Maple Leaf Duathlon

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Our church family is helping serve at this event this weekend!? I am really exited about it! We have several of our members who are competing in the races as well as Taylor “might” run in the Kids run…and I “might” be running with him if he decides he wants to do the run.? That should be a lot of fun in itself (well worth the price of admission!)

We already have a whole bunch of folks signed up to serve, but you can jump in and serve with us on Sunday even if you haven’t signed up already.? I know that several of our groups are using this as a project to serve together as a group.? It is really going to be a good time and a great opportunity for us to serve our community as we kick off Maple Leaf week!

So what is multisite again?

Here is a really good video that Zondervan has put out to advertise for two great books that you need to read to understand what I do a little bit better.? I like the concept here that the New Testament Church was actually a multisite church.? Interesting.

We have found that we are averaging almost 1000 people each weekend in our multisite campuses after only two short years.? It is really cool to be a part of a church, Forest Park, that truly cares about reaching people for Christ!? Some churches talk a good game, but Forest Park is trying to put our talk into action by sacrificing some of what we like and want so that others outside of the church might find Christ!

Multi-Site ? Being One Church in Multiple Locations from Zondervan on Vimeo.

Why? The Problem of Evil and Suffering

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I can remember in my Philosophy of Religion class in seminary spent a very long time discussing this issue.? I believe that Dr. Keith Putt knew that we would be facing this issue over and over in our daily lives and ministry.? It seems for a twenty something guy with “the world by the tail” something that might not be applicable at all.? However, it seems that my seminary education got personal very quickly.

One of my great friends is Jenny Crowder Long.? She was Jenny Crowder when I met her as a little 7th grade girl in my youth group.? She was also the youngest daughter of an amazing lady–Martha Crowder.? Martha was my secretary at First Baptist Battlefield, my first ministry position.? Basically, Martha kept me straightened out for the year and a half while I was a youth pastor there in Battlefield.

Right after I took this Philosophy of Religion class, I got a phone call from Jenny saying that her mom had a very aggressive cancer and only had a short time to live.? Why? What do you say? Why would God do this? Eventually, Jesus took Martha home to heaven to be with Him.? That left a huge hole in the lives of those around Martha. The amazing part of this story is what God continues to do to help Jenny use this pain and suffering for His glory.? She is a psychologist and helps people every day to deal with the problems and issues in their lives.

One case in particular where I saw God use Jenny’s pain for His glory was the summer she was my intern in Burleson, TX.? One of my student’s mother was dying of, you guessed it, a very aggressive cancer.? This woman had gone through a battery of therapy to kill the cancer and she had “beat cancer.”? She beat cancer for less than a year.? She eventually was taken home to heaven the spring before Jenny came to be my intern.? God used Martha’s death to help Jenny minister to this young lady in her pain. Does it make the pain of either lady’s death less difficult? Absolutely not! However, God is sovereign over both blessings and suffering (see Job–“he gives and takes away…blessed be the name of the Lord.”)

If you have been living and breathing for very long, you will have to deal with this issue of suffering.? The problem is, especially with guys, we don’t deal with it very well, do we?? We tend to “clam up” and not want to discuss the issues.? We tend to push everything down deep into our hearts.? We often get mad at God and other people who are His representatives.

Our LifeGroup has been wrestling with this issue lately and I have been researching a bit on the topic.? Here is a great series from David Platt on this issue.? Check it out.? Has some great resources as well such as a Small Group curriculum.

Camille and Kevin?s Weekend?|?Buckhead Church Blog

Check this out! ?What a cool deal! ?This couple got married on Saturday and then were baptized on Sunday at Buckhead Church in Atlanta. ?Click on the link below and watch their baptism videos. ?I absolutely love to hear stories of changed lives!

I am waiting on a couple as I write for some premarital counseling. ?I actually enjoy hearing each couples’ story. ?I get to hear theirs tonight here in a few minutes.

Camille and Kevin?s Weekend?|?The Official Buckhead Church Blog .

Road Trip: Carthage Edition

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Wow, what an awesome day of serving our community! We decided to take the Church to the people today! We had a great turnout of people helping serve those in need here in Carthage.

Why do this on Sunday? This question has been asked quite a bit lately. The leadership felt that the best time to do this was on a Sunday to have the most people available. Plus, we wanted to do some ?teaching? that worship isn?t necessarily only when a group of people gathers in a church and sings songs and hears a message from the Bible. Worship is a lifestyle. We are also doing this on Sunday to send a message to our community that they are important–so important, in fact, that we are helping them instead of doing something for us. And, what better day than ?the Lord?s Day? to do the ?Lord?s work!?

What about the kiddos? We said that we wanted each mom and dad, use their own discretion on how much or how little ?help? they wanted your child to be today. Our group had a lot of kiddos, so we didn’t get as much done as some of the other groups, but it was an awesome time of teaching for our little guys about what “true religion” (see James) is all about.

Thank you again so much for helping us take the Gospel to this community through your service!

Here is a gallery of pictures of a few of the groups…thanks to Taylor Orr for the photos.

Sunday Night “Sum Up”–6.28.2009

Each Sunday night I will be summing up the previous week’s events in a “numbered” list, along with the “sum total” of our attendance for the week…even though “I’m not very good with numbers.”

  1. I know, I know, I am a total slacker blogger…but I have been Tweeting a lot more lately. ?(Check out the left column)
  2. We had an awesome Sunday today!!
  3. Baby dedication was great…but, like Aaron Miller said today, kind of like “herding cats.” ?It was definitely dinner time for a couple of the four young ladies!
  4. Be praying for Ryan and Elise McBride along with Noah and Eli! They are pursuing God’s calling to go to serve Gunnison, CO. ?They are a community that is 90% unchurched! ?90%…amazing. God, please give them favor!
  5. Had 296 total people at Carthage today!
  6. Bapt-i-que was really great tonight! Good crowds, good food, good friends and conversation. ?Best of all…some serious diving prowess by Kevin Stratton. ?(Still has after ALL those LONG years since he was a diver at SIU!!) ?Check out the Facebook for some pics. ?I will also post as many pics as possible when I get them.
  7. A huge thank you to all who helped to make the evening a success! ?The Sanders, Yockeys, Friesens, Smiths to name a few! ?You guys are AWESOME!
  8. Still recovering from our “vacation” a couple of weeks ago…maybe I’ll post about it. ?Actually, I should save it and turn it into “National Lampoon’s Branson Vacation.”
  9. Pray for Jenny as she is going to have her gall bladder removed soon (she drove herself to the hospital in the middle of the night on our vacation…one of the many “hits” from our Branson Vacation to remember.)
  10. I am going to the doctor tomorrow for a rear kicking. ?Not eating right, not exercising, etc., etc., etc.
  11. I finally bit the bullet and bought P90X. ?The final nudge was from a pastor/church planter, Shawn Lovejoy, that I read his blog that has been doing it for a year. ?He feels he is the healthiest he has ever been in his life.
  12. I have really felt convicted about my health lately. ?I need to be more healthy for Jenny and the boys. ?They deserve me the best I can be…not some guy that is always tired and worn out all the time!
  13. We had a blast on Thursday night at the Springfield Cardinals game! ?Thanks to Uncle Tad and Aunt Katie for the great tickets (2nd row). ?They gave Taylor the tickets for his birthday in April.
  14. Continuing to work on our painting/wallpaper stripping project this week. ?Jenny finished getting all the wallpaper off the wall in the dining room. ?I am getting ready to texture and then paint. ?Lots of work ahead of us though
  15. Had our 14th Anniversary on Wednesday.
  16. Got our A/C recharged on Monday afternoon…Thanks Terry Ryan!
  17. Dog fence + lightening = Dogs running all over the neighborhood this weekend! (New transmitter and lightning protector in the mail!)
  18. 6 FP students found Christ at camp this week! ?That never gets old!
  19. Got my car back…6 new valves, new timing belt, etc. ?What a mess.
  20. Taylor had his last baseball game of the season. ?They did really good this year!
  21. We got a couple of Betta fish, Nemo and Swimmy. ?(I know we are crazy!)
  22. It is way too late for me to think back to last week!
  23. Good night!

Here are some pics from my phone this week…

Taylor sings at “Steadley Idol” Talent Show

Here is our new rock star singing Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done” at his talent show on Tuesday.? He did an AWESOME job and we are SO PROUD of him!? He was originally the 53rd act out of 56 acts!? Crazy!? They didn’t turn ANYONE down…the ultimate “ALL SKATE!”? So, three hours later, Taylor finally got to get on stage and show his stuff!? He actually missed his first baseball game because of this.? He could have played in both the 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. games and STILL gotten to the talent show to perform with time to spare!

I can’t wait until we get into our new building which we share a property line with!? My heart would be to offer up our auditorium to them to have a great facility and better sound system for their special events.? We really want to be a good neighbor and they can definitely use the help it seems.

Hope you love it like we do!!

Dave Ramsey’s Town Hall Meeting for Hope

Connect with families across the nation for a truly radical message: HOPE.

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Tired of hearing the fear, doom and gloom that?s filling the airwaves? Join Dave Ramsey for a nationwide town hall meeting and discover what?s happening with the economy, how we got here, and where we?re going. Plus, Dave will answer your questions live throughout the event!

Join us at Forest Park Carthage at the Bykota Community Center for this free event April 23 at 7:00 p.m. CST in one of the thousands of venues across the country as we stand together to reignite the fire of hope!

Check out this video to see what it is all about!!

Sunday Night “Sum Up”–4.12.2009 (Monday Edition)

Each Sunday night I will be summing up the previous week’s events in a “numbered” list, along with the “sum total” of our attendance for the week…even though “I’m not very good with numbers.”

  1. Had a great Life Group tonight!? Had a game night and really needed to laugh…it was nice!
  2. Finally got most of the mess from the painting of the foyer and hallway cleaned up…mostly, but going to need to put a second coat on . . . stinks.
  3. Yesterday was amazing at FPCarthage!? We had a great crowd with a TON of new faces!? We had 329 people.
  4. The LOST series is going to continue to be AWESOME!
  5. Our FREE Family Portraits were a HUGE hit!? We took a whole lot of pictures and they are turning out really well!
  6. Spent all day on Saturday painting our foyer and upstairs hallway…glad we have an attic fan…some serious fumes going up up in there!? Reminds me of our crazy builder of our house in Ozark.? Walked onto the site and the fumes knocked me over.? Opened the front door, saw his respirator on top of the can of polyurethane.? He sticks his head out of a cabinet he was spraying and was much too giddy for words!? Sad really all of those poor brain cells!
  7. Had a great time at the Jeffries for Easter celebration on Friday night!? The kids got to hunt eggs and we gave Tom and Gwen their anniversary present for their 40th Anniversary! A weekend trip at a condo in Branson with all three families…should be fun!
  8. Taylor went to Grandma Betty’s and Tucker went to Grandma Gwen’s on Thursday night.? Date night for us!!
  9. Taylor dyed Easter eggs with Grandma Betty–an Easter tradition for them!
  10. Tucker wreaked havoc at the Jeffries on Thursday night!
  11. We saw my cousin Mark Sanders and his bride, Michelle at Johnny Carrino’s.? Really like them!? It has been way too long since we had time to sit down and talk.
  12. Eric, Alisha, and Riley Schmidt were at Carrino’s as well.? Those people stinkin’ gave us a free dessert and left before we could thank them!? THANK YOU GUYS!!
  13. Met another neighbor on Wednesday night.? The winds the other night blew our grill cover about 3 acres away in to their yard!? He gave me the “low down” on the whole neighborhood.? Funny stories indeed!
  14. Can’t think of anything else…and you shouldn’t end on 13–bad luck.? Have a great week!

Mailers hit mailboxes tomorrow

We are kicking off a new series at Forest Park called “LOST: Finding Your Way in a Time of Uncertainty.” I am really excited about this series and this Easter Sunday!? We are going to be offering family FREE Easter Portraits…NO STRINGS ATTACHED!! Make sure you come and be a part of this awesome opportunity to reach out to our community here in Carthage and show them Christ’s love this Easter!

Check out the mailer that is hitting mailboxes tomorrow!

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