Mark Beeson

$518,000 for The Center for the Homeless

 

 

My friend Steve Camilleri grew up on Long Island but his move to Michiana made this a better place... for all of us. 

Steve is accomplished, studied, faithful, and as you can see, he is now flinging himself into his work as the Executive Director of the South Bend Center for the Homeless. He studied at Notre Dame, where he earned a Bachelor's in Marketing & Advertising and a Master's of Nonprofit Administration, both of which he leverages against the needs of the homeless poor.  

I love this guy... and, whoa, can he dance! 

  

 

Steve is a husband, father and friend... and he is one of the most inspiring men I know. His efforts, "to offer the best resources in our community to the people who need them most," helped the generous people of Michiana donate $518,000 to The Center for the Homeless during the Dancing With Our Stars 2015 Miracle Auction.

Thanks for leading us Steve.

Well done. 

 

James 1:26-27  -  Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

 

 

LCI 2015 With Friends

 

- Somewhere North of Houston - 

 

Tim Stevens and I worked together for more than 20 years. He's in Houston now and since Tim has a gift for locating the very best "taco" places (no matter where he is), Sheila and I were able to turn a late-night, post-sermon Quesadilla into a great evening with good friends.  Kem Meyer and Jason Miller were speaking at the LCI Conference too... so the five of us munched Chips-n-Salsa, laughing and telling stories until closing time.

 

Philippians 1:26  -  You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.

 

 

Dancing With Our Stars / 2015 Miracle Auction

  

 

Sheila and I volunteered to serve at the annual "Dancing With Our Stars" auction last night. So did many others from GCC. 

I grabbed some pictures of the Dance Sport professionals and the talented "Stars" who danced with them. These folks helped our community raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for The Center for the Homeless. 

I must tell you about one GCCer who had a huge impact on the event. Marybeth Roncz is an incredible leader and much of the evening's success is the direct result of her indefatigable effort. She asked Sheila and I sit at her table, which was great because I got to share the evening with her husband Rick... and because Sheila and I were close to the dance floor.

After the auction Sheila and I spent the remainder of the evening trying to do the dance move picture above, but I eventually abandoned all hope of kicking myself in the small of my back with my own left foot and went to bed. 

 

Isaiah 58:7  -  Share your food with the hungry.

 

Been to the Zoo?

 

Sheila and I went to The Potawatomi Zoo with Angela, Lydia and Norah today. After worshipping with GCC this weekend, we headed out to make a few memories together.

 

My brother Matt, and sister-in-law Linda, shared the adventure, which shall ever be remembered, from this day forward, as "Our Zoo Trip." 

 

Lydia was spellbound by Aunt Linda's interest in every topic Lydia found interesting. 

 

Uncle Matt has always been the best brother in the world... and today he was Norah's best friend too.

 

Flamingos. What is there to say about Flamingos?

 

Aunt Linda coaxed questions and answers from the kids at every exhibit. She is amazing.

 

- Photo by Angela Keim - 

When it was my turn to carry a grandkid... it was my privilege to do so. 

 

There's nothing like family... and if you haven't gotten your family to the zoo... take them soon. It's a great way to build memories you'll cherish for years to come.

 

Romans 12:10  -  Love [Be devoted to] each other ·like brothers and sisters [with family/brotherly affection]. ·Give each other more honor than you want for yourselves [or Outdo one another in showing honor; or Be eager to show honor to one another].

 

 

The Christian Atheist

 

The Christian Atheist is for you, especially if you're tired of shallow living and empty rhetoric, and you wish folks would "do the right thing," and you'd like to "do the right thing" too, and you wonder why people think "the right thing to do " is whatever they feel like doing... and then you realize, "Oh,oh. That's usually how I decide what I'll do too."

   

 

Fling yourself into a ten week experience with GOD's 10 Commandments and give yourself a reliable framework for living an abundant life.

 

John 10:10  -  (Jesus)  I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). 

 

There's A Good Reason For This...

 

 

Many years ago, somebody invested a lot of hard work into putting this signpost at the edge of the marsh.

You can bet they had good reason, because nobody labors through tangles and mud to sink their signpost in a marsh... unless they have something important to say. That's way too much work if the signpost is being prepared for a message that doesn't matter.

Signposts are important, because sign's are attached to signposts (the way our words are attached to our lives). They either support our message, or they don't. So when we mean what we say, we have good reason to do the hard work that puts our lives in-line with our words.

 

2 Peter 1:2-3  -  Learn to know GOD better and better. For as you know GOD better, he will give you, through his great power, everything you need for living a truly good life: he even shares his own glory and his own goodness with us!

 

I Saw a Shark Movie in 3-D Glasses

 

 

I went to a movie. It was about sharks. I have no good shark pictures so I used my picture of this pod of Orcas. They're not sharks, but hey, they live in the ocean and they are scary like sharks, only a lot smarter than sharks... so let's move on.

I paid extra money so I could experience an extra dimension of the Shark Movie.

I put on my awesome, cool, "somebody take a picture of us right now," 3-D Glasses.

I watched the movie.

I was transported to another world where I experienced amazing things.

I took off my 3-D Glasses.

After that experience, I left the theater and went on with my life... as usual, except that I now have flashbacks to my scary Shark Movie experience.

I remember many of my experiences... and each memory triggers an emotional response. My experiences will mark me; experiences always mark me... but it's my day-to-day practices and life-long patterns that change me over time... for better or worse. 

It's foolish to say, "This experience won't effect me." Addiction Counselors label that Exceptional Thinking: "I'd never tell someone else to do this, but I can do it and I'll be fine. I'd never recommend somebody else try this, but I'm sure I can do it because I am not like other people. I am exceptional. I am the exception to the rule." 

Those driven by experiences leap from one quick fix to the next, from one experience to another. Life becomes a non-stop search for significance, thrills, satisfaction and meaning. The problem is, experiences don't last. They have consequences but they don't satisfy our thirst for significance. 

Experiences alone won't give us what we need so GCC is spending the next ten weeks learning to live the life that Jesus called "abundant." We're focusing on each of The 10 Commandments with two questions: "What is this commandment?" and "How does Jesus help us do it?" 

Living the abundant life is different than knowing about it.

It's time to begin practicing the life we were made for. 

 

John 10:9-10  -   I am the Door; anyone who enters in through Me will be saved (will live). He will come in and he will go out [freely], and will find pasture. The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

 

Here's What's Happening in the Woods

 

 

Just so you know, the turkeys were lit-up this afternoon.

Zowee.

 

Genesis 31:10  -  Once, while the flocks were mating... 

 

 

Baptisms on Palm Sunday... and Much More...

 

 

Early in the history of the Church, a two-fold tradition developed. New believers were instructed in the basics of the Christian faith and baptized, then they learned what it meant to be a member of Our Lord's Church... which goes way beyond simply giving correct answers to doctrinal questions. 

One may become a Christian ("saved by faith") then take steps to be a Christian and live The Good Life ("to your faith, add goodness").

• Faith was declared when you were baptized, as 292 people were baptized in GCC's Palm Sunday Services. In faith, you were buried with Christ. You were raised up with him through your faith in God’s power that was shown when He raised Christ from the dead.
  
  
• Faith deepens when we're reminded God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of GOD... which we'll hear when we gather at Noon for GCC's Good Friday Service.
  
  
• Faith soars in this reality, Christ is Risen! If Christ had not been raised, our preaching would be futile, empty and useless and our faith would be futile, empty and useless. Praise GOD in worship during one of our six Easter Services this weekend.
  

After Easter we'll take steps to "add to our faith, goodness." 

I'm teaching a new "New Member's Class" and we're grouping-up, serving together and reflecting on GOD's instructions for living The Good Life in the months ahead. What it means to be a Christian will become clearer as we engage a 10-week study of The Ten Commandments. 

After Easter, our next step is The Good Life.
Let's live it... together.

 

2 Peter 1:5-7  -  Do your best to add these things to your lives: to your faith, add goodness; and to your goodness, add knowledge; and to your knowledge, add self-control; and to your self-control, add patience; and to your patience, add service for God; and to your service for God, add kindness for your brothers and sisters in Christ; and to this kindness, add love.