Marc’s Musings

I’ve had the greatest time today.

Everywhere I went–the local cafe (Soup To Nuts), the UPS store, work–I asked “Would you like a free kiss?”

People were a bit taken back but then they saw the basket of Hershey Kisses glued to outreach cards and they were so relieved, they gladly took one.

I kinda felt like Lucy with her “the doctor is in” sign.

Who knew servant evangelism could be so fun.

PS The UPS Store let us keep a basket right on their counter all day!

For a couple years, I’ve seen Pysch ads during Monk.

I’m finally watching it. And it’s really good.

I love the characters and the premise and the 80’s references.

Too bad the season finale is next week.

I’m trying to make a powerpoint for my Fundraising in the Bible.

Does anyone know where I can find a picture of Hezekiah?

Seriously.

Didn’t realize he’d be so hard to find.

The VCW Men’s Small Group is canceled for tonight.

We won’t be meeting next week either.

Hope to see y’all on Sunday!!

PS Remember it’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow!

Today when I read the title of Anna’s bible reading, “Jesus is alive!”, Caleb said, “No he’s not.”

Me: Yes he is.

C: No he’s not.

Me: What do you mean?

C: D-a-a-d, Jesus isn’t alive. Jesus died and hasn’t come back yet. He is coming back. But he might not be back for a thousand years.

Me: So does that mean Gram and Gramp are dead?

C: Huh?

Me: Well, Gram and Gramp went to Mississippi and haven’t come back yet. Does that mean they’re dead?

C: D-a-a-d

The ever practical Anna: Why don’t we call them?

We did. Thankfully, Gram and Gramp are still alive.

The VCW Men’s Small Group is continuing it’s movie journey with watching and discussing, Bruce Almighty.

I just love this movie and the deleted scenes!

If you’re in the Waterville area, feel free to stop by Wednesday at 7 p.m. sharp.

I friend of mine, Damien Tougas, blogged a long quote about church planting and goals. You can read it here.

The quote that sticks out for me is:

Their goal is not to attract people to an event but rather to penetrate the community with the love of God and embody the gospel as well as communicate it.

Don’t get me wrong. With the Vineyard Church of Waterville, we’re certainly trying to attract people to our weekly “events”: Sunday worship and small groups.

But rather than experiencing incredible numeric growth over the last three years, we’ve experienced an amazing amount of “penetrating the community with the love of God and embodying the gospel as well as communicating it.”

We’re not compromising on our passion for Jesus. And, like Jesus, we’re being invited back! (I’m often amazed that the Holy one of God went to parties with people snubbed by the religious folks. And He was invited back to the next party.)

God has shown us favor far beyond our size or history.

Here’s a small sampling of blog posts from this year alone that illustrate how VCW is doing at penetrating the community.

• “That must be the Vineyard!”
• MLK Invocation
• “Fun with PR”

I’m still working hard for numeric growth. But I’m really liking the ride Jesus has us on!

What a day!

We had more guests than regulars at church today.

It’s so cool!

People just kept coming in over the course of our time together!

And we say, “Yes Lord!”

The kids “bought” me a Nut Brown Ale kit from MoreBeer.com for Christmas.

Today I used some gift money to get this very cool brew kettle from Northern Brewer, a wort chiller, a special burner, and some yeast.

The start of my next batch is only a week or two away. And now I’ll have even better equipment!

Merry Christmas to me!

What an incredible honor to be the “coach” at the Boot Camp for New Dads today!

We had 13 “new dads” and 4 “vet dads” with their 4 precious babies.

Honest questions, animated conversation, and projectile poop. We had it all! (The poop went about two feet!)

We discussed how to be involved, how to help relatives really help (versus just getting in the way), how to calm a crying baby, how to be there for mom. It was great.

I wish this type of program were around when Em and I were having kids!

I’m tremendously honored to be asked to serve our community this way. Can’t wait until the next one in June!