I’m glad you stopped by. I’m going to post some information on some of the pages with links to some music that’s in the works, as well as some other good stuff, so please take a few minutes and look around. Thanks!
iPhone 3.0 software on the way?
According to a Facebook note I was tagged in this morning, there’s a fairly major update coming in the form of the new iPhone software, version 3.0 to be exact. If this is all true and comes through as advertised, there would be some extremely exciting feature updates to the iPhone platform, including:
- Cut, copy and paste
- Mail, notes, and text can now be in landscape keyboard mode
- Individual text messages can now be forwarded and deleted
- Support for MMS with texting (Picture & audio messaging, sending contacts via text)
- “Search” for mail and a few other apps (notes, iPod and more), and the ability to search the whole phone with the new “Spotlight” feature
- Notes sync to computer
- Auto log-in and log-out for WiFi
- Shake to shuffle your music
- Stereo bluetooth
I am very excited about this, as I’m sure a ton of other iPhone users are too. I was blown away when I discovered that there was no MMS messaging on the iPhone, and I miss being able to copy and paste text which I was able to do on my Treo before I made the switch. I’m not a tech geek, but I think this is going to be a great step for Apple. Pretty sweet!
For more info:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/preview-iphone-os/
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2238689/apple-debuts-upcoming-iphone
iPhone users: Which feature are you most excited about? What are your thoughts?
In the Blink of an Eye
Not that I’m naive enough to think you’ve been sitting around waiting for me to post something here, but I feel bad that it’s been so long since my last blog. I haven’t been feeling particularly inspired as of late, so I haven’t done much writing either. Of any kind. Which my band is getting upset about.
Getting right to the point, inspiration today came in the form of some shocking news. I just got a message from one of my very best friends, practically a sister to me, that her mom was diagnosed this morning with cancer. Fortunately, it appears that they caught it very early. Still, it’s a little shaking to think of the kind of reminder this is that life is so fragile.
It’s funny how those things never cross your mind until they strike close to him. And listen to me, I’m not even family. I can’t imagine how scared her husband and daughters are tonight. And there are so many others that are hurting as well.
I guess without going on (because, honestly, who likes long blog posts?), I’m thankful today for my health and the health of my family. And I’m praying for those who are fighting illness and it’s most serious side effects…fear, doubt, worry, grief. God is bigger. May he remind you of that when the storms come.
Planting? Transplanting? Pirating?
I came across this video clip on Erik Willits‘ blog today. Each week, there are pastors from around the country that I like to watch or listen to, and one of them is Ed Young. I watch Ed speak almost every week on Fellowship Church’s website. I’ve gone back and forth in my feelings on Ed Young; on one hand, I think he’s an entertaining and engaging speaker. On another hand, there’s an arrogance about him that bothers me.
This is especially true when I see video clips like this one. He says some things that really bother me in this clip. You can tell that he thrives on being a mega-church pastor and that he takes a lot of pride in Fellowship Church’s numerically-large attendance. While in my opinion there’s nothing inherently wrong with a big church, it’s dangerous when numbers consume your motive and actions, and while I hope I’m wrong, I get that impression from Young.
It’s obvious that he’s been hurt on this subject, either personally or by proxy. Regardless, I’m disappointed in him for the way he’s handling this. For a man I respect in a lot of ways, I’m let down by what appears to be a self-centered ego.
I, for one, have struggled at times with putting too much emphasis on how many people are at FCC on a given weekend. I’ll admit that there are times when I envy, in one way or another, a pastor from a large cutting-edge church. But at the end of the day, God humbles, and I believe it’s how we respond to that humbling that shows true character. Some respond with rebellion or anger or frustration. Some respond with repentance and humility and sorrow. I hope I will have the strength to respond with the latter when God humbles me.
So here’s the clip. What do you think? I’m curious to hear your thoughts.
Is Ed out of place for saying what he’s said in this video, or do you agree?
My New Years’ Resolution for 2009:
Don’t be such a lazy blogger. I can’t believe it’s been a month…I’m gonna get better about this, I promise. Thanks for the emails and the few (but precious) comments.
Over the past few weeks, throughout the holidays and many other things that have happened, I’ve been challenged by a thought that I can’t seem to shake. What I’ve been processing and considering endlessly is, “are we a grace-filled community?”
Through many conversations recently, I’ve discovered that more people than I would have ever guessed are hurting or struggling with something in their life. It’s funny how it seems to manifest itself in different ways and “come out” at Christmastime. Whether it’s the death of a loved one, a sin that’s entangled them, a desire for something that God hasn’t seemed to grant yet, or any of a million other things, there are some searching and wounded people, myself included at times.
As I think about this, I’m reminded of the many times we see throughout the Bible that Jesus goes out of His way to show grace to the lost and broken people he encountered.
One of my favorite stories is found in John chapter 8. Jesus had just finished teaching some people and answering some pretty serious questions at the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. He spent the night on the Mount of Olives, and when he came down to the temple courts in the morning, some of the religious leaders brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and laid her at His feet.
“Teacher,” they spouted, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
They were trying their best to trap Jesus into giving an answer that contradicted either the law that they kept or something He had already said, so that they could have something to accuse Him of, and finally have some grounds to arrest Him.
Jesus knew this, and His answer here blows me away. In verse 6, we see that He knelt down and wrote on the ground with His finger. No one knows what He wrote. Maybe the names of the men the woman had been with. Maybe the names of the religious leaders and some of the sins they were guilty of. Maybe nothing at all.
Either way, Jesus stood up and profoundly, yet simply, answered them. “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” One by one, the men left. Then Jesus displayed compassion and grace to this woman, when he looked her in the eye and said, “Has no one condemned you? Then neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
When it came to an encounter with the Savior, the people could come as they were.
When Lazarus died, Jesus showed grace and compassion and love for His family. The Bible says Jesus was so overcome with sympathy and sadness that He cried! He ate at the houses of some of the most hated and despised people around. He didn’t spend His time with the religious “higher-ups.” Rather, he chose to spend His time helping blind people to see, and crippled people to walk.
What He did seem to save for the self-righteous religious leaders were His harshest words. These men loved to draw attention to the sin of others while pointing to their own religious standing to lift each other up. But Jesus called them snakes and wolves!
Am I guilty of being a snake? A wolf? Do I unfairly judge people by their actions, by their past, by their sins? Am I guilty of being blind to Christlike grace and refusing to give it, even unknowingly? Do people who don’t know Jesus Christ feel welcome and at home when they’re with me? Am I doing everything I can do to help make my church community a place where people can truly see Jesus in real ways?
Are you?
I challenge you to consider this. It’s my prayer that FCC, as well as whatever church you call home, is and will continue to be places where we can all come as we are, with our problems and our wounds, and find healing, forgiveness, and joy on level ground at the foot of the cross. We’re all equal in God’s eyes.
Let’s make sure that God’s church is a grace-filled community.
I want to know what you think, whether you’re a churchgoer or not: How can the church do better when it comes to showing grace to others?
3 records you NEED to listen to!
1) Copeland – You are my Sunshine
The first track had me hooked. Copeland is so good at putting so much variety onto a disc, but not so much that they overdo it. If you haven’t heard this album yet, go get it! ::iTunes::
2) Tenth Avenue North – Over and Underneath
Back in November, I saw these guys live, and I can honestly say it was one of the top 2 or 3 concerts I’ve ever seen. I picked up their album on iTunes the next day and I’ve hardly stopped listening to it since. There’s almost never been a CD that I’ll listen to all the way through completely without skipping any tracks, but every song on this one is good. These guys have such a positive message and they’ve put out a pretty addictive album. ::iTunes::
3) Mat Kearney – Nothing Left to Lose
There’s a song on this album for whatever mood you’re in. Great driving music! It’s a must-listen at least once. ::iTunes::
On another note, the team got on their way this morning, and after a couple of hours of sleep, I’m definitely feeling way better. I’m gonna spend some time checking out D.C. and then head home this afternoon. Hopefully the weather will clear up a little before then.
I’m going to stop at a record store before I head back to pick up some new tunes to check out, so I need some input:
What is your favorite album right now?
Zimbabwe team update
I’m about to try to catch a couple of hours of sleep, but I wanted to update first on the status of the mission team’s plans.
The original plan was for the team to leave FCC for Cleveland Hopkins Airport at 12:30am tonight, where they’d board their flight for D.C. They’d have a layover there until they’re flight to Ethiopia, which is scheduled to leave at 10am.
The latest news from the weather team is that an ice storm is supposed to hit in Cleveland sometime in the middle of the night, and they’re basically guaranteeing us that all flights will be delayed or cancelled.
Thankfully, the people at United Air were willing to work with us, and we were able to cancel the Cleveland-D.C. flight. Instead, we’re going to load up at 10:30pm (just 2 hours from now) and head for D.C. in the vans. The team will just directly board the flight for Ethiopia in D.C.
Please pray for us as we travel tonight, for the team as they fly tomorrow, and for us as we drive back in the snow as well. I’ll update throughout the night on Twitter.
Talk about fired up!
Tonight, our mission team from FCC leaves for Zimbabwe for 2 1/2 weeks. I’m not even a part of the team this time but I’m so excited about their trip that I can hardly wait to hear how God is able to use them to take the message of his love halfway around the world. That gets me really fired up!
While they’re in Zimbabwe, they’ll have a really cool opportunity to work at an english-speaking orphanage in Chiredzi. It blew me away to watch as FCCers stepped up to make this trip possible, not just from a financial standpoint, but in many other ways. One of the things we wanted to do was to be able to take one school outfit to each child in the orphanage. So many people responded to that idea with love that it was totally taken care of within 3 weeks!
The country of Zimbabwe is so completely ravaged by civil war and political conflict that their economy (or 100% total lack thereof) has left them with literally nothing. We’ve heard that there aren’t even animals running around because the people catch them to kill and eat them just to survive. Because of the generosity of so many awesome people, the team is able to take hundreds of pounds of food and supplies to the people in Zimbabwe, not to mention a bunch of other cool stuff too!
The team is even leaving the clothes on their backs. All they’re planning to bring back with them is the clothes they’re wearing; all their other “stuff” will stay in Zimbabwe as gifts to the people. How awesome is that!
What blows me away more than anything is how the Christians in Zimbabwe are so extremely happy! Even though they have nothing, literally nothing, they still find such a complete and overwhelming joy in their faith in God. What a lesson in perspective…
I’m sure the team would greatly appreciate your prayers as they are traveling into a country that is so hostile and unsafe in many ways right now (Cholera outbreaks, civil unrest, etc).
On another note, Christmas is almost here! I haven’t even begun to think about Christmas shopping yet, but my mom has already mentioned our family’s annual Christmas eve dinner, where we all get together at my mom and dad’s house to eat and hang out for a couple hours.
What Christmas traditions do you celebrate?
The Day Sara Beat the Wall
FCC Senior High Retreat 2008
Last month, my awesome youth sponsor team and I took a group of senior high students from FCC to Elkhorn Valley camp for our fall retreat. While we were there we spent 2 1/2 hours climbing the indoor rock climbing wall. It’s a 40′ tall wall with 5 different climbing faces, some very easy and some much more difficult.
It was awesome to watch some of you work together to help others climb, whether you were on a “horse plow belay team” on the opposite end of the rope, or just cheering each other on.
Even though she’ll probably kick me for writing this, I have to say I was really impressed by one particular girl. Sara is pretty new to the group and I had to kind of convince her to go on the retreat anyway. When the time came to climb the wall, she was 100% against it. She didn’t even want to go down to the renovated barn where the wall is housed. I told her she didn’t have a choice.
Once we were there, I convinced her just to put on the harness. “You won’t have to climb if you don’t want to, I promise,” I told her. So she reluctantly harnessed up. Then I talked her into helping belay for some other climbers, which she again reluctantly agreed to do.
Finally I put the pressure on for her to climb the wall. All I got back way “NOWAYNOWAY!” So I started into the routine I always give to students at weeks of camp when I want them to climb. There’s nothing to be afraid of…it’s totally safe…these ropes can support 2000lbs…it’s only 40′ up…
Finally, she agreed on one condition: she made me promise her I would climb right next to her, on the next wall over, staying beside her the whole way. I don’t know what good she thought I would be if something went wrong, but I wasn’t about to go there. We tied in before she had a chance to change her mind. She took a deep breath, and then she flew up the wall so fast I think she even surprised herself.
At the top, there’s a bell you ring when you get there. She reached for that bell, but wasn’t quite close enough. She moved her foot to a different grip and tried again…still not quite. She looked around for just a second, finally located a handgrip a few inches higher and pushed herself up the wall. As she reached out and her hand hit that bell, she had a huuuuuuuge smile on her face.
Then she was ready to get off that wall! Before we descended, one of our other students took a picture:
Jimmy and Sara at the top of the wall @ EVCSC
She was really proud and excited, even if she wasn’t going to admit it, and I was more than proud of her for not only facing her fear but totally conquering it. She taught me a lot that day. There is so much I’m afraid to do, and instead of trusting God to “climb next to me” and watch out for me, I often prefer to play things safe and back down. Sara showed me that if I just remember that I’m not alone on “the wall” and focus on the goal ahead of me, my fears are smaller than I’ll ever realize any other way.
What freaks you out? What have you found works well to help you face your fears? I’d love to hear your story.
