::..:: gathering my way ::..::
February 26, 2005
john o'keefe of ginkworld fame and i with the help of many are creating a new ezine/forum called WAYK. here is an article about what we want it to be, a place to exchange ideas and build a new expression of the Kingdom of the Living God. so if you have a need to speak in a way that will build and not destroy let us know. a new site will be coming soon so stay tuned.
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February 25, 2005
last sunday was the first time in about a few years that i enjoyed going to church. not that i have been upset with God or feeling distant from God but church has just been a struggle for me. been to house churches mega churches with all the same feeling, apathy. maybe it was the struggle i had been going through over the past years with how and where i fit as a leader maybe its just anger maybe its just selfishness. part of it is seeing people speak about faith and than actually doing it or not doing it that has changed my view. we have been attending a large church and i get a wonderful sense of adventure and openness there and feel at home there, thank you God for that. psalm 84:10 says, (Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.) and now i can feel that joy again. maybe i feel i have been in the tents of the wicked at times but that sounds harsh and bitter yet i know i have been bitter and angry in the past about church. forgive me for that Lord. yet with all this joy i still feel restless that i need to be in a church somewhere loving others doing "ministry" full time that may sound corrupt to some but i am just tired of trying to find the right place do the right thing and be the right person, this restlessness wont go away so it must be there for a reason there is so much in my life that is right, sydney, our family, adopting more children and God is in all of it yet God has called me to more this journey is amazing and i dont think i would change a thing and i am thankful for that
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February 20, 2005
so we are waiting again for our new children to come home. paperwork is holding up the process. anna had a twin that died over two years ago and all the documents about her and simeon have their siblings name on them so they need to redo all the documents and it seems one person is reluctant to write a new document for some reason so we wait.
also we will be having two other people living with us over the next months. arsene (23) a new friend who is engaged to marry our dear friend debe will be coming here within the month. he is from the ivory coast and a world class sprinter who had full ride at howard university until a past coach decided he wasnt going to run for anyone if not them. so he is without his scholarship and his job and is coming to live with us. he has had a difficult life with friends and family being killed in ivory coast yet has an amazing humbleness about him that is disarming. he is a passionate follower of Christ and will be a great addition to our house. we need a few things for him though like a couch, small refrig, rug, a desk, and he needs a job.
the other guest is a friend of our oldest son jacob. chris will be living with us after the school year is up at mount st joe. sydney and i had been thinking about starting a type of internship for young people interested in seeing a large family at work i guess God is already doing it for us.
pray for anna and simeon and for arsene and chris
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also we will be having two other people living with us over the next months. arsene (23) a new friend who is engaged to marry our dear friend debe will be coming here within the month. he is from the ivory coast and a world class sprinter who had full ride at howard university until a past coach decided he wasnt going to run for anyone if not them. so he is without his scholarship and his job and is coming to live with us. he has had a difficult life with friends and family being killed in ivory coast yet has an amazing humbleness about him that is disarming. he is a passionate follower of Christ and will be a great addition to our house. we need a few things for him though like a couch, small refrig, rug, a desk, and he needs a job.
the other guest is a friend of our oldest son jacob. chris will be living with us after the school year is up at mount st joe. sydney and i had been thinking about starting a type of internship for young people interested in seeing a large family at work i guess God is already doing it for us.
pray for anna and simeon and for arsene and chris
February 08, 2005
been thinking about size lately. so much of the discussion in and around emerging culture/church/thought focuses on structure. i keep experiencing church in small and large settings. small ones at times seem closed and a little scary for someone new, large ones you get lost. we started attending a large seeker type church about 6500 people each weekend in four services. my kids love the stuff they are a part of the people leading their groups are loving them. the sermons have been really good with hard things being said, sure its high tech and polished but what is it wrong to be polished. then i went to a small house church a friend leads mostly young people the room was filled with love. i keep thinking about the stories of the early church in Acts and where it talks about thousands coming to faith, my reading on that would be a church that was large and vital and preaching the gospel. are we spending too much time trying to create structures that make us comfortable or is there really a serious issue with size.
i have a few good friends and don't want too many more, yet each week i enjoy the things i see and hear at the mega church. i met with the lead pastor and loved his heart and his attitude about church in the west. i think we need to start spending as much time on loving others as we spend talking about structure at some levels it just plain doesn't matter and on others it matters alot, where is the balance? or are we destined to a church that only creates structures that make us feel good.
what say you?
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i have a few good friends and don't want too many more, yet each week i enjoy the things i see and hear at the mega church. i met with the lead pastor and loved his heart and his attitude about church in the west. i think we need to start spending as much time on loving others as we spend talking about structure at some levels it just plain doesn't matter and on others it matters alot, where is the balance? or are we destined to a church that only creates structures that make us feel good.
what say you?
February 03, 2005
i have a new article on next-wave, read it here "worth the wait"
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February 02, 2005
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February 01, 2005
found this amazing video on john wentz's blog, thanks john for the laugh. also saw the top 25 evangelicals according to Time magazine, what are we doing?.
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God never ceases to amaze me and confirm the choices we have made. when we started the process to adopt simeon and anna we didnt know how we were going to pay for it but knew we were suppose to adopt them. to start paying the fees we didnt pay our mortgage in january and things are very tight. i keep thinking of the story of the priests having to step into the raging waters of the jordan river before God would stop its flow for the nation to cross. well last week several friends gave and lent us $3500 to cover the fees we need to bring the kids home. so as of today our dossier is in ethiopia beginning the process to finalize the adoptions and our immigration paperwork is moving along quickly. so simeon and anna could be here are early as the end of this month. two more people to fold into our family two more lives to be a part of, two more children to inspire us with there courage and strength. thank you God for this life, thank you for the chance to love all these kids and make such a wonderful family.
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