FOR THE LOVE OF ....................

Check out the Watermark website and click on the lead pastors. Yes, they finally updated their pics. Only I am not sure about Deurs.

ENJOY!
C

Well, I had made the statement I would update on the weekend later. It is much later and I am willing to comment. We had a great celebration Friday night. Lots of people over to the Johnson's house to celebrate the life of Lela. It was great. Great conversation; great worship music; great food; and pockets of prayer. That was awesome. Jeff took a few minutes and shared some things. It was a very pleasant time.

Saturday was great daughter time. She had a soccer game where they did very well. Then we hung out. Played some games; watched a movie. It was great one on one time.

Sunday, as you know, I overslept for the gathering. I cannot tell you how disappointed I am for doing that. I really miss it. The afternoon was spent cleaning and not doing much. Sunday evening - birthday celebration at the Johnson's and on to life group. Pretty lame group Sunday night; I don't mind saying. Hung out and had a great time.

Jeff and I had a camp fire Saturday night. Some great conversation and accountability for two guys trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. We felt the Spirit. I will fill in more details as time goes on - ministry, life, CFM that kinds of stuff.

for now, I am out
C

I am in a rough mood this morning. I did not sleep well and that sucks. The kitten was a source of my lack of sleep; but not the primary. I am struggling with a decision I need to make. I am sure it will adversely effect several relationships I have and it sucks.

Prayer for direction would be great.

And on that note, much work needs to be done.

C

I am a loser. I got up this morning and was feeling great about going to the gathering. Jumped in the shower, shaved, got dressed, played with the kitten, I decided to sit down for a minute. I woke up to a call from Steve T. asking me a question about the multimedia. I thought I better not put my head down again. Next thing I knew, I was getting another call from Thompson asking another question and yes it was 11:00. yikes!

more on the weekend later.

I am blogging more than Thompson,

Heh Heh Heh
C-man

So this week's gathering will be about worship. I am excited about that. Don't miss it; it will be good.

At the being of the every, I always go thru a process of review. What good/bad things happened over the previous year? It is a good time of reflection and it helps me focus on the upcoming year. Around my birthday, I run thru the same process. Only it is longer period of time review. I look over previous journals, pray, talk to close friends to identify good/bad habits I am developing.

So that time is here again. It is usually difficult for me because the issues I feel God wants me to tackle are tough ones. No pain, no gain, right?

Why don't children come with owner's manuals? Or a video or CD series? As part of this process, I evaluate how I am doing as a father. This is why the manual would be handy. It is amazing how many new things I learn about my daughter. I was thinking of Deurty's revelation about his kids. He stated he cannot assume he knows his children without spending time communicating with them. This is so true! Amazing. I thank God for my daughter. She is a great kid. I just don't want to screw up with her. You know, I am not sure where this boat is floating. I guess I a=m trying to work out in mind own mind some things and I just needed to get it on paper. Thanks for reading.

All that to say, it is Friday; I am vertical, converting oxygen into carbon dioxide; and the weekend is here. Thank you Jesus. I did not have to travel to CA either. That little trip has been postponed.

More later
C

I am looking for feedback. I have been hearing ALOT lately about being relevant. What does that mean or is this another "christian ease" thing?

In other news, I went with some friends to see Riverdance last night. Wow. What an experience. Leave it to the Irish to create dance where you can dance and not spill your beer. Sound was great. Lighting and effects awesome. Band was incredible. Media was right on. The crowd was lively and that impacts the performance.

I have been thinking. (whenever you read those words, be afraid. be very afraid) I found myself doing this last night. I have a hard time just sitting and enjoying a show. This spills into other parts of my life. Movies, tv, concerts, church. So where am I going? Performance worship, technical excellence and the spirit of God. I am sure there is a balance with all of these. I am trying to find a balance. Thoughts?

This weekend is a celebration of a girl's life. The Johnson's are having a gathering at their house celebrating the life of their daughter, Lela. It was a year ago Lela died. What a great kid. I have seen God be so real in this last 2 years with this girl, this family, and that couple. I have mixed emotions. Jeff and Kathy (the Johnsons) are wanting a very positive night. I cannot help to be sad though when I think about her.

Well, it is time to do some work.

I am out,
c

I cannot believe it has been almost a week since I blogged last. Yikes. It is not that I do not have anything relevant to say; it is finding the time to do so.

My bug right now has to do with the gas prices. I am SOOOO annoyed with it. It is ridiculous that we are paying so much money for a gallon of gas.

Whine whine whine. I know. I know. The real issue for me is this: 1. I am captive because of the car. I do not have an alternate form of transportation. 2. I just had my taxes done. And as usual a check had to be written for that. 3. My b-day is coming up. This is a big one - license renewal, car plates renewal, registration renewal. Oh much money is leaving me right now and it sucks.

Whine whine whine
broken in Spring Lake

Thanks Steve for showing the truth. I was not sure what that was all about

I was talking with a friend the other day. He had commented that he had read my blog and wanted to be more like me in his intentional relationships. I said what the.....I did not realize that people actually read this mess and some are even influenced by it.

So I starting thinking - which is usually a bad thing for me but - that I am no one special. I am a new creation in Christ. Not because of something I did but because of what He did. So then I was thinking, what would I pass on to others not as far down the path as I am. Learn. Read. Pray. Worship. And look for opportunities.I am not the person I am today because of something magical, but because of the experiences I have had.

So I stopped for gas this morning on my way to work. The gal behind the counter was someone I had not seen in a long time. It was cool to reconnect with her. She was sharing she is taking classes at SLWC. And I came up in conversation. Now, at this point, a million things run thru my mind. WoW. The insecurity that follow. I said whut? She commented that one of the pastors was talking a situation while I was on staff there. It was the 1st time I went to an "on call" situation. As a staff member at church, you have to opportunity to minister. One way was the "on call" phone. This is a cell phone that people could call if they are struggling or need prayer or to talk to a pastor. Guy, I hated that phone. I was intimidating for me. Insecurity, yada yada. What would I say if someone need prayer????? Anyway, This was the 1st pregnancy I went to and this pastor was with me. Now Pastor Pete is a great guy. I have benefited from my relationship with him, his insight and his wisdom. So he and I went on this call together. We barely made it in, prayed and out before she had that baby. In fact, the dad barely made it.

WOW. How to tie all this up? The fact of the matter is this. I am the person I am today because of hundreds of growing and teaching moments in my life. God has provided people and situations to cause me to grow - much of the time while I am kicking and screaming. I have resolved myself to certain things. One of them is serving. I look for the opportunity and do it.

Get immersed.

Ranting and raving,
c-ster

Ok I do not usually do this. But I ran across this story and thought it was interesting:

They walked in tandem, each of the ninety-three
students filling into the already crowded auditorium. With rich
maroon gowns flowing and the traditional caps, they looked almost
as grown up as they felt.

Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and moms
freely brushed away tears. This class would not pray during the
commencements ----- not by choice but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it.

The principal and several students were careful to stay
within the guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational
and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance
and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families.

The speeches were nice, but they were routine...until
the final speech received a standing ovation. A solitary student walked
proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a
moment, and then, it happened. All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly
SNEEZED!!!!

The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said,
"GOD BLESS YOU, each and every one of you!" And he walked
off stage...

The audience exploded into applause. The graduating class
found a unique way to invoke God's blessing on their future
with or without the court's approval.

Rollin, rollin, rollin
c-ster

I am looking forward to this weekend. I love weekends. My weekends consist of spending time with my daughter, life group and gatherings at Watermark. Pretty awesome ways to spend weekends. This is always a great one though. It is Easter weekend. A weekend reserved for Easter egg hunts, marshmallow bunnies and chocolate. WHAT? No, this is the weekend for celebrating Christ's resurrection from the grave. What hope that brings? The knowledge that Christ did what he did for us.

Which brings me to the movie the Passion. I blogged a while ago about it. This is just a follow up note. I wonder how many non-religious people went to see it. I am curious how many Christians took the time to drag a friend along to see it. I am embarrassed to admit that I have encouraged some to see it, but did not go with them myself. I have had lots of conversations about it -- mostly with Christians. I think this is one of the problems with the organized church today. We are comfortable talking and communicating within our circle, but not outside it.

I was at a meeting last Wednesday night. The purpose of the meeting was to coordinate volunteer effort to impact a local ministry effort. Sidebar -- I am a supporter of global outreach. I defend the concept. I believe in the concept. I just think we miss the point when it comes to what the mission field is. We have MANY MANY MANY hurting people right here in our local communities. Sorry about that -- little passion showing thru. The guy coordinating the effort is a good friend of mine. I know his heart on this issue. His whole drive has been to pull the community together, combine our resources and change peoples lives. He is well connected with several local missions agencies and is well respected by them as well. As he addressed this pitiful small group. Sidebar -- Ok I am sore on this point I realize. The meeting was well promoted in this church and there were 10 guys who showed up. Ten guys who said I will serve. Show me the way. I will drop that point --for now.

Anyway as the meeting started and Jeff began to share his heart, there were several guys starting to stir. You could clearly see they had something to add. So, Jeff opened it up for conversation. It was amazing to me to see us come to consensus on several things. 1. The church remains divided. We are so concerned, as believers, about our own church walls that we do not see the opportunities to minister. We put on those blinders and say oh well they can handle it. Or if the wesleyans are involved I want no part..... We need to get over ourselves. 2. We must come together. We need to put our differences aside and serve one another. Together Everyone Achieves More. Think about the local outreach impact on our community if we all came together and choose to serve as -- what -- Christ called us to do.

I am as guilty as the next. That does not mean we should not look for the opportunity to serve, to touch someone's life, to share or pray with some one.

I think I could preach a sermon.

Have a great Easter celebration,

Becca's dad.

Thought for the day:

HAM & EGGS -

a days work for a chicken;
a lifetime commitment for a pig.

Get immersed.

Take me down to a paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty,
the C

Welcoming one more blogger - guitarslinger.

enjoy!

WHOA! as I live and breathe, another is added to the blogging fold. Welcome to the cyber think tank, Jay McCammon.

Also, Dave T - dude, update your blog.

Peace dude,

Good afternoon,

Well, like all of my other friends, I was taken ill as well. This snot infested bug sucks. I have not blown my nose more in the last couple days.....

On an up note, my daughter is back in town this Friday. (sounds of crowds cheering) And her birthday is this weekend. She went to Florida with her mom and step-dad. They went on the Disney Cruise and then sent time at the magic kingdom. How do I compete with that you ask? I think this birthday a kitten will be purchased. I realize it is below the belt. But you have to take victories where you can. And a kitten for the b-day, will do just that.

So easter this weekend. A great gathering is planned. I am excited about it. It is really cool to see our blogging community grow. I love reading into others lives. Too much fun.

i'm sailing away..........
c

Please welcome Dave Treloar to the blogging community.

Inspired by Mike Willis - thanks Mike - I now have a comments section.

Please use-

More later,
C

It is Friday. What more can I say about that?

On Wednesday, I said goodbye to my daughter for 10 days. She and her mom (and step dad) are going to Disney for spring break. It is difficult on my not seeing her regularly and I always struggle with this time away. I know that she needs time with mom and she is building great memories. It still does not negate the fact that I miss her tremendously. So I have been looking for places to hang out; occupy my time.

So Wednesday evening, Jeff (my buddy) called. He needed some help picking up some fence he is putting in his yard. So, I am game, and looking for things to do. We travel to Menards and do the "man" thing . Lots of grunting and oh/ahs and comments about tools. After we have loaded everything in the truck and Bucky, the security guard, tells us we can leave, we notice a lady who was trying to tie some stuff on her roof of her Jeep. I am sure there are liability reasons, but the Menards staff would not help her. So I rolled down my window and asked if we could help. Relieved, she said yes. In that brief encounter, we learned a lot about this lady, her family and a house that recently burned down. We were blown away with all this lady has been thru. After we finished, she could not thank us enough. Jeff and I left feeling great. After a few minutes, Jeff says to me, "Dude, we should have prayed with her." Reality sets in. A missed opportunity. Jeff and I ran the 90 yard race and ran it well. The problem is: it is a 100 yard race.

Look for the opportunity!

When the lights go down in the city,
C