House of Hope

It has been a while since we have given an update on the House of Hope Orphanage so I thought it was about time. Construction on the first orphanage house is getting closer to completion. I just spoke with Leon on Sunday and they are really working away. We have had many delays due to hurricanes and other factors but I expect to have some great quality pictures of the House of Hope very soon. When major construction is done the House of Hope board will be meeting and finalizing a plan for lunching the orphanage. That will involve many things but not the least of which is hiring great Christian house parents. The CCJ mission's team has set aside funding for what we hope will fund the complete first year of operation. That being said, this world economy has really effected third world countries with huge inflation so costs have really risen. So we hope to raise a lot of additional funds for the orphanage. We will soon be completing a promotional DVD to send to many different churches mission's teams to raise additional awareness and support for this great ministry. We also plan on holding a meeting in the near future for those interested in going on a short term mission trip to the orphanage. (There is no trip scheduled at this time). Please keep all of these things in your prayers and thank you so much for all of the effort and resources you all have committed to the House of Hope.

Organized or Disorganized

Sitting at work reading a Ladies Home Journal, I find myself enjoying the article titled: "Nobody Perfect and Thank Heaven for That". In the article, the writer is talking about how the latest books, magazines and businesses tote the perfectionist order (home orgazining is now a $6 billion industry).

I agree with her when she states "As much as I desire it, the idea of attaining this level of neatnik-y perfection stresses me right out". Please understand I love for things to be organized and put away but in the real world my kids don't always put away their toys, pick up their rooms, or pick up their shoes. A few people in my house feel better when their areas aren't sooo perfect. One of my daughters has a saying when I ask her to clean her room "Is Jesus going to care if my room is clean when I see him?"

A quote from Carl Honore "Organzation is a good thing-you don't want to be living in constant anarchy-but if everything's too orgaznized, then you're squeezing out something that's essentially human."

Something else that is pointed out in the article "Balance is key" "Figure out where it matters most to you to be organized, and let the rest go. You'll be happier and so will the people around you."

So are you a "perfectionist" or a "non-perfectionist"?

S.O.S. Field Trip

Last weekend we went to the Covered Bridge Festival. We enjoyed beautiful sites, great food and crafts and lovely weather. Our November meeting is the on 20th. I'm excited about this fellowship. It gives us a chance to get to know our peers. As the church continues to grow, so will our group. It's another way for us to "plug-in" with others who care about the same issues we do. (Thanks Lois M. for being our fearless leader, and Jeff S. for driving the bus)

Instead Of A Show ...

... or The Myth of Contemporary (Music) Worship as Evangelism. From Rev.org

SALLY MORGENTHALER RETHINKS HER OWN PARADIGM
Two years ago I taught my last seminar focused solely on worship. A year ago I disbanded my worship resource site, Sacramentis. My colleagues were concerned. How could I leave the work I'd begun? Did it mean I no longer believed worship was important? Who was going to take up the torch of worship evangelism? Was I just going to waste my legacy? Was I crazy?

Maybe I was, but a storm had been brewing in my soul for five long years. I remember meeting with the worship leader of a well-known church in the fall of 2000. He had followed my work and respected many of my viewpoints. When we met over coffee, he shared a concern he'd had for a while over my book Worship Evangelism. In his view, Worship Evangelism had helped to create a "worship-driven subculture." As he explained it, this subculture was a sizeable part of the contemporary church that had just been waiting for an excuse not to do the hard work of real outreach. An excuse not to get their hands dirty. According to him, that excuse came in the form of a book—my book. He elaborated. "If a contemporary worship service is the best witnessing tool in the box, then why give a rip about what goes on outside the worship center? If unbelievers are coming through the doors to check us Christians out, and if they'll fall at Jesus' feet after they listen to us croon worship songs and watch us sway back and forth, well then, a whole lot of churches are just going to say, 'Sign us up!' "

To be honest, I wasn't surprised. The attitude he described certainly didn't fit every congregation out there in contemporary-worship-land, but it matched too much of what I'd seen. The realization hit me in the gut. Between 1995 and 2000 I'd traveled to a host of worship-driven churches, some that openly advertised that they were "a church for the unchurched." On the good occasions, the worship experience was transporting. (I dug a little deeper when that happened. Invariably, I found another value at work behind the worship production: a strong, consistent presence in the community EMPHASIS MINE -DR.) Too many times, I came away with an unnamed, uneasy feeling. Something was not quite right. The worship felt disconnected from real life. Then there were the services when the pathology my friend talked about came right over the platform and hit me in the face. It was unabashed self-absorption, a worship culture that screamed, "It's all about us" so loudly that I wondered how any visitor could stand to endure the rest of the hour.

Were these worship-driven churches really attracting the unchurched? Most of their pastors truly believed they were. And in a few cases, they were right. The worship in their congregations was inclusive, and their people were working hard to meet the needs of the neighborhood. Yet those churches whose emphasis was dual—celebrated worship inside, lived worship outside—were the minority. In 2001 a worship-driven congregation in my area finally did a survey as to who they were really reaching, and they were shocked. They'd thought their congregation was at least 50 percent unchurched. The real number was 3 percent.

Read the rest ...

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (It's Been Awhile Edition)

TG:
-- No matter who wins on Nov. 4, Jesus' kingdom is not of this world.
-- Last week's sermon on the Supremacy of Christ.
-- The Revelation class on Sunday nights.
-- The ability of music to lift my spirits.
-- Having a good theological discussion about actions vs. heart with my wife the other night.
-- My wife.
-- My girls getting excited about Halloween.
-- Got to see my old friend David P. yesterday for a minute.
-- Baseball playoffs (rooting for the Sox but won't mind too terribly bad if the upstart Rays win it all).
-- A properly executed A chord through a loud amplifier (see opening riff in video above from Canadian band Wide Mouth Mason).
-- Narrow Path: "Far As The Curse Is Found" Christmas album comes out in 23 days.

TB:
-- The dream I had last night that we go the Christmas CD back all screwed up with the wrong songs on them. Just a dream though.
-- My state of mind the past few days. (The Pit).
-- Not being surprised in the least anymore at anything anyone does.
-- People being led astray by false teaching.
-- Being kinda Pharisaical at times.
-- Discouragement.
-- Sin.
-- The stupid cat who gets in our trash each week.


TU:
-- The unbelievable amount of attention (& pressure) a plumber from Ohio gets from "The Media."
-- Politics in general (they are fun sometimes but it's down to getting ugly now)
-- Kurt's arm situation

Actions & Heart

"Right action without the right heart is in NO WAY pleasing to God."

- Matt Chandler, Pastor of The Village Church in Texas (from the sermon Luke Part 30: After the Heart)

Related: Isaiah 58.

Jace Is One

So my son Jace Eli Land is officially one year old today. That is totally hard to believe. This may have been the fastest year of my life. He is quite the kid. He is a blessing despite the fact that he is much harder than his big sister Livia in about every way. We often half jokingly say that if he was our first, he would have been our last. Still I cannot imagine life without him. I am so blessed to have a wife like Holli and two wonderfully healthy kids. (Despite the fact that I let him fall out of his bed today.) Thank you Lord for blessing me so much!

Far As The Curse Is Found

The long-worked-on, sometimes-requested Christmas album from elements of Narrow Path releases in one month (Sunday, Nov. 9) at CCJ (and online soon after).

More info here.

Evolution Shorts

This post is where you will find all of the shorts from the "Evolution" series.


From the sermon, "Beginning With The End In Mind" (Evolution: A Walk Through Colossians) on 10.05.2008.


From the sermon, "Image Is Everything" (Evolution: A Walk Through Colossians) on 10.12.2008.


From the sermon, "The Road Not Taken" (Evolution: A Walk Through Colossians) on 10.19.2008.

Prayers of Comfort

Thinking of You, Daniel on the Loss of Your Grandfather
May the wonderful memories of your grandfather’s love be with you and comfort you.
You are in our prayers.