Marc’s Musings

Reading Church Marketing Sucks, I came across a post called Willow Creek’s 30-Year Apology. The full article can (and

should) be read at Leadership Journal’s “Out of Ur” blog on ChristianityToday.com.

It turns out the millions of dollars invested in programs and participation hasn’t really helped people grow in the way Willow Creek thought. You’ve got to admire the brutal honesty of an organization that has done so much for the Kingdom. It would’ve been easy to sit on their laurels and bask in their “success.”

Here’s a quote from Hybels as posted on Out of Ur:

Hybels confesses:

We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.

The Out of Ur blog goes on to say:

In other words, spiritual growth doesn’t happen best by becoming dependent on elaborate church programs but through the age old spiritual practices of prayer, bible reading, and relationships. And, ironically, these basic disciplines do not require multi-million dollar facilities and hundreds of staff to manage.

For those of you reading this that consider the Vineyard Church of Waterville your home, this is exactly what we’re shooting for:

• prayer,
• bible reading,
• relationships.

More than anything else, I VCW to be a place that helps people (including me) be ever growing as “self feeders.”

This is why we keep trying to get an intercessory prayer group off the ground. And why we have the VCW-Prayer Google Group. And why we are constantly talking about healing prayer on Sundays and in kinships.

This is why we’re going through Acts based on an inductive Bible study model. And why my sermons on Acts are structured as they are. I’m trying to model a form of Bible study that I hope and pray you’re putting into practice during the week.

The conversation we had in the middle of the sermon this week with Em and Dean is good. My prayer is that you’re prepping for the sermon throughout the week. Going chapter by chapter makes it VERY easy to know what the next sermon will be about.

This is also why we do so much “parties” and “kinships” and “gatherings” and “movie nights” and “outreach.” We’re not trying to fill up our calendars just to seem busy. I desperately want our relationships to extend beyond Sundays.

And this is why we invest in books and CD’s in the Resource Center and mark them so much under list price. I want to provide as many tools as possible for us to grow in whatever direction is calling each of us individually.

This isn’t a rant. Those of you that call VCW home are doing this. And I’m so proud of you! It’s just that Hybel’s experience and comments so succinctly articulated what we’re trying to do that it was a great opportunity to encourage us to keep on keeping on.

And in 30 years, I pray we’re still be as relentlessly analytical and open to changing as Willow Creek is now. (And that we’ve done as much good as they’ve done so far!)

Looking for mittens just now, I found my Red Sox hat.

ME: Oh! THERE’S my Red Sox hat!

My 5-year old daughter: Well, it would be appropriate to wear that tonight.

To see a pint sized daughter say such a…well…an appropriate word makes my heart sing.

Today I got to hang out with my three kids in my sons room playing with Legos. The best part? They were groovin’ to bands I loved in college!

• Grammatrain
• The O.C. Supertones
• The Waiting
• Considering Lily
• Smalltown Poets and
• Breakfast with Amy

Here’s a fun “prayer” heard on a local radio station B98.5 this morning:

[Warning: Don't read further if you lack a sense of humor!]

Our Father, who art at Fenway…
Baseball be thy game.
Thy Kingdom come,
Playoffs need to be won,
On Earth, so jump on the band wagon.

Give us this day, a perfect Papi,
And forgive us our Gagne,
As we forgive those,
Like Bill Buckner.

And lead us not, into desperation,
But deliver us from elimination.

For yours is the Kingdom, the Power,
And the Glory,
To win the World Series,
Forever and ever….the Yankees suck

AMEN

I have DirecTV but I don’t have access to FOX!! Or any local channels!

And to add insult to injury, they have a “Don’t call us we know there’s a problem” message with sacchrinn-y Muzak!!

[Update: The game's on now. But, as is possible in our wonderfully connected world, I've already notified CNN, FoxNews, and our local affiliates. Don't you just love the 21st century? ]

Reading my wife’s blog (is that weird? we IM across the living room too…hhmmm.) I came across this in a post on jumping in leaves:

I got my final giggle as the leaf pile took on it’s final form. Caleb, in all his homeschool precociousness, turned to Anna and Sofia thoroughly excited “Let’s use it for an ancient burial ritual. I get to be the first dead guy!”

Glad he loves history!

It’s not often that I comment on politics, but an editorial in today’s Morning Sentinel, NOV. 6 REFERENDUM QUESTION 5 Term-limits law hasn’t had desired effects on Legislature is right on.

In 1996, Maine voted to limit terms of politicians. There were a few life-long politicians that seemed to run the Legislature. Term limits were an attempt to remedy that.

Instead, John Martin still has incredible influence, and we don’t have any proof that the limits have promoted democracy. Indeed, they seem to encourage near-sighted, 2-year “fixes” to systemic state and economic challenges. It’s like having a near-sighted driver with esotropia weaving all over I-95 at 70 miles per hour. The driver is getting somewhere, but at untold harm and danger to everyone else on the road.

Term limits seemed like a good idea at the time. I supported them. But 11 years later, it’s clear it’s not working.

As Sen. Collins has learned in Congress, leadership takes time and we desperately need leadership in the Legislature.

Let’s vote to extend the limits on Nov 6.

In a bout of goofy fun while watching the Sox, I got Simpsonized:

You can try it too: http://www.simpsonizeme.com/

Thanks to WinnNotes Blog for the heads up.

Parent-kid interactions required a bit of translation tonight:

• For our 2 year-old:
  kitchen = chicken

  As in “Dad, are you going to eat the kitchen with us tonight?”

• For our 5 year-old:
  pork chop thingy = chopstick

  As in “Sof, are you going to eat with that pork-chop-thingy or a spoon?”

Sometimes it’s good to know what’s going on.

So I’m currently in the process of bottling the Advent Ale.

Right now I wait for the bleach to sterilize the goods. But I’m also boiling bottle caps and bringing sugar to a boil.

So the kitchen smells a bit.

And this is the conversation that just happened:

Anna: Dad, are you burning something?

Sof: Nah! Dad’s making dinner!

Em chuckles in background

Does my cooking usually smell that bad?