Go Lions!

34 point in the 4th. Its a nice record to hold!

Umm... I'm really not sure what to say....

Dear Sugar Grove Church Family

It is with a great sadness that I share some important news with you. For the past year, God has been working in the lives of both Shari and I to help us understand his will. We were caught off guard at the resignation of Pastor Roger as were all of you. We knew that God had a plan and purpose for us here at Sugar Grove and we gladly accepted that opportunity and privilege to serve him and you.

It became abundantly clear this past week that God’s plan for us was to help this church and its teenagers struggle through this time of transition when the Elder Board, expressed to me that I am not a fit for the staff that they are trying to build here at Sugar Grove and that it would be a good idea for me to submit my resignation. In turn I tendered my resignation to the Board of Elders on Tuesday, September 25th.
I wanted to take some time and thank you for the wonderful support that you have given Shari and I as we desired to serve you the best way we know how. Thank you so much for all of the support that you have given us by your prayers, kind words, and volunteering to help with the Youth Ministry. Our time here has been a blessing on our hearts.
As we nervously, yet confidently, take the next step in our ministry please pray with us that God’s will for our lives will be made clear. We don’t know what God would have for us next, but as soon as we know we will let you know. Our final Sunday of ministry at Sugar Grove Church will be October 14th.

Thank you,

Joel Wolfgang

Chris Patrick

So, Just found out that a guy that Jacob, Justin and I went to school with, and I played Football and basketball with just scored a spot on the Green Bay Packers Practice Squad. I'm a little surprised. Congrats Chris!

Why Not Sue God - It Will Solve All Your Problems.

I loved this. A Senator no less!

Vote 756!

What do you want to happen to Barry Bonds home run breaking ball! Marc Ecko bought the ball and is planning to do whatever the public decides. Vote Here.

I voted to brand the ball with an asterisk!

2-0 and Lovin' it!

Go Lions!!!

Apparently I've been reading a lot on Evangelism...

I just finished reading Becoming a Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels and Mark Mittleburg. Hybles being the most senior pastor at Willow Creek and Mittleburg (when it was written in '95) the pastor of evangelism wanted to share their vision and personal stories of how they have become Christians who've discovered that the most invigorating feeling of leading people to Christ. They are trying to help people realize that is fun and exciting, scary and intimidating to lead people to Christ, but at the same time necessary. At one point they actually say that no one is excused when it comes to sharing the gospel.

When I was in Junior High because of our Sunday School curriculum we had a lesson on Evangelism. I remember asking the teacher whether or not they had the experience and if they could tell us about it. The teacher looked at their notes and then looked to the class and that they hadn't ever led anyone to Christ and that wasn't there goal. Their goal was to be a seed-planter. They meant that they didn't believe that all were called to be an "evangelizer" and that some people are and some aren't. They weren't doing what they were preaching. I knew then that they were wrong and I know now that we are all called to evangelize.

Jesus in People's lives...

So I was preparing my lesson for this week and I always knew that Jesus was connected to so many different kinds of people, but I just wrote it out and it seemed to be shocking, so I thought that I'd share it with you...

The early church realized something. Everywhere Jesus went he talked to all sorts of people. The people who were well respected by the community, people who were called sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, cheaters, liars and thieves. He talked to the lame, blind, hearing and speech impaired, those with incurable diseases, and even people who were possessed by demons. He also showed that he cared for people who were Roman, Scythian, Samaritan and Greek. The early church realized that every single person is important to God!

This is just crazy to me!

The Missional Church: From Atrophy to Emerging...

I have been perusing the site Friend of Missional for some time now. The articles, definitions and discussions have been quite interesting to me. About half-way down the homepage there is a section explaining the missional church movement that was taken from the book Breaking the Missional Code by Ed Stetzer and David Putman (which is in my ever growing stack of books to read). This is an interesting piece of work that I would like to share with you and also maybe add to the conversation just a little. Apparently they argue that the missional church movement is a shift in thinking here are their categories:

From programs to processes
From demographics to discernment
From models to missions
From attractional to incarnational
From uniformity to diversity
From professional to passionate
From seating to sending
From decisions to disciples
From additional to exponential
From monuments to movements

A lot of this isn't new information. Many of us have been preaching these shifts for years what I would like to argue is another shift in thinking:

From atrophic to emerging

When I use the word emerging I am not talking about the emergent conversation - I'm talking about life itself. Please understand that in the beginning God created everything very good. This word good is interesting - I find it interesting that God didn't make everything perfect. The word perfect implies an ultimate end; something that is perfect can get no better. It is the ultimate. Many people may argue that God did make everything perfect (in fact I used to teach this), but when you read the first two chapters of the bible and you read the last two chapters of the bible you will skip all of sin and repercussions and - I believe - get a good look at what God had in mind all along. God moves from untouched creation to global city. Some how this city is completely unlike cities as we know them today. Somehow this city is the unique combination of creation and massive amounts of people. Therefore, Creation can become better than it was originally.

Since Genesis 3 the world has atrophied, so bad in fact that not two chapters later God decides to destroy it with water - save one family. From that day there has been glimmers of hope and light, but ultimately creation has been depleting. It is as if creation is on a collision course with destruction!

Then something interesting happens - Jesus. He is the second Adam - and doesn't fall to temptation. He defeats death - creation's ultimate end of atrophy. He becomes the goal for humanity to follow and become. He is the light to follow and through him Christianity emerges. Christianity becomes a group of people who are passionately pursuing the life of Jesus Christ. They realize quickly that he is a better way to live. They also realize that following Jesus can somehow stop the collision course.

Christianity has always been about moving from an atrophic to an emerging creation. We strive to see God's kingdom come "on earth as it is in heaven." The original creation didn't know death or destruction. It didn't know starving children, or AIDS. It is the church's responsibility to show Christ to this atrophied creation. A missional church helps other understand and be a part of that mission. A missional church stands in the way of creation's atrophy. A missional church strives to become more and more the way God originally created life to be.

They Like Jesus But Not The Church

I just finished They Like Jesus But Not The Church by Dan Kimball. Thanks Robb for the recommendation. This book adds so much to my internal conversation about evangelism. How do we share Jesus with people today? Is it different for just a few years ago? What do people think about the church, and why? These are all valid questions, that most pastors and church leaders - myself included - have neglected.

After reading this book I have to ask myself two questions, how many non-Christians do I know? and how many of them am I developing relationships with? I am challenged with these questions because I ask students and lay people of the church to constantly be a missionary in our community and I wont or haven't done it myself. I have led by example.

This book opened my eyes to understanding our culture as a mission field all the time. We need to be prepared to have conversations with non-Christians in order to just build relationships with them even if they never come to Christ. It's not about notches in our evangelism belt, but about loving others the way that Christ loves us.

The "I don't want to Cluster Blog" Post!

Wow! What a crazy week it's been. Since my last post 3/4 of my biological family come to visit - not for more than 48 hours, but they came to visit. I had a birthday, and a brush with TB!

Jacob and Justin
My brothers breezed through town last week. They went to Michigan and spent some time with dad, they saw an amazing Tigers Game and went fishing. On their way back to Iowa they stopped by and spent some time with Shari and I. We stayed up 'till 3:30 and had a Taco Bell run sometime after 1:00. It was much fun!

Mom and Donny
Not 36 hours later my mom and my step-dad came for a visit. They came from Minneapolis early Saturday morning, 1:30, and we celebrated my b-day with them and had a great time. They they left early Sunday morning, 8:30!

Coughing Blood!
Well, Sunday morning I woke up with the taste of blood in my mouth. I'm not sure why. Even today I'm not sure why. The doctor said that he has ruled out most anything that it could be and expects that it will just go away. We'll see! I have blood work results that come back today!

Labor Day
I received some money for my birthday and there is only one logical thing to spend money on, books and Noomas!

Here's what I bought!

The Barbarian Way - McManus
Breaking the Missonal Code - Stetzer & Putman
Emergent Worship - Kimball

Nooma #1 - Rain
Nooma #10 - Lump
Nooma #11 - Rhythm

Birthday
Yesterday was my 25th birthday! Halfway to 50. I feel pretty good about that. It was funny because people tried to pick on me because of my age and it became funny because everyone who was picking on me was much older than I am. lol!
Shari treated me very well! Our day was absolutely packed with stuff. We had so much to do:
8:30 - Go in for blood work
9:00-12:00 - Get ready for Youth Group
1:00-4:00 - First aid Class
6:00-9:00 - Youth Group (prep. and clean up)
We ended up celebrating at dinner time. I got to get BW3, Shari got me a few presents (all of which I want and will return nothing - and use everyone of them!)

Well, I've caught you up!

A New Kind of Youth Ministry

I just finished Chris Folmbee's A New Kind of Youth Ministry, he obviously is trying to focus on using Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christian identity to associate himself with Emergent thinking, but never actually claims that he is coming from that perspective. He does, however, mention that he and Brian talk quite frequently.

Chris is the president of Sonlife Ministries.

I felt as though he had some great thoughts on where Youth ministry should head. I personally enjoyed his thoughts on how we should teach students. No one learns anything great when somebody just stands in front of you and speaks. He called for youth pastor's to become more learner-centered instead of teacher-centered.

He called for the youth ministry to change the way it does evangelism in order to teach students to evangelize rather than just bring unsaved friends and relatives to an appropriate program where the gospel is being presented. He actually asks the question. If all we do as youth pastors is give students opportunity to bring lost friends to evangelistic events when will the students learn how to witness to their friends.

His perspectives come from a wide variety of experience and conversations. Chris gives some very practical ways in which youth leaders, workers or pastors can make some greatly needed changes in youth ministry.

All in all I would recommend this book to any who have an interest in serving in Youth Ministry. I believe that he asks questions that each youth worker must answer in conjunction with their involvement in youth ministry.

Vanessa...I finally took the quiz!

Emergent/Postmodern		82%
Fundamentalist		54%
Neo orthodox		50%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan		50%
Modern Liberal		39%
Classical Liberal		36%
Reformed Evangelical		29%
Charismatic/Pentecostal		21%
Roman Catholic		14%

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

Take it for what it's worth!

The Missional Church

I have been confronted with this phrase many times since coming back from Poland. This concept isn't new in fact I've been taught it in every church that I've been associated with. I've heard it said, but I really don't know that I've seen it lived out in the hearts and minds of the people. In fact many times I've heard statements completely opposite of the missio dei and it is frightening to me. I found this blog post today and it really got me thinking about how things have got in the way of the missio dei. Here are ten things that we should not expect in a truly missional church.

TEN THINGS ANYONE WHO JOINS IN A TWENTY FIRST CENTURY MISSIONAL CHURCH PLANT SHOULD NOT EXPECT

1.) Should not expect to regularly come to church for just one hour, get what you need for your own personal growth and development, and your kidss needs, and then leave til next Sunday. Expect mission to change your life. Expect however a richer life than you could have ever imagined.

2.) Should not expect that Jesus will fit in with every consumerist capitalist assumption, lifestyle, schedule or accoutrement you may have adopted before coming here. Expect to be freed from a lot of crap you will find out you never needed.

3.) Should not expect to be anonymous, unknown or be able to disappear in this church Body. Expect to be known and loved, supported in a glorious journey.

4.) Should not expect production style excellence all the time on Sunday worship gatherings. Expect organic, simple and authentic beauty.

5.) Should not expect a raucous "light out" youth program that entertains the teenagers, puts on a show that gets the kids "pumped up," all without parental involvement. Instead as the years go by, with our children as part of our life, worship and mission (and when the light shows dim and the cool youth pastor with the spiked hair burns out) expect our youth to have an authentic relationship with God thru Christ that carries them through a lifetime of journey with God.

6.) Should not expect to always "feel good,"or ecstatic on Sunday mornings. Expect that there will ALSO be times of confession, lament, self-examination and just plain silence.

7.) Should not expect a lot of sermons that promise you God will prosper you with "the life you've always wanted" if you'll just believe Him and step out on faith and give some more money for a bigger sanctuary. Expect sustenance for the journey.

8.) Should not expect rapid growth whereby we grow this church from 10 to a thousand in three years. Expect slower organic inefficient growth that engages people's lives where they are at and sees troubled people who would have nothing to do with the gospel marvelously saved.

9.) Should not expect all the meetings to happen in a church building. Expect a lot of the gatherings will be in homes, or sites of mission.

10.) Should not expect arguments over style of music, color of carpet, or even doctrinal outlier issues like dispensationalism. Expect mission to drive the conversation.

O AND BY THE WAY¦ Should not expect that community comes to you. I am sorry but true community in Christ will take some "effort" and a reshuffling of priorities for both you and your kids. Yes I know you want people to come to you and reach out to you and you're hurting and busy. But assuming you are a follower of Christ (this message is not for strangers to the gospel) you must learn that the answer to all those things is to enter into the practices of "being the Body" in Christ, including sitting, eating, sharing and praying together.

Sanctioned Gay Unions in Medieval Europe....So!

Sanctioned Gay Unions in Medieval Europe

Civil unions between male couples existed around 600 years ago in medieval Europe, a historian now says.

Historical evidence, including legal documents and gravesites, can be interpreted as supporting the prevalence of homosexual relationships hundreds of years ago, said Allan Tulchin of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.


If accurate, the results indicate socially sanctioned same-sex unions are nothing new, nor were they taboo in the past.


“Western family structures have been much more varied than many people today seem to realize," Tulchin writes in the September issue of the Journal of Modern History. "And Western legal systems have in the past made provisions for a variety of household structures.”


For example, he found legal contracts from late medieval France that referred to the term "affrèrement," roughly translated as brotherment. Similar contracts existed elsewhere in Mediterranean Europe, Tulchin said.


In the contract, the "brothers" pledged to live together sharing "un pain, un vin, et une bourse," (that's French for one bread, one wine and one purse). The "one purse" referred to the idea that all of the couple's goods became joint property. Like marriage contracts, the "brotherments" had to be sworn before a notary and witnesses, Tulchin explained.


The same type of legal contract of the time also could provide the foundation for a variety of non-nuclear households, including arrangements in which two or more biological brothers inherited the family home from their parents and would continue to live together, Tulchin said.


But non-relatives also used the contracts. In cases that involved single, unrelated men, Tulchin argues, these contracts provide “considerable evidence that the affrèrés were using affrèrements to formalize same-sex loving relationships."


The ins-and-outs of the medieval relationships are tricky at best to figure out.


"I suspect that some of these relationships were sexual, while others may not have been," Tulchin said. "It is impossible to prove either way and probably also somewhat irrelevant to understanding their way of thinking. They loved each other, and the community accepted that.”

Of Rain and Indiana...

So I went to Meijer this morning to pick a couple of things up and it was raining - not really hard, but harder than sprinkling. I didn't remember to wear a jacket or really anything but a t-shirt and I regretted it. The interesting thing is that when I got out of my car no one was wearing a jacket, in fact I saw many people just standing in the rain talking. I thought it was rather odd but decided that I wasn't going to care.

The funny thing is that for my next morning errand I had to run to the bank. Now funny thing is that our bank is natorious for having a very slow drive though. In fact several of the other pastors and I kid about it. I wont go into the drive through unless there is no one in line. Since going to Meijer the rain hadn't picked up or slowed down much, but the one drive through lane that was open had a line of six cars while no one was in the parking lot to go inside.

I found it odd...

I'd have bought a Jersey

After two weeks of workouts, Miller to stay retired

Reggie Miller's comeback has ended before it began.


Miller
The former Indiana Pacers star and TNT hoops analyst has decided he won't make a comeback with the Boston Celtics or anyone else, according to The Indianapolis Star.

"That's it,'' he told The Star. "Physically, I know I could have done it. But mentally, when you do something like this, you've either got to be all in or all out. And I've decided I'm all out."


Miller told the newspaper the decision came after two weeks of workouts designed to see how his body might react to the stress of an entire NBA season.


"Earlier [Thursday], I was ready to come back. I was going to do it. But then I flew back here, I thought about it, I talked to a lot of people, and honestly, most people told me I should come back," Miller said, according to the newspaper.

"Charles [Barkley], Mark [Jackson], Doug [Collins], they all said I should do it. And when I was back in Indy this week [for the Peyton Manning charity bowling event], people on the streets, they'd tell me to do it," Miller told the newspaper. "But as the day went on, I just realized I wasn't ready mentally to put myself through the grind again."

Miller, the NBA's all-time leader in 3-pointers, retired in 2005 after 18 seasons, all with the Pacers. But he considered a return when the Celtics picked up Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett and asked Miller if he was interested.

The answer is no, Miller told the Star.

"Please write, 'I will never, ever, ever try something like this again,'" he said laughing, according to the newspaper. "Any of the 30 teams in the NBA, if you're interested, please don't call."

Reculturing Evangelism

So, it's nice to get some affirmation about what I've been saying. I've started a new book, A New Kind of Youth Ministry. Its interesting because the author, Chris Flomsbee, is the director of Sonlife ministries, Sonlife is natorious for holding large evangelistic events that don't produce disciples just converts.

In the first chapter of the book he calls for youth pastors to stop doing big event evangelism and to start doing relationship evangelism. Just get to know students as much as possible. He calls it a move to friendship evangelism. You meet friends and share with them how Christ has worked in your life by just living it. It's amazing to see what happens!

This fall we are starting a Friendship Evangelism program. We are getting teens together and teaching them the skills necessary to help their friends get to know Christ. Chris talks about how if all we do is large event evangelism how is one-on-one evangelism modelled for today's teen.

Growing up I was very close to my youth pastor. I watched him like a hawk! I don't know that he even knew it. But I was amazed at his ability to build relationships. It seemed as though every other year or so another family or person would start coming to church because of the relationship that he had built with them. I saw him do it, so now that I am in the position I have been challenged to do the same.

I am praying that many of the students that I come into contact with will live missionally. That everyone they come into contact with will understand that they are a follower of Christ and that their friends may understand that that it a better way to live!

Pretty Good for Not Being There!

I didn't get to participate in the draft this year, but Yahoo did the picking and it didn't turn out too badly!

Drew Brees - QB
Vince Young - QB
Steve Smith - WR
Larry Fitzgerald - WR
Braylan Edwards - WR
Lee Evans - WR
Ladanian Tomlinson - RB
Brian Westbrook - RB
Ronnie Brown - RB
Carnell Williams - RB
Chris Cooley - TE
Benjamin Watson - TE
Shayne Graham - K
Josh Brown - K
Baltimore - DEF
Miami - DEF

Pretty good I think!

Dear Church

So, I just finished reading a book called, Dear Church. It is writen by Sarah Cunningham who is from Jackson, Michigan and was 28 at the time she wrote this book.

Its an interesting look at the "twentysomething's" view of the church in our culture. She wrote each chapter as if it were a letter to the universal church at large, spelling out her critisms and frustration with the church. She also wrote it from her experience and therefore wrote it to those who are "twentysomething." I found it engaging and enlightening. I found that it helped me articulate my thoughts, feelings, and critisms toward the church. What I found that I didn't really expect was that it was that it was challenge for me to start working on the holes that the church has and that gaps that the church is not filling. I feel as though my cynicism was not needed. And therefore, is something I should be apologizing for.

This book gave excellent and practical ways that we can minister to those who are "twentysomething" and also challenges those who are "twentysomething" to get involved in authentic Christian community.

Overall its a good read. I'd really recommend it to everyone in church ministry, as well as those who are "twentysomething".

A New Day Off!!!!!

Since I've been here at Sugar Grove I have had Thursday as my day off. It isn't the greatest day to have off, but that's what you get when you are the low man on the totempole! Anyway, I'm told today that all of the Pastoral staff will take Fridays off starting at the end of September. I am so excited about that you can't even believe it! Two day weekends! What a great idea!

The Irresistible Revolution

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001; it came out that these "extremists" bombed the United States because it is a Christian nation. I laughed at that statement thinking, "don't they know anything about seperation of church and state..." or some other ignorant thoughts. Then the presidential election of 2004 came along and it seemed as though the conservative Christian minority was really a slight majority. I was a little shocked to see that Bush was reelected (even though I voted for him), but soon afterwords we see mainstream companies focusing attention on this Christian majority. New blue laws were passed, Hollywood has started to produce "cleaner" movies. It has been interesting to watch as events have unfolded over the past couple of years.

The Irresistable Revolution begs me to answer the question why not just forgive them? Why not hold a press conference and extend grace to Osama Bin Ladin? If we called off the search and made it widely known that we weren't going to hunt him down, take him off the 10 most wanted terrorist list, offer him anonimity and an open invitation to dinner at the White House, would it accomplish the end of the war on Terror? I struggled with that on the day of the terrorist attacks. I was asked that question and almost hated the person for saying it. I was so upset and confused and ready to join the army. As I ask myself that question, I want to say that if I were in the White House today that I would not only extend grace to Osama, but I would pray daily for his salvation (as I do now). Would that be the end of the war on Terror - if I had anything to say about it - yes! But it wouldn't end terrorism, or even terrorism in the United States. But it seems to be the teaching of Jesus. Forgive them no matter how many times they offend you.

The book makes me want to stop what I am doing and change the world one relationship at a time. An ordinary radical is a person who lives their life fighting injustice here and around the world - one relationship at a time. It is honestly the best book so far of 2007. I really don't know what to do with it. I really don't know what I should say or do after finishing such a thought provoking book. I am amazed at how much I can learn about the bible and not learn anything from the bible.

Lord, cleanse me of inactivity. Help me to use the authority given me to make this world a better place. The place you originally intended it to be. Thank you Lord, for making me new everyday. Thank you for your challenges and your trials. Thank you for sending people into my life to lovingly confront me. Lord thank you for creation, without it we wouldn't understand what life is really all about! Amen.

Philosophy Waltz

You Will Know It

Ms. Misunderstood

A Chucklement Revisited (A review of the Harry Potter Series)

In college we had many different ways that we could fill our Chapel quota for the semester, some were the regular morning chapels and some were evening chapel supplements. One of those chapel supplement series was hosted by our college pastor, Chuck, so they became affectionately coined, "Chucklements." Even though the guy officiated our wedding I didn't go to many of his chapels. One, however, sticks out more than any other.

I don't know what he was speaking on, but I do remember this statement (or something very close) If you want to be a writer leave the Christian fiction to someone else, write in the secular media and point people to Christ. He said the same about the movie industry and then talked about a former student of his who was currently working on many major motion pictures.

I have never forgotten about those statements.

I have just concluded the seventh and final story of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and I couldn't be more amazed. Not amazed in the "I love to be entertained" sense, but in the "way that the she was able to put the Christian story into the hands of millions and millions of people around the world!" Without letting the cat out of the bag, lets just say that Harry Potter is right up there with The Chronicles of Narnia in the British Fantasy Christian Allegory category.

I loved the series and am blessed to have read them.

Check this Out!

DUNLAP -- Inspired by a recent church mission trip, recent Concord High graduate Matt Schnaars decided to get moving.
"I just realized the need to start giving back what I have and start helping out others," Schnaars said. "I had plenty of time and resources and just decided to start using those."
Schnaars' youth pastor at Sugar Grove Church, Joel Wolfgang, gave him the topic of AIDS relief as a challenge, a concept Schnaars viewed as "a good place to start."
Wolfgang said Schnaars was motivated from the start.
"He came back (from the mission trip) really like 'I want to do something,'" Wolfgang said. "I told him about Blood:Water Mission and he decided to go for it."
Blood:Water Mission is an organization that contributes to AIDS relief in Africa by providing money to dig wells in villages without a clean water supply. A clean water supply fosters a clean blood supply, which leads to fewer AIDS cases transmitted through blood transfusions, Wolfgang said.
On Saturday, Schnaars will head up a walk-a-thon, rummage sale and bake sale from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Concord Junior High School practice track, 24050 C.R. 20, with all proceeds going to the organization.
"We're definitely hoping for over 300 people to show up," Schnaars said. "And a total of at least 1,000 miles walked that day. We're hoping to raise over $3,000."
Wolfgang said participation is easy, from shopping at the rummage sale to taking a few laps around the track. Because several local businesses have offered per person or per mile pledges, Schnaars will be asking all participants who walk to sign in and then record how many laps they walked.
"He's got fliers up all over this area asking people to come," Wolfgang said.



I'm really excited about this. When I was in college it was drilled into our heads that we would never see real success from youth ministry while the students were in our groups, but here is a great example of success. I'm so pumped about this. Shari and I are walking from 3 to 6 tomorrow.

If you've never heard of Blood:Water check out their site. They are doing some tremenous things!

Bridge Walking

When I was younger my family would take vacations to Mackinac City and we would have to cross the bridge at least once per day. It was thrilling! We loved it! My brothers and I would beg my dad to drive on the green part just to drive my Mom crazy! It was awesome. I don't remember when I heard that you could walk across the bridge on Labor Day, but I do remember my reaction. "I'm going to do it one day!"

Fast forward 6 years.

One day in youth group our youth pastor announced that we would be taking a trip to the bridge and walking across it to hand out tracts. I was the first to sign up on the list! I wanted to go more than anyone. The only problem was that I was supposed to hand out tracts. Well, I went I was given a large amount of tracts and a matching T-shirt and we went across. We were supposed to walk a little faster or slower with the crowd so that we were able to walk with several different people in order to share the gospel with them. The tracts we were given had a few tidbits of information in them about the Mackinac Bridge. So when we would come up to people we would ask "Do you want some free information about the bridge?" Most of them would say yes, and keep and we would keep moving. Well, the first person I came to I asked her if she wanted any information about the bridge and she quickly said that one of us had already gotten her. She was a little snippy and was probably upset after being deceived. I was a little thrown off by her and went further ahead and went to hand a father pushing a baby carriage 'some free information' when he stopped me told me that he didn't want it and that he was upset that he had been deceived already. He then asked me a question that I've never forgotten, Why do you feel as though you had to hide your message behind bridge facts? I didn't know what to say, so I asked him if I could tell him my message. He quickly said no, and I ran on ahead. After that confrontation I couldn't give out another tract, half scared and half thinking that we had evangelism all wrong, I just couldn't do it. Right near the end I just wanted to get off of the bridge so I ran the last 100 years or so and I tripped and fell on one of the bridge extension points I fell hard! 100 or so tracts flew into the air and went everywhere. People of all ages started laughing heavily out loud and in my direction. No one helped me up, no one helped me pick up my tracts. It was absolutely miserable. I think what I realized is that these people had all been deceived by our group by given them information on the bridge that they were happy that something had happened to one of us.

The problem is I think that they had the right to laugh. They had been deceived by Christians.

There was no relationship. I didn't work on a relationship with anybody on that walk. I just wanted to talk about how Jesus died and rose again, but I didn't want to act out how he lived. I just finished reading the book of Matthew and I was absolutely amazed at how Jesus lived, and how that is a part of the GOSPEL of Matthew. We neglect that Jesus spent years with people building relationships with those around him.

Evangelism is hard, because it involves relationships.

Greetings from Georgia

Hello all,

Sorry again for the long delay of updates. Shari and I took a much needed vacation and I was happy to free myself from the internet once again. This vacation has been what we've needed, so we decided to stay an extra day! I'm pumped. I've got a lot to talk about in the coming weeks. I am really hoping to more of an active participant in Robb's Emerging Theological Mosaic discussion that was supposed to only be for the month of June. Which by the way I believe will make an excellent 5 week teaching come next Spring.

As the month of July ends I feel as though I've taken the entire month off. This of course isn't true in the slightest, but I have for the most part been away from my office, desk and chair. It has been wonderfully refreshing to me. I just stared reading a new book yesterday, one that a student recommended, The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Clayborne. It has been nothing but challenging and uncomfortable. I love it! I'm sure that I will blog more about it later.

I've also just put down Harry Potter 7, fascinating! I've come to the realization that fiction is fiction. I know that I will blog more about this at a later time. So here's to the last day of July, we will see you in August!

Back from Poland

Hey all

Shari and I just got back from Poland on Saturday Evening. We had an amazing experience. So, sorry for the hiatus, but there will be pictures soon. I promise! I've got some good ones from the beautiful land of the Poles.

Update #4

Update 4 – July 10, 2007

VBS started today. The team was really excited to begin as we got to the coffeehouse. Our point for the day was that God is real. Katie D. told the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 and did an experiment with vinegar and baking soda. Then the kids went to Dawn and did crafts. They made a paper basket with fish and bread in it. Next it was off to games with Sarah where we played with the parachute in the school gym. As we came back, we ate our snack and learned the verse in both Polish and English. This was quite an experience for the team that was teaching that day because it was the first time for some to talk with a translator. Everyone was so excited that we had 20 kids at VBS today! Doubling what they had last year on the first day. After VBS, we ate our real polish lunch; Yum Periogis! Then we had a couple of hours of free time to relax. We spent some of it at Real, a wal-mart type store with mall stores built inside the front part. Then back to the coffee house to grill and have kielbasa. We probably consumed a ton of it. (At least the boys did) The rain cancelled our planned scavenger hunt for CX, so instead we hung out in the coffee house and played games with the teens there.

So far, the food here hasn’t been too bad. Monday we had chicken, potatoes, veggies and chicken soup. We all loved it. Today, like I said we had periogis, soup and beet salad. The opinion on whether the beet salad and soup were good was definitely split. We are definitely looking forward to what we will have tomorrow. Monday was probably our first taste of polish food in Poland, except for those who ate kielbasa at the Castle we visited on Sunday.. Carlene and the other leaders spoiled us by feeding us familiar food and letting us go to McDonalds after church on Sunday.


Every night before bed, we meet as a team to debrief the day. Starting with VBS, it came out that watching Katie Dean teach was like watching her mom Jan teach a story. It was like she was channeling her mom while she was teaching Jesus feeding the 5000. Then we started sharing fun stories about our night at the coffee house. Matt S. challenged us to go around the room and share how we had seen God working in this trip or in our lives. We laughed, Katie D. cried, but mostly we laughed. We discovered that we had a new team record for most kielbasas eaten in one sitting. Matt P. holds the record with 11. Most of the girls could only handle one. We have one prayer request for Jacob (Say the J like a Y) He is a teen from the coffee house that Pastor Joel and some others have been talking with. He claims to be an atheist, and Pastor Joel and the guys say he is so close to believing. Please pray for Pastor Joel and the guys as they talk with him about Christianity and for Jacob that he would just be open to God’s leading.

~ The Updaters

P.S. Devon says hi!


Important Information for the Leaders…

The team asked us today to remind everyone that they are unable to respond to you all in email, because we have such limited time and access to internet. Please know that they are receiving all or your emails and have found it very encouraging. So please continue to write them. There have been some complications with sending out pictures so from now on to see pictures go to www.sgcyouth.com and look at Pastor Joel’s blog. We are also posting the updates there. There have been other issues with not all of the emails getting through to everyone on our support team, but know we are doing everything in our power to make this a smooth process. Despite the issues with emails, we are doing our best to keep our focus on what God has brought us to Poland to do. Please be patient with us.

Thanks

Poland

So we are in Poland and I don't have the greatest amounts of time to post, so I'll direct you to http://extremelycoolpj.blogspot.com/ this is my youth group blog. We've posted our email updates on there along with some pictures. I hope you enjoy!

June in the Books

Well, June 2007 was the best month ever for R&R! I don't think I have ever posted so much. We will see how July goes, being in Poland and all! Thanks to all who read!

Rachel at The Springs...

Here is one of our girls at camp. She is trying to catch an M&M in her mouth. I think I can see it!

Poland 2007

You know we are still missing 6 passports, but we do have a t-shirt design!

What do you think?

The Springs...

So, we travelled 4 hours up to camp yesterday to take four senior high students. It was fun! Shari and I decided that we would stay up there for one night, I haven't seen camp programming in two year. Man, do I miss it! I get my fix once a year in February for our big winter retreat, but I still miss it. Everything seemed to be going well. So, keep up the good work guys.

Their Super Sweet 16

So, a couple of girls celebrated one of their friends sweet 16 by doing this!

VBS Day 5...

Me: "Colin...Colin...? Oh there you are...I didn't expect to find you so fast..."

Colin: "umm...I...think...I......want to go home now...."

Me: "Do you want to sing songs?"

Colin: "no"

Me: "Do you want to listen to the story?"

Colin: "no"

Me: "umm...what do you want to do today at VBS?"

Colin: "umm...I...think...I......want to go home now...."

Here's to one long VBS week!

VBS Day 4

"Colin...Colin...Colin...Colin?...Colin!?! Where's Colin? Uggghhh!"

10 minutes later...

"I was hiding!"

VBS Day 3

Colin...would you like a snack?

No...I'm not hungry (too much name tage eating!)

Evangelism...

So, working in VBS has me thinking about the church and how it should evangelize. I'm going to write some thoughts here and I invite discussion.


First let me define Evangelism. Evangelism is the process in which a person is challenged about and brought into the Christian faith.


1. Evangelism should be hard!
It shouldn't be so easy that we can 'accidentally' find ourselves in this situation. This decision isn't something that we choose it is something that we are given. In that respect we should make it hard - cloud it in mystery. Tell someone who is about ready to accept this life about the trials. Jesus didn't beat around the bush. He told the good and the bad. People left him because of it. Why should we be any different.

2. Evangelism is for everyone!
I remember during a 7th grade Sunday School class on Evangelism and how our teacher told us flat out that she didn't need to Evangelize because she was a seed-planter and it wasn't her spiritual gift. We are all called to share the Good News of Jesus. We need to leave their decision to accept it to the Sovereignty of God.

3. Evangelism is relational!
Every 4th of July, Parade, County Fair, or for that matter any large public event I attend I can assure you that I will be stopped by someone with a very large bible who is handing out black and white tracts. They will talk very fast and I won't get a word in edge wise (to tell them I am a pastor) before they are at the end of their gospel presentation that may or may not condemn me to hell if I don't turn. It makes me sick. This person doesn't care about me; I hate to say this but its as if they only care about the number of people they 'bring with them into heaven.' Evangelism is a relationship that matures, and I assure you that this can be so much more valuable than large numbers (it can also be larger numbers of people - but that is another post). I remember a professor of mine telling those of us in his class about how a family moved into the house next door and he developed a relationship with the husband and it took 3 years of relationship building before he accepted Christ.

4. Evangelism should be small!
I really don't think that large evangelistic events aren't very profitable; at least not in today's society. We have several people accept Christ as savior at our VBS every year, but the fact is that none of them, unless their family attended our church prior to the program, start attending our church. In fact we lose contact with them until they show up next summer. Don't get me wrong I don't think we should stop doing these types of programs. I think that these programs would serve the church family better if they were an invitation to start attending a particular program or weekly event through the church. Thus beginning a relationship with them.

Those are just a few thoughts... I'm curious to know what you think

VBS...Days 1 & 2

Well, I decided to volunteer at VBS this week. I love working with kids and I've heard that our church does a fantastic job at running a VBS program. Well, they weren't kidding! It is really run well, of course there is plenty of room for improvement, but the kids really seem like they are enjoying it...

Day 1
"Colin...Colin...Colin...Colin...Colin...Stop eating your name tag..."

Day2
"Colin...Colin...Colin...Colin...Colin...What did I tell you yesterday...name tags are not for eating..."

Bob Barker on Letterman Last Night....

I just saw this video on Yahoo! and thought I'd pass it along. Letterman's Top Ten was the top 10 things that Bob Barker can say now that he's retiring... I'll list them here, they are funny!

10. "We get the prizes cheap because they're stolen."

9. "The actual retail price of the retirement watch CBS gave me...$17.95."

8. "Before we give them away, I personally try out every Hot Tub."

7. "Slip daddy some cash and the showcase showdown wheel lands where ever you want."

6. "Sleeping in 'till noon and playing golf all day, come on down."

5. "Howie Mandell may be a younger game show host, but at least I still have my hair."

4. "I only wish Regis were alive to see this."

3. "On my last show I'm going to tell people to go neuter themselves."

2. "I'm not only a game show host, I'm also Spider-Man."

1. "Some older people have the good sense to retire....unlike Letterman."

I laughed out loud when I saw this, thought you might as well.

Rob Join's the Blogging Community...

My brother-in-law Rob finally joins the blogging community. I added him to the friend's site links (which I'm sure Tammi hasn't done yet - you have to at least have 1 post per week for at least 2 years to get your link on her site! Not here on R&R!). Listen you've got to check his site out! He's got some great posts here is a taste:

What to post about?
What's on your Ipod?

This is just a taste. This guy really knows what to say when everyone is listening... Like this:

Cavs...different night same result...

This has to be my dumbest post...Welcome to net Rob

Charity altogether good for you!

I just read this article on Yahoo! It seems to say what we already know, but I always find those things interesting. He is a clip:

Knowing your money is going to a good cause can activate some of the same pleasure centers in your brain as food and sex, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

People who participated in a study got a charge knowing that their money went to a charity -- even when the contribution was mandatory, like a tax. They felt even better when they voluntarily made a donation, researchers found.

Ulrich Mayr, a psychology professor at the University of Oregon, said the research sheds light on the nature of altruism and could help people feel better about being taxed.

"It shows that in an ideal world you could have a tax situation where you could be a satisfied taxpayer," said Mayr, whose study appeared in the journal Science.

In the study, Mayr and two economists gave 19 women volunteers $100 each and then tracked their brain activity in a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner.

The women were shown their money automatically being transferred from their account to a local food bank.

When the money reached the food bank account, it activated portions of the brain -- the caudate nucleus and the nucleus accumbens -- known for pleasure. The effect was even greater when the people got to choose to give the money away.

Verlander with a No Hitter!

So while I was at Cedar Point, Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers throws the first no hitter by a Detroit pitcher in Detroit since 1952!

I'm impressed, but what is even better is that with that win the Tigers move into a tie with Cleveland for first place!

Cedar Point

So we took the Senior High to Cedar Point yesterday and we had a blast. It took forever to get into the park because of the long lines at the group sales counter, but we still had a blast.

The crazy thing was that Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace of the Detroit Pistons were there! We were on our way to ride the Iron Dragon (I know it's not the most glamorous ride), and the guy sitting at the front of the line said that they had just walked by. I gave my cell phone number out to all the teens before we went into the park and I was getting phone calls all day from people telling me that they had seen these guys. I was really getting bummed because I was the Detroit fan, and I wasn't getting to see these guys (Shari saw them on three different occasions). Finally it was the end of the night and we were trying to gather up all of the teens. And who would walk by Tayshaun and Rasheed within 5 feet and all of their family and their bodyguards and publicists. It was a beautiful thing!

Anyway the trip was pretty good we only had one problem that needed to be dealt with, and that's pretty good considering we had 26 students.

What?!?....Paris?

So Just read this article. I'm sure most of you saw it on the view.

Movie Review...Ocean's 13

Well, just saw Ocean's 13 tonight (after our try last night) and we got through it with no problems.

Well, it was true to the Las Vegas feel of the 11 and the unorganized (yet organized) plot of 12. It made sense and it was original in the storyline. But lets be honest how many things that "can't be done" can there be? You have to reinvent the wheel, you can't just make the same thing work over and over again. The crazy thing is that I loved it. The same things work for me. I like it! It was entertaining! I watched 2:20:00 worth of a movie and was entertained from beginning to end. I was excited for Linus and loved watching Brad Pitt eat (thanks for that one Jacob).

4 out of 5 stars.

Leslie's Movies V

It is interesting that movie number "V" was V for Vendetta. This was an interesting little flick. I think I'll need to watch it again to get everything I can out of it. What I liked about it was the anitbrickworld themes in the movie. I loved the push against extreme religion. Being a pastor it sounds a little weird for me to say that I liked a movie against organized religion, but what really stood out were the themes of justice and choice as opposed to fear and dictatorship.

I think I'll give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Waiting on 7

We taking this trip to Poland in a couple of weeks, and we are only waiting on 7 out of 13 passports! What a year to plan a foreign missions trip! Here is an article from Fox News.

Local Youth Pastor Gets Kicked Out of Theatre

How about that headline Justin? So, it wasn't that dramatic. Shari and I went to the theatre to go and see Oceans 13 tonight and much to our chagrin the lights went out just 6 minutes before the movie was going to start. We were sitting in the threatre being completely entertained by the guys behind us playing "flashlight tag" with there cell phones. A police officer comes in and tells us that a power transformer went out and that we probably wont get to see our movie. 5 minutes later a theatre employee comes in to tell us to leave. We can come back anytime and show them our ticket stub and get in to see another movie of our choice, but I really wanted to see Ocean's 13 tonight. What's funny is that they still have my money and that even though I haven't seen the movie, my dollars will count towards movie's totals.

Who knows maybe we'll go tomorrow night!

Brake Pads...

Just replaced the brake pads on our car today for the 3rd time since we moved to Indiana (3rd time in less than a year). I'm a little upset, and if we have to do this again, lifetime warranty!

Jacob Tyler Wolfgang

So, I finally got Jacob and Sarah in for a concert. I was so pumped and so were several of the teens. Jacob and Sarah came up to help us out with worship at our winter retreat, Reality Check, and they also did a concert of his original music for us (I missed it, all part of being a youth pastor). Anyway they came on Wednesday and we video taped it and recorded it. We've got all the stuff, and we needed the practice of it, so now we have the raw footage, and hopefully soon Jacob will have video from that show on his website!

Thanks guys for coming out and doing the show!

SGC Youth Cafe

So we had this great idea to start a cafe in our youth room. The idea was to get a bunch of concessions style food and drink and sell it at youth events and activities, and take any profits and give it to missions. These kids bring so much to youth group anyway, I thought it would be a lot better way for the youth to do something other than line the pockets of someone else.

Well, we did no advertising, at Jacob and Sarah's concert we opened it and we made $3.50! What a good night! I'm sure it will only go up from there.

Jacob and Sarah

You know it interesting if I were to drive a little ways (440 miles) down the road (I-80) I would eventually run into Des Moines, IA, and near there is where my brother and sister-in-law live. Now I don't know why it seems so infrequent that we get to see each other, but it seems rare. Although, when making trips to Lansing Jacob often stops for a day or even for lunch. Its quite fun. I absolutely love it when they stop by. Well, they just left yesterday morning. They did a concert for a youth group night at church on Wednesday (I'll blog about this later). But it was really nice to see them again.

Thanks for coming guys...I know its our turn to drive the dreaded 440!

Cluster Blog time...

Jacob and Sarah
Jacob and Sarah's concert
SGC Youth Cafe
Getting kicked out the theatre
Brakes

They are all to come...

Personal Story

So I asked the Poland team to write down their personal stories, testimonies, for our trip. I told them I would go first and I did. So here is my personal story. Let me know what you think. Even you Mom!

My life before Christ
Growing up in a little town with two younger brothers we had plenty of opportunities to get into trouble. I had a family who knew God and what he could do. My dad would take my brothers and I to church every Sunday morning and most evening services. My parents loved me, and supported me. They took care of me and provided for all of my needs.

How I met Christ
While always being at church, my entire social life was consumed with church activities. One Sunday morning our teacher in the children’s church program asked if anyone would like to “accept Jesus Christ as their savior”. I raised my hand really not knowing what I was doing. Several of us went into a back room and there another teacher explained that we all do bad things – remembering some of the things that my brothers and I would do – I quickly realized that I had done quite a few bad things. He also told us that those bad things are called sin. He showed from the Bible that all people sin and how they can’t have a relationship with God because of it. It even says that those who sin deserve eternal death. He then started talking about this man named Jesus and how Jesus was God and that Jesus died and three days later came back to life to cover for our sin so that we could have a relationship with him.

That day I asked Jesus to come into my life and cover for my sin. I asked him to save me from eternal death; I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior, so that I could have a forever relationship with God.

My life since I met Christ
Since I met Christ I’ve had a focus. I really try my best to learn as much about Jesus as I possibly can. I learned that he desires for me to be like him. So, I try my best and with his help I am becoming more and more like he is. Life is not perfect, but it seems better than those who don’t have this relationship. I’ve also committed my life to share this story with people. I want people to have what I have from Jesus.

12:45 in the AM

5 people on the blog at 12:45 AM

Elkhart, IN (me)
North Hamton, MA
United States (I think that this you Justin)
Bonnie, IL
Toyko, Japan

Drop a comment they are always welcome...

May in the books!

So, I have never posted more than I did in the month of May! Kudos to me. I hope your enjoying. What your reading and being pointed towards.

Leslie's Movies IV - Fever Pitch

So, what half-way decent baseball fan will forget the year the Red Sox won the WS? This was an amazing year! I hate the Red Sox, and a true Tigers' fan, but who in there right mind could forget about coming back form 3 games down in game 4 of the ALCS and then winning the series? I did like the love story as it intertwined throughout the season. That was very enjoyable. Overall I'd have to say that I was more entranced with the story of the Red Sox more that I was with the Guy and Girl. Maybe its the inner sports guy, but that's where I am.

3 out of 5 stars

Three more movies from Leslie
The Guardian
V for Vendetta
Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Join the Hunt!

Just found this...don't ask me how I found this. Here is a webcam of Loch Ness in a search for the Loch Ness Monster. Remember that they are 5 hours ahead of us.

Leslie's Movies III - Take the Lead

Again I'm not the biggest fan of Antonio Bandaris. In fact I really didn't like Puss in Boots from Shrek.

I liked this one, it was a wonderful picture of redemption and grace. I really enjoyed it.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Leslie's Movies II - Music and Lyrics

For all of you Hugh Grant fans...finally something to compare to Notting Hill. Beautful and engaging and amzingly funny romantic comedy. I must say that when Shari showed me that she had picked out this movie to watch I wasn't really that impressed by it. I wasn't looking forward to it and I really didn't want to watch it when she picked it up last night. I was completely surprised when we started to watch it. It was awesome!

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Its nice to have you back Hugh!

Ryan and Andrea

Just had a great Memorial Day weekend. Ryan flew down again (two weekends in a row) and this time he stopped in Grand Rapids and picked up our friend Andrea. We had a great time. It was so nice to see old friends again. I hope you guys come down again real soon.

thanks guys

Leslie's Movies - The Holiday

So, our friend Leslie let us borrow several of her movies, some that I have always want to see or didn't want to see in the theatres. So I thought that I would give them the honor of writing about them. Here we go...

The first Leslie movie we saw was The Holiday. Kate Winslett and Cameron Diaz switch houses for the Christmas season to get away from negative relationships and wind up finding new ones. It was cute and friendly but not all that believable. But I think that is the point, writers say, "let make a story that is just outside of reality", because I think that's where American audiences live, just outside of reality.

Overall The Holiday get 2 out of 5 stars from me. I wouldn't buy it.

More Flying Pics...

As promised more pics of Elkhart County from above...

This is our house, well, at least the right half of the blue house is where we live...

This is the backside of the church

We did a touch and go at the South Bend airport and the landing path took us right over Notre Dames Football Stadium.

We had a great time! Thanks Ryan!

Heroes Season One!

Oh Man!

I really enjoyed Volume One of Heroes. It kept me in enough suspense to keep watching. I really enjoyed the premise and the originality of the series. I know it critics say that it is too much like the X-Men, but no there is something different there. There is something more. The philosophy behind it is more. I'm not sure I can put my finger on it yet, but maybe soon. Hopefully this is a show that will be around for years to come. I think they can come up with some very interesting story lines. The first season took place over a 6 week time span (it ended on November 8th, 2006). Some of the characters just met for the first time in the last episode. These people have just discovered that they are powerful, and that they can do many good things over time.

Well, I'm looking forward to Volume Two. a couple of teasers in the show were Molly saying there is someone that can see her when she thinks about him and Hiro being sent back in time to 17th century Japan. Can't wait!

Season One on DVD August 28th!

Overhead!

So, Ryan flew down and took Shari and I for a ride in the plane. Here is a shot of our church from above.

There will be more soon!

Umm...Over Their Heads?

So I had my students do this activity yesterday morning. They had to look at four passages that mentions the Day of the Lord and write down some descriptions about it. It didn't go over to well I even had leaders struggle. So, I'll do it really fast and see what I think.



Joel 2:28-3:3
The sun and moon will turn to blood.
People will unjustly party.
People will prophesy.
Bloodshed.


Amos 5:18-27
It will be of darkness and not light.
It will be one bad thing after another.
It will be a time of hopelessness, and suffering.
Worshipping God may be futile.


Obadiah 15
God will judge the godless nations.

Malachi 4:1-6
Fire will consume the wicked.

Was it over their heads? I don't know. I can't remember the last time I was led through a study in the minor prophets.

Spider-Man 4

Hey, Shari just found this. Spider-Man 4 villians will be Lizard and Carnage. Very cool!

Heroes: Origins

Here is another article, a lot better article.

Heroes: Origins

Ok, not too excited about this. I love Heroes, but this new spin-off, Heroes: Origens, doesn't look that great. It features a possible Heroes character than fans vote for this character to be on season 3. Not really excited for it. Eh, but who knows.

The Bible...For Adults Only?

I just read this article on Fox News and laughed out loud. I say let them put the ban on it. More kids will probably read it that way anyway!

Cavemen

Cavemen is one of the new shows that ABC is plotting for this upcoming fall. The show is based on the Geico commercials. I don't know. I don't think I'll pay any attention to it!

Spider-Man 3

So, its been a week, I feel that I can let my honest opinion about the movie out without feeling guilty about spoiling the movie to you faithful readers, (caution: spoilers ahead!)

I liked it. I didn't love it, but I liked it. I feel as though they packed too much into this one film. Plotline summery:

• Peter Parker and Mary Jane fight
• Ben Parker's true killer, Flint Marko, is revielled and escapes to find that his daughter's sick.
• He winds up caught in the middle of the Particle Physics Experiment and his DNA becomes infused with sand - Sandman.
• Peter Parker starts to wear the Black suit of the Marsian Symbiote.
• Peter becomes dark - vengful
• He then creates a competitor of Eddie Brock at the paper.
• A lot of revenge situations take place.
• There is a lot about the Mary Jane/Peter Parker relationship (they get married eventually - and divorsed).
• Peter loses the symbiote and it comes to Eddie Brock - who now hates Peter Parker - Eddie then becomes Venom (even though the name Venom only appears in the ending credits.
• A lot happens with Harry Osborn
• Mary Jane gets kidnapped by Venom and Sandman (who have now teamed up - possible sinister six reference)
• Peter and Harry fight Venom and Sandman
• Peter kills the symbiote and Eddie kills himself by running towards the symbiote when Peter blows it up.
• Peter lets Sandman go - Forgives him for killing his uncle Ben.

Ok, here we go. I don't think they should have killed Venom. I felt that it would have been better to set up Venom in Spider-Man 4 so as to develop the character. I felt as though the ending should have been the fight with Sandman. And when everything is over there be a scene of Venom webslinging. I felt as though by killing Venom that the possible storylines of Carnage and Toxin have disappeared from all hopes of becoming a movie.

All in all though, I thought it was better than most people are saying it was. I definately thought that you couldn't do 7 Spider-Man movies without doing the Venom storyline. What I like about Spider-Man is the inner conflict that Peter has. Struggling with what is right and what is easy. Using his new found ability to help others, and taking care of people. I love that real aspect to the character, and I love that they brought it to the movies.

Movie Rating: B-

Tigers RSS

So, I've decided to celebrate the success of my Detroit Tigers by putting their news feed on the blog. I'm pumped...I hope that there are those of you who are too.

Support the Big D!

Of Wine and Heaven

I just listened to this sermon by Rob Bell yesterday and found it truly compelling. When thinking of the end times we rarely think about what the Old Testament says and we rarely think about what the original authors frame of reference was.

This is the link to the Mars Hill website's podcast link. The teaching is called Wine and Heaven.

More and More

So, I am writing a teaching series through the book of I Thessalonians and I am working through chapter four, and I stumbled onto something a little interesting. Chapter four has three parts (verses 1-8, 9-12, and 13-18). In 1-8 Paul is talking about how the people of Thessalonica are living like Christ, but - in verse one - should do it more and more, and then talks about how sexual immorality can screw that up. In 9-12 Paul is talking about how good these people are at loving each other as siblings, but - in verse ten - that they should do it more and more. In 13-18 (this is the classic reference for rapture theology) Paul describes the return of Christ like a 1st century wedding. Everything that Christ does in those verses is what the Bride-groom would do. There would be a trumpet call and loud shouting and then the groom would come to the bride. I believe in a marriage relationship it doesn't just start and never move or progress. In fact it is in constant movement - hopefully forward! Paul is telling these people to have a relationship with God. He wants their relationship with God to be more and more. I find this fascinating! And all to often we rip it out of context and make it say what we want it to say.

I just attended a funeral for a three year old...

Can I just say one thing...awkward.

That's what it was, awkward. Death shouldn't come so young. Death shouldn't seem so real. Death shouldn't be. I didn't know the boy, I've never met him. I knew the family. Keegan had an uncle, Chad, who is in the youth group. So I came to show my support to the family. The funeral was awkward - in the most respectful way possible.

I wondered down the hall from my office to the sancuary just moments before the funeral was to start. I found a seat, and seconds later a coworker sat next to me. We don't normally spend a lot of time together - awkward. It was cold, I don't know if it was emotions or the air conditioning was up to high, but it was awkward. The oranist played, "Jesus Loves Me" followed directly by "Jesus Loves the Little Children." Both seem obvious choices for a funeral of a child, but somehow out of place - awkward. Just into the second stanza of "'Jesus Loves the Little Children" a baby near the back started to cry loud enough that it would be appropriate for the mother to take him out, but from somewhere it felt good to hear. It was ok. She took her son into the foyer to comfort him and attend to his needs, but some how some way I felt as though it would be a good idea to tell her to stop, the baby's cry felt good - awkward. I didn't say anything, I couldn't speak. It felt wrong to speak. Seconds later the funeral director asked us to sit closer together so that more people could fit - awkward. Just then a tiny casket - awkward - came rolling into the room followed by many family members. It was the exact opposite of a wedding. All the people were of all ages, heights, weights, and used various means of walking (i.e. canes, wheelchairs, others shoulders) their walk was awkward. Just then the organist played "It is Well with My Soul" - awkward - a good song, and seemly would fit knowing the history of the song, but still - awkward.

I could go on and on, but just to say that it didn't feel right, and it shouldn't have. Death is so unnatural, and so against everything that God does and is that it can't be good.

Serving with Eyes Wide Open

Just finished Serving with Eyes Wide Open by David Livermore. This is a book about our approach to Short-term missions. I am particularly intrigued with this subject because I am leading a trip to Poland this summer with a bunch of 10th - 12th grade students. I am looking forward to it, but the more I read Livermore's book I realized that I was enabling them. I wasn't giving them the tools to succeed, but rather giving them the short simplified answers that I think that they need to get the job done right (whatever that means). I always love a good book that will change my perspective on a subject.

I want to read books that will blow me away, not books that will just support what I all ready know. I want to read books that will blow me away by supporting what I already know. This book did just that. It took the passion I have to see the world as the kingdom and practically showed me how I can teach that to my students while on a short-term missions trip.

Thanks Dr. Livermore

Jacob Tyler Wolfgang

So Jacob just finished recording his new albumn a few weeks ago, and he has some of the music up on his MySpace (not to be confused with ThySpace). You can also purchase the cd for only $5.49 here!

Jacob is coming to Goshen to do a show at Youth Group on June 6th. He did our worship for our winter retreat this past January and the students here seemed to really like Jacob and his music. He did a show for us on Saturday Night and students were waltzing to his famous Philosophy Waltz.

So, check the CD out! Let me know what you think! I personally enjoy Sarah's vocals on the Bless Our Burning Heart!

Great Job guys.

ThySpace

ThySpace is a version of MySpace created solely for Bob Jones University Students, check this quote out!









ThySpace will be launched this fall at the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year and will only be available and accessible to Bob Jones students on campus. Students will be able to customize there own home page and list their favorite classes at Bob Jones, their favorite Bob Jones III quote, their favorite Bob Jones choir music that they like to listen to, and their favorite food at the Bob Jones Dining Common. In addition, students may post pictures of themselves so long as they were taken on the campus of the university, and they may regularly blog about the things they have learned during Sunday AM services at the Founders' Memorial Apithorium."What this will do is increase our community." Said Jones. "You take a good idea, like MySpace, and you tweak it just a bit and you get what we have here with ThySpace."The site will be free to use by all campus students, and will be monitored by the school's staff to avoid any inappropriate remarks being made. Furthermore, under no circumstances may students of the opposite sex add each other as friends."We're here to show the world that we at Bob Jones University can be old fashioned and yet use new things." Said Jones. "But we're not going to compromise though. We're here to stand in the gap and show the world how Christians should live."

2007 Book List

My former boss, Robb Ryerse, has since college read one book per week. I thought that this was amazing so now I am trying to accomplish the same feat. Granted, I'm not doing so hot, but track with me on the right hand side of the screen as we read the books.

London to New York

So I just wanted to see what would happen if I tried to get directions from London to New York.

I like step 37!

check it out here!

Catholic Thoughs?!?

So I just found this article on Fox News and I was intrigued by it so greatly I wanted to hear your opinions on it.

Here are a few highlights:

Hell is a place where sinners really do burn in an everlasting fire, and not just a religious symbol designed to galvanize the faithful, the Pope said.

The pope, who as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was head of Catholic doctrine, noted that "forgiveness of sins" for those who repent was a cornerstone of Christian belief. He recalled that Jesus had forgiven the "woman taken in adultery" and prevented her from being stoned to death, observing: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."


God had given men and women free will to choose whether "spontaneously to accept salvation ... the Christian faith is not imposed on anyone, it is a gift, an offer to mankind."



Thoughts?

I'm curious. Albeit it sounds Arminian - but still prodestant!

Placing Bible Teaching Back into Schools...

Time has this article up on its website and I found it interesting and I thought that I would share it with all of you! Enjoy! Here are a few sinipits...

By which she meant an official attendance roll. Because the day was Thursday, not Sunday. And the location was not Oakwood Baptist Church, a mile down Texas State Highway 46, but New Braunfels High School, a public school that began offering a Bible-literacy class last fall. The class has its share of conservative Christians. Front-row center sat Rachel Williams, 18, whose mother does teach Sunday school at Oakwood. But not 20 ft. away sat a blond atheist who asked that her name not be used because she hasn't outed herself to her parents. Why take a Bible class? I asked her. "Some of my friends are Christian," she said, shrugging, "and they would argue about, like, whether you can be a Christian and believe in evolution, and I'm like, Okaaaay ... clueless." Williams signed up for a similar reason. "If somebody is going to carry on a sophisticated conversation with me, I would rather know what they're talking about than look like a moron or fight my way through it," she says. The class has "gotten a lot of positive feedback," she adds. "It's going to really rise in popularity."

The same might be said about public-school courses on the Bible nationwide. There aren't that many. But they're rising in popularity. Last year Georgia became the first state in memory to offer funds for high school electives on the Old and New Testaments using the Bible as the core text. Similar funding was discussed in several other legislatures, although the initiatives did not become law. Meanwhile, two privately produced curriculums crafted specifically to pass church-state muster are competing for use in individual schools nationwide. Combined, they are employed in 460 districts in at least 37 states. The numbers are modest, but their publishers expect them to soar. The smaller of the two went into operation just last year but is already into its second 10,000-copy printing, has expressions of interest from a thousand new districts this year and expects many more. The larger publisher claims to be roughly doubling the number of districts it adds each year. These new curriculums plus polls suggesting that over 60% of Americans favor secular teaching about the Bible suggest that a Miss Kendrick may soon be talking about Matthew in a school near you.

Justin I particularly wondered if you had any thoughts here!

Underwear Work

So today Shari has a doctor's appointment and I thought about it and I decided that it wasn't worth running back and forth to work all morning so I'm staying home this morning and working. You know it's kind of nice. I don't have to hear the phone ring every 30 seconds and it's really quiet. Well, I hope I can get some stuff done.

A New Way to Look at Jesus...

So I've recently reading books that challenge the things I've been taught about Jesus. No, not anything heretical (i.e. God-Man, death/burial/ressurection - I'm still with you on these things), but things about his ministry. Things that I think we often miss.

Philosophical/Theological Rant
Our modern view of Jesus and the Bible has only put him and it in a box. I mean we don't even let the bible speak for itself when it comes to the text. We find this need to split it up to explain away any so-called "inconsistancies" only because we miss the big picture.

Back on Task
The Bible is one big and very cool story. Jesus' message of caring for people isn't a new concept! Creation was very good as God proclaimed, and then we screwed it up - and we continue to screw it up. But God entered the world through a family (Israel), and began to redeem it. He began to mold it and change it and shape this sinful, chaotic place into something completely different - in fact opposite of what it was. He was making it beautiful and good again!

Jesus comes along and he's preaching the same message. The message of God turning this place back into something good. The message of hope for this earth. The message of people doing extraordinary things to help overturn the cart and make this sinful, chaotic place beautiful and full of order.

Why don't we do that? Why don't we get involved and make this place beautiful? Why don't we make this place wonderful?

Things are completely different than they were in Jesus' day. I really don't live in fear of my life everyday, like some do. I don't need to worry about where I am going to live or food on my table. My basic needs are covered. I don't even worry about the our country being attacked and overthrown and occupied. I don't have to worry about those things. Don't you think that has something to do with Jesus' message?

I'm still thinking about this and I'm not sure where I'll land.