It can’t be that bad.”
He said, “My girlfriend’s suing me!”
I said, “For palomino?”
He said, “Why was I put on this Earth?”
I said, “My friend, anywhere else you wouldn’t stand a chance.”
He said, “Nobody loves me.”
I said, “God loves you, you silly ninny.”
He said, “How do you know there’s a God?”
I said, “Of course there’s a God. Do you think that billions of years ago a bunch of molecules floating around at random could someday have had the sense of humor to make you look like that?”
He said, “I do believe in God.”
I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?”
He said, “A Christian.”
I said, “Me too. Protestant or Catholic?”
He said, “Protestant.”
I said, “Me too! What franchise?”
He says, “Baptist.”
I said, “Me too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?”
He says, “Northern Baptist.”
I said, “Me too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”
He says, “Northern Conservative Baptist.”
I say, “Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist or Northern Conservative Reform Baptist?”
He says, “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist.”
I say, “Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Eastern Region?”
He says, “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region.”
I say, “Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879 or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?”
He says, “Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.”
I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over!Â
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For what it’s worth, the Baptists don’t have any corner on this type of thinking. It’s part of the human condition, isn’t it?
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Thanks to http://ttblogs.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/04/emo_phillips_on.html for having this posted in a way Google could find it!
Category: church planting, odd |
2 Comments »
October 12th, 2006 by Marc
Wow. This looks like an incredible movie about Esther. (I’ve yet to dislike a movie with Peter O’Toole!)
Check out the preview at:
http://www.8x.com/onenight/trailer/video_trailer_update.htm
Category: church planting |
4 Comments »
October 12th, 2006 by Marc
We have a new addition to our family! Ka Ho is a freshman at Colby and we’ve become his US host family. He’s incredibly gracious and we’re thrilled with our ‘new arrival’!
Category: family life |
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October 12th, 2006 by Marc
Apparently this is what happens when I go to kinship alone. Sounds like fun! The following is written by my wife:
The setting is this: three kids in pajamas in a dimly lit New England ranch. The oldest, a boy, has on superhero pajamas that intermittently expose his bellybutton. But he’s a superhero, so he can get away with it. The middle, the oldest girl, is in a warm sleeper, purple with pink edging. Her hair is pulled up in what is left from the french braid after this morning’s bath. The youngest, another girl, is also in a sleeper, aqua-blue with similar pink trimmings. Mom has just served no-bake cookies for dessert, and asked them to please settle down as bedtime is nearing.
Oldest and Middle are racing around the kitchen, we’re following the leader they sing over and over (and over) again. They are, incidentally, doing a great job of trading who is the leader.
Enter the youngest, the 18 month old in aqua and pink. Someone (was it Mom?) says, now AquaPink is the leader. The two oldest jump at the idea (maybe sugar before bed isn’t such a bad idea). They begin to carefully follow closely behind. AquaPink, trailed by PurplePink, followed by superhero. Around and around the kitchen. AquaPink glances behind every few seconds to see what her brother and sister are up to. Delighted at the funny house mirrors.
Then she catches on. She sees and tastes the power. All of a sudden she sits on the floor. They sit on the floor. She lies down. They lie down. Feet up in the air. More feet up in the air. Roll over. Roll over. Peek-a-boo. Peek-a-boo. She deliberately gets more silly and more creative. AquaPink squeals. SuperHero and PurplePink squeal. AquaPink pretends to hiccup (REALLY!), the others hiccup. It lasted like this for twenty minutes, with Mom sitting on the couch giggling with the rest of them.
AquaPink was by far the most talented and interesting Follow the Leader leader that I have ever watched. And the insight that I gained into her personality…. priceless.
Category: family life |
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October 7th, 2006 by Marc
Here’s the cover of this week’s bulletin. It’s an attempt to picture “centered set.”
[Update 10/8: I didn't end up preaching on the parables of the weeds and the net today! Click here to hear what I did preach on. This image will have to serve for next week's sermon!]
Category: church planting |
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October 6th, 2006 by Marc
Have you heard of the Ig Nobel Awards?
They award for scientific research that is bizarre and potentially useless. Like one of this year’s awardee’s research finding that dung beetles are choosey about their dung heaps.
I’m even more convinced that if you want to do something, there’s a way to get it done!
Check out the pictures and other awardees at: http://ignobel.com/Â (You’ll see the dung beetle referenced under “Nutrition” in this year’s awards.)
Category: odd |
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October 3rd, 2006 by Marc
I just stumbled across Todd Bolen’s blog. I knew Todd back in the early ’90s when I spent a year in Jerusalem at what was then the Institute for Holy Land Studies.
Check out this example of a humorous mistranslation of Hebrew to English. It was only caught after tens of thousands of brochures were caught!
Category: odd |
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