The Good:
-- God is good.
-- Monday night fun at the 4-H Fair. It was a blast rocking with Narrow Path and a whole bunch of people.
-- Finally getting a master plan for the CCJ Campus
-- Just an all around pretty good week.
-- My family
-- Dark Knight…. Truly my favorite movie in several years.

The Bad:
-- Charlotte (office manager) breaking her arm and all of the bad things that come with that.
-- Busy schedules

The Ugly:
-- Watching Heath Ledger as the Joker and realizing he died way too young.
-- Seeing so many families and marriages struggle.
-- Violence around the world
-- Satan and his work

We need five STRONG people (Dudes, here's your chance to be a rock n roll roadie) to be Narrow Path roadies on Saturday, Aug. 2. Please respond in the comments if you can help.

Seriously, we need help.

Be sure to come out to the Strassenfest Saturday, Aug. 2 at 1 p.m. to the West Stage (in front of the old Astra Theater). The sound should be much better than the 4-H Fair since it's outdoors. You may sweat but it'll be a good sweat. Plus, you know, free and all.

Also, don't forget The Burner this Sunday night (July 27) at 6 p.m. NP will lead music worship somewhere around 7:30.

Guess who?

Thanks to everyone who came out to see us at the fair tonight. It means a great deal to me to see the people of CCJ come out and support us like you do (even when it's blasted hot and extra-blasted loud and unintelligible much of the time). I saw so many familiar faces and smiles and it made me feel pretty good to know that people care enough to come out for us. I especially loved the fact that you guys were louder than us on the final two songs at times. (Imagine a huge smile right now - I can't make a smiley face that big on here).

We had fun and I hope you did too (despite the various conditions listed above).


Now, I have to ask you to do it again at the Strassenfest on Aug. 2 at 1 p.m. on the Square in Jasper. (Pretty please with sugar on top).

:-)

Our gig at the fair has been changed to the CLOVER PAVILION because of the likelihood of rain.

Still at 6 p.m. Still free. Still want EVERYONE to come out and get loud with us.

To volunteer or be a volunteer-can't decide which to use.

The definition of volunteer is 1: a person who voluntarily undertakes or expresses a willingness to undertake a service: OR 1. somebody who works for nothing: somebody who works without being paid 2. somebody acting voluntarily: somebody who does something voluntarily, especially something undesirable

Do you think like myself there is a shortage of them? As I talk to other individuals or look around our church, certain areas need volunteers. This would help in giving each person a break once in awhile and helping areas grow. We have a growing congregation which you would suppose have individuals who could give their time.

Or are we a society which thinks we don't have the time because our schedules are too full? Maybe we should make time for other things........such as volunteering for King's Kids, Nursery, Media, Kids' Bible Study etc., etc., I could keep on going. I hate to beg for people or stand on my head to prove a point but I can do these things.

Something to think about.... Great Reasons to Volunteer
help others, make a difference(touch the life of a child or adult or maybe both), find purpose, enjoy meaningful conversation, connect with your (church) community, feel involved, meet new people (which could mean you have new friends), impress your mom/dad, impress yourself, expand your horizons, get out of the house, and feel better about yourself.

Are you interested in being a VOLUNTEER?

Ladies an Gentle-folk I give you ...

Mya Rae Neighbors
7 pounds 4 oz
20 inches

Thanks to all who came up to see her.
We are home and all is well.
Thanks to Daniel Ross for the camera

Later,
Kurt and Jill

I know I'm promoting this like nobody's business, but we really would like to have a big crowd there Monday night. We'll have a few recognizable songs we've never played publicly before, many that we have played many times and some wicked cool guitar solos. We go on at 6, so get there a bit before to grab your seat (even though you'll want to stand through most of it cause it rocks that hard). ;-)

Week 4 – "If you do not forgive."

Introduction
There are Chicago Cubs fans who will never forgive Chicago-native Steve Bartman for reaching out to catch a fly ball...an action some believe cost them a trip to the 2003 World Series. There are Beatles fans who are convinced that John Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, was instrumental in the band's breakup and will therefore never forgive her. These sorts of grudges can be seen throughout history and in all areas of life.

Questions
1. Who is someone in popular culture that you will never be able to "forgive"?

2. Read Luke 6:37. What is your reaction to Jesus' words "forgive and you will be forgiven"?

3. Read Matthew 6:9-12, 14-15. Jesus is in the middle of teaching his disciples to pray when he says these words. How do these statements relate to the rest of the prayer?

4. On a scale of 1 – 10 how easy is it for you to forgive (one being that you constantly forgive people, ten being that you enjoy holding grudges)? Why can it be so hard for us to forgive?

5. One of the most difficult concepts to grasp regarding forgiveness is that we will likely never feel like forgiving. However forgiveness is not a feeling, it is an action. To forgive is to give up your right to revenge on someone else. When in your life have you truly forgiven someone...even when you did not feel like it? What was that like for you?

6. What prevents us from being people who are eager to forgive?

What now?
Jesus talked a lot about forgiveness. Take a look at Matthew 18:23-35.

Who in your life do you need to forgive? What steps are you willing to take towards forgiving them this week?

There is often a lot of discussion about what represents or is a measuring stick for the success of an individual church. It seems in the blogosphere and in certain books those discussions are often an opportunity for one group to critic the other and tell why there approach is more biblical and right in line with what Christ intended the church to be. Truth is there are a lot of different types of measuring means to determine what your individual church is doing. Of course there are areas of success we cannot see that God can so we are not qualified to really evaluate others completely. All that being said what are some measures of success in the Church.

Is it percentages of growth? Well the short answer is no. Don’t get me wrong numerical growth is biblical and is one small evaluator in the success of a churches ministry. Those who completely dismiss that type of growth and say it's not an indicator usually are apart of a church that refuses to follow God’s lead and reach out to the lost. That cannot however be the main indicator of success because we all know there are churches that grow for periods of time that are a mile wide but an inch deep. Attendance and membership numbers are good tools but not the main evaluator.
Is it the number of people involved in small groups? We are a big believer in small groups because those accountable relationships can lead to spiritual growth. We want to see the number of people involved in those grow every year but those cannot be the main indicator for success either. You could actually have those types of accountability groups in the secular setting yet no one truly growing more in their walk with Christ.
Is it the excitement people feel? Well in a growing and biblical church there will be a spirit of excitement and energy that is evident. You can feel the Holy Spirit’s presence in those situations. Once again however that cannot be our main indicator because people can get pretty excited and feel goose bumps in a non-spiritual setting as well. Don’t believe me; watch me when I throw on the movie Hoosiers.
Is it life change? Well certainly in a biblical church there will be personal life change. That however can’t be the only indicator because life change can happen in other settings as well.
Is it the number of volunteers the church has? Well a growing church needs volunteers but that alone cannot be it, because any civic organization can recruit volunteers as well.
Okay so it must be the number of saved souls through Christ. Well of course that is a big one. A growing number of conversions over a period of time are big indicators that God is working through people. But while that is true we must not stop with winning people to the Lord. Jesus also calls us to make disciples (Grow them more like Christ) in the church as well. So if that is the only big indicator we could be missing part of God’s purpose for the church.

That last one however brings me to what I think is our main indicator? I think all of those are measuring sticks but the main indicator of success or victories in the church is the number of people that our involved in true ministry outside the walls of the church. That is a huge measure of success in my mind. When we see people being Jesus Christ in our streets and in our communities then we know that we are seeing the greatest growth of all. That is what Jesus has called us to do. That is how we love God, love people and change the world.

We received this email yesterday with this picture taken 7/02/08.

Hello, My name is Bryan Forsing. I recently visited with Pastor Leon in Haiti. He asked me to contact you regarding a project you are involved with him. The orphanage is well under way and I have a number of photos to share with you. I was very impressed with the project and I am excited about what God is doing through you and the people in Haiti.
Thank You and God Bless, Bryan Forsing

It is so exciting to see the progress! Thank you Bryan.

Labels: Haiti

Today's sermon topic was great and it showed me how treatment of other people even my enemies should be handled. While fixing supper I listened to the radio which I do quite often while in our kitchen, a great song came on which grabbed my attention. It was the song by Chris Rice called "Love Like Crazy" and I had to look up the lyrics on the net so I could reread them. I thought I would post them here......it ties in great with the sermon today.


Love Like Crazy Lyrics
Chris Rice

I heard a rumor that love will make you crazy
Well is it true?
Well that's no rumor, look at the crazy things that love made Jesus do
The friends he chose were thought to be outrageous
And you could even find him touching the contagious
And the craziest is how he chose to save us
He gave his life away
Then he had to go and say"Gotta love the same way that I love you!"

Love like crazy
We gotta love like crazy
We gotta love like crazy
The way he loves you and me
'Cause if the world's ever gonna change
We gotta love like crazy

What the world needs now is for love to spread
As fast as the rumors do
But to make it, we gotta take this thing from another whole point of view
We can start by keeping our vows, and not brreakin' promises
And bring hope to the women at the well, and the doubting Thomases
And you kids, you gotta cheerfully do what your pops and your mama sez
He gave his life away
Then he had to go and say"Gotta love the same way that I love you!"

Love like crazy
We gotta love like crazy
We gotta love like crazy
The way he loves you and me
'Cause if the world's ever gonna change
We gotta love like crazy

Well I'm tellin' you boy, you got a lot to learn
I think you're crazy all right to love for nothin' in return
You've lost your marbles, got a few loose screws
And if you count your cards I'll bet you got less than fifty-two
But now you got me thinkin', you sorta planted a seed
'Cause you know this might be just the kind of love that I need
Naw, your train's off the track, you're from the loony bin
You know that brain that you ordered?
Well it never came in
Or else you've fallen on your head and all your brains leaked out
'Cause your lights are on, but ain't nobody in your house
Your elevator doesn't quite reach the top floor
I think you're out in left field, and I could say a lot more
But you don't care what I think, it doesn't matter what I'm tellin' you
You got the love of Jesus, and he's the one compellin' you to love
Like he does
You gotta love like he does
You gotta love like he does
'Cause if the world's ever gonna change
We gotta love like crazy

Copyright 2005 Clumsy Fly Music (ASCAP)

Labels: sermons

I love spending time with family, I love picnics, I like fireworks and I love any excuse for good food. All that being said I hope people remember the big reason for Independence Day (4th of July). All you hear on the television is how horrible things are in this country, how bad the economy is falling, high gas prices and how bad American politics are. But there is a reason that we have a problem with people risking their life to cross our boarders and it all goes back to what we are celebrating today. We live in a country that is free and founded on the principle (A Christian principle despite what many will argue) that all men were created equal. While we certain have our problems, God has blessed this nation. I could give you a thousand examples why. In watching corrupt election chaos around the world think about this one big example; no matter which presidential candidate you prefer, next January there will be a peaceful transition of power. That in and of itself is a rare thing.

Stuff Christians Like has a funny post giving famous evangelical pastors in America a superhero identity.

Joel Osteen = Iron Man
TD Jakes = The Incredible Hulk
Craig Groeschel = Spider Man
Andy Stanley = Batman
Rob Bell = The Green Arrow
Billy Graham = Thor
Rick Warren = Superman
Ed Young = Captain America
Mark Driscoll = Hancock

Click on the link to see the descriptions. It's funny stuff.