That time of year again...

It is getting to be that time of year again. We are coming to the end of August, and it seems like summer is coming to a close. (shhh!!! don't tell my wife I said that or she will get very depressed.)

In my part of the world, this is "back to school" season. We have pretty much exhausted our warm weather and the cool nights are creeping back in. I always love this time of year. To me it is the season of new beginnings, which is strange because I think most people see it the other way around. I just remember that feeling of going back to school with a new class, new teacher, new pencils, pens, and paper, and a new resolve to do things better or great this time!

It is also the time that I get out into the woods more than any other season of the year. I love to go hunting. Bird hunting season opens in mid September, and then deer hunting opens in November. Most of all I just love being out in the woods.

And of course, it is the beginning of football season. (American football that is...) Probably my favorite game to watch (Go Vikes!). I enjoy playing as well, but with the condition of my knee, I don't see it happening this year. We also start our fantasy football league next week.

We are finally finishing up the work on our new church building as well. So, we will have another new beginning there as we start using that tool for God's kingdom.

The next few months will be very exciting, and I am looking forward to what is in store!

this is crazy...

It is raining money!
Well, dollar signs ($) anyway...

This is going to sound totally ridiculous, but money has me completely frusturated. I hate that I have to care about it sometimes. I don't know if I wish that I was totally rich, or could just get rid of it all and live off the land. Right now, it seems that I have more bills to pay than cash to give, and it makes life a little bit stressful to say the least.

Oh well...

e-vangelism.com: You won't find these 'nones' in a convent

I found this little post on the decline of the protestant church in the U.S. over the last decade or so. I thought it was interesting...

e-vangelism.com: You won't find these 'nones' in a convent

Forgiven - Christian Mobile Media?

I heard about this site in an email newsletter that I get regarding internet evangelism.

Forgiven

I was a bit surprised by the site a first because I was expecting a Christian evangelism site, but it is more of a marketing/$$$$ making site in the name of Christianity.

I personally have a hard time with that. I do not question the beliefs of those who run this company, but I wonder if it is the best idea to try an earn a living off of marketing to Christian youth... (I am trying to work out why this bothers me...)

Maybe because in Jesus' day there were those who saw opportunity to make $$$$ off of those coming to the temple to worship. And we all know what Jesus' reaction was to that.

Now in that particular case, I believe that the people involved were preying upon a need of the people to exploit them by charging unreasonable prices.

I guess it is the age old question of commercialized Christianity. We know that the first church did not operate this way. Is it right for us to do so?

I feel better about charging money to defray the costs of ministry, and I don't have a problem with accepting donations to offset the costs of living in full-time ministry... but is it alright if we focus on leveraging our "Christian" calling to make a buck?

Again, I do not want to disparage this company unjustly, and honestly, it is really not up to me anyway to cast any judgment. I am just working these things out for myself.

What do you think??

P.S. I do like the idea of using new ways to share the Gospel. I think that Mobile Media is the next big thing... (like the internet in the 90's)... and I think that the church can use this media to show people the Love of Jesus Christ.

You Are The Temple

A relatively new site that is just getting off the ground. I know the man who is running this site, and have the utmost respect for his ministry and calling. Please take some time to visit and sign up. I know that you will be rewarded there!
You Are The Temple

Drip... Drop...

Can you say cold and rainy?

That is what it has been for the last couple of days. So I decided to add a little script that I saw on this blog.

I just might take it down soon though. I see enough rain outside. Let me know if it is too annoying. :)

If you like the script, you can find it here.

want to join?

Hey! Does anyone want to join our really really great discussion forum?

If you would, just visit this site:

click

OK... truth be told, I am having a hard time encouraging people to discuss on this thing. So, please join and post your thoughts. I think it will help encourage others.

:)

Ow... that hurts!

It has been over a week since my last post?!?!?

What is going on?

I will skip ahead to the weekend, because not a whole lot happened last week. I will just say that my last post caught me in a bit of a bad mood. I worked through most of that just fine.

We were able to get out and have some fun and relaxation this weekend. Saturday I worked at the church for half the day, and that evening we went to the beach and had a picnic with some friends.

Sunday came along, and church was great. We had a good potluck after the service as well. Now I am not necessarily a fan of potluck, but our church seems to put them on pretty much once a month. I do enjoy the conversations over a meal with friends. It is funny how potluck will vary from time to time as far as the quality of the food goes. We have had some great ones, but then again, every once in a while, there is a really bad one. I think the last potluck we had was one of those bad ones. There was a whole lot of mushy hotdishes, and for some reason, they all pretty much tasted the same. So, this one was much better by comparison. There was good variety, and the ingredients were either better or fresher or both.

Later Sunday evening, we went to our friends' house to play volleyball. There were quite a few people there, and we had a blast!

I must say that I should have read the comments on this volleyball post before we started the third game. I enjoy volleyball, and though I am not a pro, I like to think that I can play. Put it this way, I can play pretty well with the people that I usually play with.

Well, we were pretty well into our third game. Our team was way ahead at that point. We were in the middle of a pretty good volley, when the ball happened to be set to the player playing opposite me at the net. I had in my mind to make a great block, so I jumped into the air. (of course, I missed the block...) I was just thinking to myself, "how did I miss that?" when I landed. Then I heard (and felt) a *pop!*... *snap!* emanating from my left knee, and actually felt my knee bend sideways. This is not something that is supposed to happen and trust me it feels very unnatural when it does.(it was downright PAINFUL!)

The first two thoughts through my head were "Ouch!", and "I hope I don't need surgery!" (in that order)...

So "knee-dless" to say (very puny!), that was the end of my volleyball for the night (and probably the rest of the summer...), but we did get 3 games in before hand and we got to stick around to roast marshmallows and have s'mores. So, all in all we had a great time!

I guess I am also learning to use crutches for the first time, too. Not that I really wanted to, but hey, you have to make the most of it, right?

Now I just wish I could heal a bit faster...