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I arrived home this evening as the snow was flying in the twilight. Meteorologists were warning of tonight's lake-effect-snow-squalls and my driveway was already deep with snow.
I stepped inside the house to find Sheila pointing out the window.
She said, "Look outside."
Matthew 6:26 - Look at the birds.
- Photo by Jack Magruder -
I had lunch with Rajendran today.
When we got back to my office I asked our friend Jack Magruder (GCC's Director of Life Mission), to grab a quick picture. Standing with Raj is an honor.
Raj inspired me with a story this afternoon. It's about a church-planter.
This fellow couldn't read, but when he surrendered his life to Jesus he believed God wanted him to plant a church. He spoke with his pastor and was told he would never be able to plant a church because he was unlearned and illiterate. When he told Raj how sad he was that he couldn't plant a church, Raj offered to train him.
His training began. In his first three months (the time between the 1st and 2nd of the 5 training modules), this illiterate man befriended people and led dozens to Christ.
Here's how...
He approached educated and esteemed men with this request, "I cannot read but I have this book. Would you help me understand the meaning of this book?"
Many agreed to help him. They read his Bible. They discussed its message and many believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
This man not only planted a church, he now helps Raj train church-planters.
Zow.
How great is that?
( FYI - If you want to go to India and and see how your story intersects the stories of our church-planters, check this out. )
Matthew 28:18-19a - Jesus drew near and said to them, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples."
I could say a lot about all the fantastic people who spent Saturday working together to feed the hungry, but since "a picture is worth a thousand words," I'll let these photos do most of the talking.
We delivered 7,875 boxes of food to: Monroe Circle Community Center, M.A.C. Food Pantry, Food Bank of Northern Indiana, South Gate Food Pantry, Middlebury Food Pantry, Elkhart's Church Community Services, Lamb's Chapel Food Pantry and State Street Community Church Food Pantry.
We received help from our partners: IRBN Foods, Northern Indiana Food Bank, Penske Trucking, South Bend Airport, Dunkin Donuts, Welch Packaging, Williams Lumber and The Eatery.
Congregations participating as Food Drop sites this year included: GCC Elkhart, Waypoint Church, GCC LaPorte, South Gate Church and GCC Granger.
The guy pictured above is Rob Wegner, GCC's Pastor of Life Mission.
Ecclesiastes 4:9 - Two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together.
This afternoon, when I walked into the auditorium to meet with the leaders of our Granger Student Ministry, I saw Megan Steven's bass on stage.
Rehearsal had ended. Everything was ready. I walked up the steps, and before the leaders settled into their seats for our pre-meeting meeting, I took a simple picture of "the calm before the storm."
Tonight our students begin preparing for several Summer Mission Opportunities, so take a deep breath and let God calm your heart.
The GSM adventure is about to begin. I believe those "who dwell on the far edges" will stand in awe of what God does through this generation of young Christ-followers.
Psalm 65:5-8
In righteousness you answer us,
by your awesome deeds,
God of our salvation—
you, who are the security
of all the far edges of the earth,
even the distant seas;
you establish the mountains by your strength;
you are dressed in raw power;
you calm the roaring seas;
calm the roaring waves,
calm the noise of the nations.
Those who dwell on the far edges
stand in awe of your acts.
You make the gateways
of morning and evening sing for joy.
The Food Drop was astounding. I'll post some of my photos as soon as I can, but this little blog offers a word of gratitude for the incredible behind-the-scenes efforts of our media team. Volunteers and staffers worked together to capture video of the Food Drop (from a gazillion angles), photograph the people (at all our sites) and edit the footage in time for a report to be ready for the 5 PM service.
Cody Baker was the one who made the final edits, weaving the story of the Food Drop into a captivating review of Saturday's compassionate outreach to Michiana's hungry poor.
The guy is awesome and I got a picture of him in action yesterday - a Christ-follower flinging himself into heaven's cause ... making the world a better place.
You can see some of Cody's influence here, here, here, here and here.
Galatians 6:4-5 - Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
What would it look like if the Church understood and acted on Her dual role of serving and loving people?
What would it look like if the Church used every tool at Her disposal to feed the hungry, care for the marginalized, bind-up the broken, help struggling families and lift high the ideals of the Good Life?
What would it look like if the church called “Granger Community Church” resolved to activate it’s campuses for the common good?
It might look something like I’ve pictured in this post.
We hosted Penn High School’s winter dance last night. The kids were safe. The parking was secure and the students were well supervised. Penn’s staff was superb. Professional security officers were on duty. GCC volunteers and staff were everywhere: checking coats, registering students, serving refreshments, running lights, monitoring sound, helping young men tie their neckties and young women rearrange their wind-blown locks.
The Granger Commons was busy last night. It’ll be busy again this Saturday, when GCC engages the largest Food Drop in our 26 year history, but I’ll save that story for another day. For now, enjoy your vicarious experience of “Snowball at the Granger Commons.”
Ecclesiastes 3:4b - There is a time for dancing.
When life is difficult and my world is in turmoil, it helps to remember God can calm the storm and bring order out of chaos. So do not despair when trouble comes. Nothing is beyond HIS power; you are never out of HIS reach.
Job 26:12 - With his supremacy God calms the sea and the powers of chaos.
Before attending the service this weekend, I hope you'll read Frost's great old poem, "MENDING WALL."
Frost's image of two men, annually building a barrier to keep them apart because it is their tradition to do so, is confounding. No matter how often they rebuild their wall, it inevitably tumbles down.
If you're spending time maintaining the walls that keep you apart (assuming it's the right thing to do just because those walls have stood between you for as long as you can remember) your work won't ultimately bring you satisfaction.
"Good fences make good neighbors," implies we are better when we are apart. That's not always so. God's Story brings us together. We all have a part to play and when we strive to "reset our relationships" instead of "resetting the walls between us," we're more fulfilled, not less.
Hebrews 11:39-40 - Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.
MENDING WALL by Robert Frost
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."
Sheila and I were in British Columbia staring across a wild field, watching a stream on the other side of the meadow and hoping to photograph any bears that happened along.
We wondered if we'd see any bears. We had anticipated everything we could; we were in a good place, at a good time with a good set-up.
We were as ready as we could be.
We just had to wait.
There was only one thing we needed to add to our long list of preparations. What we needed was "patience." There was nothing more required of us. So we waited in the early morning light, and to our delight, this Kermode Bear came along, fishing his way down the stream.
Our patience paid off.
If we hadn't waited, we would have missed him. There are only a few hundred of these bears in the world, so it's astounding that one came close enough to photograph.
The whole memory of this experience makes me wonder, "How many things have I missed because I've had trouble being patient? What have I missed because my patience ran out and I gave up too soon?"
Romans 5:3-5 - There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged.
Many of our students have been on Christmas break for a while, so GSM's official "launch" of the New Year was sandwiched between the fantastic weekend communion services (We should all write a note to Dr. Bob saying "THANKS BOB! WELL DONE." And yes, we should use all CAPS.), and the Notre Dame National Championship Game (Displayed so everyone in Michiana can enjoy the game on the big, big, big screens at The Granger Commons). I was excited to see the students and their leaders back together.
I talked to 1,234,576,019 people (that's a rough estimate) and took some random pics during the hours of GSM meetings yesterday.
GSM is soaring. I've checked the last few years of stats. Both Middle School and High School grew by double-digits in 2012 and I'm persuaded 2013 will reach more students than ever.
Thanks for caring. Thanks for praying, serving and sacrificing so students across Michiana can experience God in loving community.
You matter.
This generation is following your lead; keep leading well.
Psalm 71:17-19
You got me when I was an unformed youth,
God, and taught me everything I know.
Now I’m telling the world your wonders;
I’ll keep at it until I’m old and gray.
God, don’t walk off and leave me
until I get out the news
Of your strong right arm to this world,
news of your power to the world yet to come,
Your famous and righteous
ways, O God.
People across Michiana are discovering the value GCC is adding to our community through The Granger Commons.
Scores of children signed up this week for "Cookies & Canvas" at The Commons. Following their instructor's step-by-step instructions, they painted some impressive tigers, penguins and fish.
"Cookies & Canvas" has booked two more painting parties at The Commons. You can register you kids for either time: Saturday the 12th or Saturday the 19th. It's fun for kids and parents alike.
Proverbs 4:1 - Hear, my children, listen to instruction, and give attention to know understanding.
There is a direction we should go.
It's necessary for the good life. It has never been mistaken for the "easy way," but it is the "right way," and it's a course best traveled together.
This weekend you can RESET your life; begin 2013 by taking your next step along The Way - living the good life reserved for the person who fears God and lives reverently in HIS presence.
Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 - Even though a person sins and gets by with it hundreds of times throughout a long life, I’m still convinced that the good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence, and that the evil person will not experience a “good” life. No matter how many days he lives, they’ll all be as flat and colorless as a shadow—because he doesn’t fear God.
We celebrated Lydia's 3rd birthday last night. It was two days early, but since Sheila's parents were here it was a timely party.
Throughout the evening I kept thinking of the rich heritage Lydia enjoys.
Her parents are "bringing her up in the training and instruction of the Lord," as the Bible says they should. Both of her grandmothers devoted their lives to God's service. Her "Granny" and "Papaw" (pictured above) were married more than 60 years ago and Lydia is made better by their love, whether she knows it or not.
Happy Birthday Lydia.
You, and your generation, are blessed.
Matthew 18:14 - Your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost.
New Year's Day was the last day of the hunting season.
It was a memorable season, mostly because of the massive die-off in southern Michigan and northern Indiana. In a few areas of Michiana, EHD (Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease) killed more than half of the Whitetails.
I didn't see as many deer this year (and I didn't kill a single one) but I did see a few beautiful bucks worthy of a second look. I hope they survive the winter.
Job 27:22b-23 - They run this way and that, but there’s no place to hide — pummeled by the weather, blown to kingdom come by the storm.
I was pulling Lydia around on her sled this morning when Sheila grabbed my camera and took this picture. When I saw it, I thought, "I wonder what would happen if I resolved to pull someone along the Jesus Way all year long?"
Then I thought, "I wonder what would happen if every person at GCC pulled a few people along the Jesus Way in 2013?"
I believe, if we all pull a few folks along the Jesus Way this year (adding our faith, help, strength, love and encouragement to theirs), it will change the world. In fact, I'm sure of it.
Titus 1:2 - My aim is to raise hopes by pointing the way to life without end.
I saw this big Tom yesterday. He had roosted in a tree the night before and was late flying down to browse around for food. Turkeys usually leave their perch shortly after sunrise, but I think this old bird was content to sit for a while, reflecting on 2012 and giving thanks that he'd survived the Holidays. He hadn't ended up as someone's Thanksgiving Dinner, so no matter how difficult 2012 had been, his year was ending on a good note.
Some years are like that; it feels like we get through them by "the skin of our teeth." When the difficult season finally ends we breathe a sigh of relief and think, "Whew. That was a tough year, but I made it!"
Maybe 2012 was like that for you. Maybe you're looking back on the last twelve months thinking, "I'm just glad I didn't give up. I did my best, followed Jesus and made a little progress. I know I've got challenges ahead, but I'm glad 2012 is behind me."
I understand.
Every step we took in 2012 (the easy steps and the difficult steps) prepared us for the season ahead. Even if we didn't make the progress we wanted, our current reality "is what it is" and our next steps will be taken from where we are, not where we wished we'd be by now.
We're walking into 2013 with the knowledge we've gained, the debt we've incurred, the spiritual maturity we've established, the friends we've developed and the faith we've embraced. We are where we are, and when we wonder how we got here we'll be well-served to remember the steps we took throughout 2012 (and before). All the steps we took last year brought us to this place.
Now were standing on the brink of a new year filled with new opportunities, and the steps we take in 2013 will determine (in large part) where we find ourselves twelve months from now.
I need to reset my life for 2013 ... and I'm planning to.
If you are ready to reset your life for the season ahead, join me on the first weekend of 2013 for worship, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and our first step into GCC's RESET Series.
2012 is behind us.
It's 2013.
Happy New Year Everyone!
Let's take our next steps toward Christ ... together.
2 Timothy 4:5-7a - But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant. .... My life is an offering on God’s altar. This is the only race worth running. I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that’s left now is the shouting...
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