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The Details

January 19, 2010 by Kenny

Sunday worship at The Heights was wonderful as usual this past Sunday.  Our little praise band is coming along nicely and they have done a great job in leading us in worship.  We sang one of my favorite songs, “Who is Like You” by Tim Neufeld.  This song became important to us as we were struggling through last year and there are some great words.  There is one line in particular that says, “Who is like You, majestic in Holiness…”  I made the comment that Colin used to sing, “Majestic in all of this,” which are the wrong words but no less true.  God is majestic is so many things, in everything.  I want to take the time more this year to be grateful for the details of my life that show me how majestic God is.  So this morning, here are the small details I’m thankful for:

The coupon that allowed me to buy one Egg McMuffin and get one free.

A beautiful wife to eat the second Egg McMuffin with me so I didn’t have to eat both.

A day at home with just me and the babies.

A day off yesterday with the big boys home from school.

The opportunity to listen to the boys sing, “I Can’t Fight This Feeling,” the GLEE version.

A weekend ahead that holds a mini-vacation for our family…how we need this.

Family in Michigan and Missouri that I know love us and are praying for us.

Friends and partners in ministry.

Forgiveness, mercy, grace, love, and hope…(I know those aren’t small, just sayin’)

Thanks God!

Posted in Life | Leave a Comment »

What a Difference

November 29, 2009 by Kenny

We were reading the Christmas Story to the boys this morning from Luke’s Gospel and I was struck by a phrase.  After everything has happened and the shepherds have come and gone and spread the word and others have come and gone, Luke says that Mary “treasured these things in her heart.”  What a precious moment.  That’s what mothers do with their newborn babies.  In my mind, I can see Anna cuddling with each of our boys after they were born.  Nuzzling, touching, rubbing, enjoying the time.  Here is Mary doing just that, cuddling her baby boy…who just happened to be God wrapped in human flesh.

This represents a change of sorts though because earlier in his Gospel, Luke tells us that upon hearing the greeting from the angel, Mary was “troubled”.  Who wouldn’t have been right?  Here is an angel appearing to her, bringing news that is pretty unbelievable.  She is about to be told that God’s long promised plan for salvation includes HER playing a big role.  Between this moment, and the moment I described above, there is a significant change in Mary and I think we see it in verse 38.  Mary hears the plan, and her response is simple, “I am a servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word.”  Wow.

I love focusing on Mary and her part in this story.  I love to focus on her response and how she felt and acted throughout this ordeal.  Of course, I love even more the baby that she bore and raised.  May the words of Mary be our words and her simple willingness to be used, be our model in every opportunity the Lord gives us.

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New

November 14, 2009 by Kenny

I’m sitting in my car waiting to go into work, listening to Phil Wickham, watching the sun rise. I’m reminded that the rising sun brings with it new mercies from God. I’m needy but I’m thankful.

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Whoops!

October 26, 2009 by Kenny

We had a visitor at church yesterday.  It’s funny how excited we were.  I get the sense it was a guest at the hotel where we meet.  When she asked Travis what time church started, he couldn’t remember…we weren’t expecting a guest. :)

She participated in service, she sung and you could tell she was listening to the message.  At the end of service, when it came time to serve communion, we asked everyone to come forward and get the bread and juice.  I was already nervous because I didn’t know what she would do or was thinking.  She stayed in her seat until the last possible minute and when the last person came forward I turned to serve Travis who was playing the music.  Well, she apparently decided in that moment that she wanted to come forward but was blocked by my turning to Travis.  She left the service afterward in a hurry!  Needless to say I felt bad but we talked about it as a team and just chalked it up as a learning experience.

I’m sure we’ll make more mistakes but I’m glad we don’t have to be perfect.  Also, if someone does something to you inadvertently, especially at church, I recommend a more graceful approach to reconciling the situation. :)

Posted in Church Planting, church | Leave a Comment »

A Perfect Day?

October 5, 2009 by Kenny

We had a great day yesterday.  I really needed a good day and God blessed us with a great one.  The last couple weeks have been really hard at work and I was very much looking forward to this weekend…consisting of Sunday-Tuesday for me.  I was optimistic because the weather has been nice and cool and Fall has definitely arrived in Noblesville.  On the way home from work Saturday night I stopped by the store and got the stuff to make a pot of chili for Sunday.

We had sweet worship at The Heights which I really needed.  I was looking forward to being in church and it was certainly a blessing.  After church we came home to put the chili on and then we met the Penn’s and Scott’s at Stuckey Farm for some apple picking.  The weather was great and we had a blast just walking around the orchard.  Then we came home, got in our “comfies” and just relaxed.  There was a cool breeze coming through the door and the chili was awesome.  To top it off, the Steelers won.

Cool, Fall weather, good worship, time with friends and family, chili and football…a perfect day.  What’s your formula for a perfect day?

Posted in Life, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

I Want to Know That Man

October 3, 2009 by Kenny

A friend of ours introduced us to a new artist this week.  Her name is Christa Wells and she is a singer /songwriter.  It is well publicized that I favor artists’ who write their own lyrics so I was pleased to discover that Christa Wells was a good singer as well as writer.  Today, on my way to work, I listened to a song that endeared me to her and I wanted to share the lyrics here as well as encourage you to check her out.  The name of the song is, “I Want To Know That Man.”

If there’s a man with a vision to recognize beauty 

in places and faces the rest have passed by 

If there’s a man who can meet with the queen 

and stay warm with a beggar the very same night 

a man who would pour himself out for a stranger for years, for no kind of pay 

 

let me know his name,  I wanna know that man 

I wanna know that man, I wanna know that man 

 

If there’s a man without a wallet or looks to explain 

why these masses of people wanna follow him around 

if there is something compelling,  if he’s saying 

something they know they’ve gotta know more about 

a man who could love like a mother and die for a world instead of saving himself 

 

I wanna know his name, I wanna know that man 
I wanna know that man, I wanna know that man 

 

Oh, I’d be a fool to go on acting like it’s unimportant 

it might take a little more faith to imagine him away 

to walk the other way…….Oh Oh 

 

If he came, if he lived, if he came, if he lived 

If he died, if he lived,  If he IS, if he IS 

If there’s a God who would enter humanity to capture the love of a rebel like me 

 

I want to know his name

I wanna know that man I wanna know that man

I wanna know that man

 

When I first heard the words I emphasized, I laughed out loud.  The way to my heart is to talk about God coming to earth.  I love that about Jesus!  I also love the thought of people following Jesus simply because they realized there was something special about him and his message.  That’s why I am following him and that’s why we want to tell people about him.  People need to know that man.

Posted in Life, Theology | Leave a Comment »

Don’t Waste Your Money On a PS3…

September 26, 2009 by Kenny

…buy an Atari instead. As Carson was playing Galaga on my phone, I asked him why he was playing that instead of his DSi or one of the game systems we have. His response? “Because this is amazing!”

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Just Follow

September 21, 2009 by Kenny

There is a great passage in the first chapter of Mark.  You can find it in verses 16-21.  Jesus has started to gather people around him who will share in his message and he encounters Simon and Andrew, simple fisherman who are, well…fishing.  Jesus invites them to follow and we are told that they do so, AT ONCE.  Later, Jesus makes the same invitation to James and John and they too leave their nets, their father, and their lives to follow Jesus, AT ONCE.  I love this passage, even if it challenges me and makes me feel uncomfortable.  I love the response these guys give to the awesome invitation that Jesus makes.  I love that they waste no time in deciding whether it makes good practical sense to follow Jesus.  They have heard of him, believed in him and because of that, there is no other appropriate response but to GO.

I want to be more like that.  I want to make decisions that seem reckless to others simply because I know it’s what I’m supposed to do.  I want to go without pausing to consider the pros and cons.  There is something important that the decision that Simon, Andrew, James, and John made and what it says about who Jesus was to them.  It shows an amazing amount of trust. They put their faith in him immediately, trusted him with their very lives and they left everything they had to follow.  We can take a lesson from that.  I am as big a fan of prayer as anyone.  Believe me, I have seen the power of prayer in my life over the last year.  I’m curious though how much time we waste praying about things that we already know the answer to.  In this passage in Mark, there was nothing to pray about.  The King made an invitation and there was but one viable option…Just Follow.

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The Office

September 16, 2009 by Kenny

In honor of tomorrow’s premier of Season 6 of The Office, I thought I would list the five seasons in order from best to worst…my opinion of course.

1. Season 2-This is by far the best season to date.  The show hit its stride and established some really important story lines in season 2, including Dwight and Angela & Michael and Jan.  Check out “Booze Cruise”, “Office Olympics”, and “The Dundies” just to name a few of the good episodes.

2. Season 1-This season has to be near the top because it started it all off.  It was only six episodes though.  I will admit I didn’t love Michael Scott to start with.  I thought he was lazy, rude, and a poor boss…which of course he is.  That’s why we love him.  “Diversity Day” is perhaps one of the best episodes in the history of the show.

3. Season 3-This is the season that introduced us to the Stamford branch of Dunder-Miflin and therefore introduced us to Andy, my third favorite character on the show.  The Office wouldn’t be The Office without Andy.  There are some great episodes in this season.  Check out “Branch Closing”, “Diwali”, and “Travelling Salesman/The Return.”

4. Season 5-A great season with some important moments including Jim’s proposal to Pam.  Also, there were 26 episodes so that was pretty cool…but it also made for some real stinkers like “Baby Shower” and “Prince Family Paper.”  There was also a good helping of Holly Flax.  We miss Holly!

5.Season 4-This was my least favorite season and it was also the season shortened by the writers strike.  I read that the writers strike really affected a few of the story lines.  Nevertheless, there were some funny moments including Micheal making fun of Pams’ back-up glasses.

Here’s hoping this season is the best yet.  I can’t wait for tomorrow.

Posted in Pop Culture, The Office | 1 Comment »

Worship at The Heights

September 15, 2009 by Kenny

We had a really good service this past Sunday at The Heights.  We have already come to enjoy The Cambria Suites and feel like this is a place that God had a hand in guiding us to for our meetings.  It’s new and very welcoming and I think that people will feel comfortable coming there for church.

In terms of the service itself, I said that I am already really proud of the worship service.  Not in a prideful, negative way, but I feel good about people experiencing it.  I’m pretty sure that people from various religious backgrounds, including those with no religious background, will be comfortable worshipping with us.  There is a consistent focus on the greatness of God and the glory of Jesus Christ and the preaching has been gospel-centric.  One of the keys, I think, was that we have been meeting together since February to try and develop a good rhythm for worshipping in a small group.  That was a great idea on Kevin’s part.  The bet thing I can say is that I look forward to church next Sunday.  One other key is that all of the people in the worship service really want to be there and are excited about church, that doesn’t always happen and it’s very contagious.

Will you pray for us as we continue to grow?  Pray that we will focus always on God first and pray that God will lead us to people that need to hear the gospel.  Pray that we don’t focus so much on ourselves that we forget to go the extra mile to welcome people into our community.

Posted in Church Planting, church | Leave a Comment »

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