Rural Mission

This past Christmas eve my family had a very special opportunity to be a part of a house dedication for a lady who works with Rural Mission on James Island. Mrs. Mack's house was build with volunteers and donations from around the area and the country. Several families from St. Andrew's helped lay some flooring and our young adult group help with other aspects of it.

There was something so beautiful in seeing her receive the keys and a new Bible as the group gathered prayed.







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Here's a video of the event thanks to the Post and Courier

Header issue

So the header for my blog is messed up after i tried to switch the picture out. Anyone out there in the blog o sphere got any suggestions. I can't get (nor do i really even like) the temp. pic i have there now to stretch across the page or at least be centered on it.

My day is kicking into gear so i'll have to work on this later.

"A coin in the coffer rings.."

This appeared over on Steve Wood's Blog ...

"John MacArthur writes: I don’t watch much television, and when I do I generally avoid the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). For many years TBN has been dominated by faith-healers, full-time fund-raisers, and self-proclaimed prophets spewing heresy . . . . If the scheme seems reminiscent of Tetzel, that’s because it is precisely the same doctrine. (Tetzel was a medieval monk whose high-pressure selling of indulgences—phony promises of forgiveness—outraged Martin Luther and touched off the Protestant Reformation.) Like Tetzel, TBN preys on the poor and plies them with false promises. Yet what is happening daily on TBN is many times worse than the abuses that Luther decried because it is more widespread and more flagrant. The medium is more high-tech and the amounts bilked out of viewers’ pockets are astronomically higher. (By most estimates, TBN is worth more than a billion dollars and rakes in $200 million annually. Those are direct contributions to the network, not counting millions more in donations sent directly to TBN broadcasters.)"

Does this disturb you as much as it does me. You can read the rest here.

Thought this video would complement it nicely...

RSS Readers

Recently I've been surprised at the amount of people that I've come across who are not familiar with RSS Readers. Basically they are a way of staying up to date with multiple sources without having to visit those web pages. Let me explain...

Here's how I have mine set up. Google.com is my homepage. So every time I open my web browser my Google page pops up. On that page I'm able to customize features I want. So I have weather forecasts, sports scores, twitter, and Google Reader (one of many different RSS readers) Google Reader gives me a short summary of all the blogs I've "subscribed" to. Every time the author post something on their blog it shows up on my RSS Reader so I don't have to keep checking their websites. Simplifies life. We have a Really Simply Syndication (RSS ) feed set up for our calendar in the student ministry. (thanks Greg) So when we add something new it pops up on anyone's reader who has subscribed to our feed.

The majority of what I use RSS feeds for is staying challenged in my faith and on top of youth ministry topics. It's really a source of inspiration. Here's a few of the top people I'm listening to via their feeds...

• http://theresurgence.com/
• http://www.studentministry.org/
• http://www.treadinggrain.com/
• http://responsiblefather.com/
• http://trinitypastor.wordpress.com/
• http://artofmanliness.com/
• http://trinitylearning.wordpress.com/
• and a bunch more.
  

99 Thoughts for Youth Workers

Recently I received a little booklet by Joshua Griffen called "99 Thoughts for Youth Workers" I'm only a few pages in and already a few things strike me. Mainly this book is super practical, to the point and easy to read for the youth worker with little free time to spare.

Here's a brief summary of thoughts 16-25 which struck me as especially relevant. (Each one has a little paragraph following it. I'll just share some of the headings.

5 Things a Youth Worker Has To Do Every Day...

• Connect with God
• Connect with a Volunteer
• Connect with your Philosophy
• Connect with the Team
• Connect with your Family

5 More Things a Youth Worker Has To Do Every Day...

• Connect with a Student
• Connect with a Parent
  
• Connect with the Calendar
• Connect with Resources
• Connect with Fun
  

North Charleston; Oak Terrace Preserve

Great video on the community where we live.





It's neat to be part of a community coming back to life.

A video that made my day.

Can I share something with you that made my day....

Basically its a video of a group filming something for a church service when a homeless man approaches them in Atlanta and starts worshiping with them. Be sure to watch the whole thing.


(If you're reading this on facebook you'll need to "view original post to see the video")

Props to.. The Resurgence

The Last Battle

Every now and then I get the bug and plow through entire books. Two days ago I read all of Cloud's "9 Things Every Leader Must Do." and today (and last night) I read CS Lewis's The Last Battle if there is a book with a more stirring ending for the Christian, apart from scripture, I don't know it.



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Parish Discernment

The following letter is the result of a massive discernment process my family as honored to be a part of. We are really excited to see what the next season of ministry has our community.

To our Sisters and Brothers in Christ at St. Andrew’s:

On behalf of the staff and former Sr. Warden’s we wish to thank you for your faithful commitment to engage the discernment process this fall. While the question before our congregation was a serious and sobering one, the depth and richness of the materials and sermons combined with your participation in LifeGroups has worked to deepen our corporate understanding of the Lord’s direction in our life and the call upon this parish, so, thank you.

Last night we gathered to count the response forms and by a 93% – 6% margin the congregation has overwhelmingly recommended that St. Andrew’s affiliate with the Anglican Church in North America and separate from The Episcopal Church. Here are the results:

902 total discernment response forms submitted.

• 838 recommended that St. Andrew’s Church affiliate with the Anglican Church in North America and separate from The Episcopal Church.
• 58 recommended that we remain within The Episcopal Church.
• 4 response forms were submitted unmarked.
• 2 response forms had the word, “abstain” written across them.

We were very pleased with the total number of people participating in this discernment process and we were equally pleased with the clarity with which you – and the Lord through you – spoke to us. We will gather as a Vestry in the New Year to take up this matter. Be assured we will keep you informed of our decisions. Please keep us in your prayers.

Know that this letter comes with our continued prayers for this parish and for you; especially that you may know the nearness of Christ this Advent and Christmas season.

With great affection in Christ,

The Vestry

Praying For My Family

Soon after Abbie was born a family in the church gave Lisa and I a set of three key chains that has some prayer printed on them. One for the wife, one for the husband and one with prayers on for the child. In a world of cheese these are diamonds. The prayers are rock solid and grounded in scripture. They challenge me to be a better husband, father and follower of Jesus in the way I pray for and relate to my bride.

Here is the prayer that has come up today...

"Thank you Jesus, that my wife will reign in this life in right standing with God based on your death and resurrection. In you Jesus, she has resurrection power to breathe life into any situation. Thank you for the amazing gift of righteousness. (Rom. 5:17)

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Youth Small Group promo

(As always you need to click on the original post to see it if you're reading this in facebook.)

Smores and the kingdom?

Tonight our life group (small group community from St. Andrews) headed out to James Island to see their annual festival of lights. It's a large Christmas lights display at a park. We packed onto two cars and wound our way through. It was a lot of laughs and corny music.

Halfway through there is a place to walk on foot, meet Santa, and pay $3 for a smore.


Our group, being not only good looking but smart, brought our own smore making material and enjoyed a good snack. Last year one of the highlights of the trip was bringing more then we could ever use and giving the unused materials away.

This year was much the same. However as we looked around one couple caught my eye. There's a family who lives close to us
that Lisa and I really felt some burden to pray for ever since we moved in. They are very different culturally which presented some barriers. However smores when used by Jesus overcomes much. We walked over introduced ourselves offered our smores and in return received an invatation to come over to their home anytime. Kingdom? I think so. If the kingdom is built with relationships that show the love of Christ. Possiably a great open door in the future.


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Wordle

Here's the "Wordle" for one of our student ministry web pages. You might need to view the original page to see it.

image from wordle.net

Dads and Christmas

Found this waiting for me when I arrived in the office today. It was very convicting as I'm the scrooge when it comes to the holidays.

Anyway read it man up hope you all are well.

Dad needs...

1. a plan for the holidays to ensure his family is loved and memories are made. Dad, what’s your plan?
2. to check the local guides for what’s going on to make fun holiday plans for the family. In Seattle it’s here.
3. to carve out time for sacred events and experiences to build family traditions that are fun and point to Jesus. Dad, is your calendar ready for December?
4. to not let the stress of the holidays, including money, cause him to be grumpy with Mom or the kids. Dad, how’s your joy?
5. to give experiences and not just gifts. Dad, what special memories can you make this holiday season?
6. to manage the extended family and friends during the holidays. Dad, who or what do you need to say “no” to?
7. to ensure his family is giving generously during the holidays. Dad, who in need is your family going to adopt and bless?
8. to schedule a big Christmas daddy date with his daughter. Dad, what’s your big plan for the fancy daddy date?
9. to schedule guy time with his son. Dad, what are you and your son going to do that is active, outdoors, and fun?
10. to help Mom get the house decorated. Dad, are you really a big help to Mom with getting things ready?
11. to ensure some holiday smells and sounds. Dad, is Christmas music on the iPod, is the tree up, and can you smell cookies and cider in your house?
12. to snuggle up and watch some fun shows with the kids, especially the little ones. Dad, is the DVR set?
13. to take the family on a drive to see Christmas lights while listening to music and sipping cider. Dad, is it mapped out?
14. to help Mom get the kids’ rooms decorated. Dad, do the little kids get lights or a small tree in their room?
15. to read about Jesus and pray over his kids. Dad, how’s your pastoral work going with each of your kids?
16. to repent of being lazy, selfish, grumpy, or just dumping the holidays on Mom. Dad, are you a servant like Jesus to your family?

Read the rest here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/luchilu/ / CC BY 2.0

The Rise and Fall of...

STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND WATCH THIS.....

Dads

Dads i challenge you to watch this...

Click this link

My Thanksgiving

This sums it up...