You may have heard that our little rugged churchplant has been growing and has now exceeded all space options (Kids were all asked to sit on parents laps..) LOVE this kind of "Problem" ;)
But a fellow with connections set up a meeting with another man of means who owned a fabulous old-school theatre/jazz club downtown. After several months of bantering we picked up the keys to it.
And this 1.2 million dollar building was given to us. For free.
Most of us just crapped our pants. It's overwhelming and wonderful. Not even so much to have the building - but the journey for our pastors - meeting in small living rooms, starting a churchplant over, emotional and relational duress, working with very little and yet still dreaming of a place where we could affect the Green Bay downtown. Not necessarily with "churchiness", but with help. More details to come....
Friday, September 21, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Reading the B.
OK - Got the Barack book (1st one) and it's good . 1/4 way through a monstrous Winston Churchill bio - so far he's a prig. The book is a monster - so he's got time to progress... Anybody else like this guy?
Oldies
Due to the mental slugs, never realized I could actually Google people who who regular old pals. I know, "techie re-re".
But the point is - do you have those people in your past that are so precious to your heart that just hearing their name makes you smile? Who are some of your fav's? No, Bono is a rockstar and he doesn't count.
But the point is - do you have those people in your past that are so precious to your heart that just hearing their name makes you smile? Who are some of your fav's? No, Bono is a rockstar and he doesn't count.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Misthought
Cedar is currently fascinated with sharks. He will focus - memorizing every detail about the water levels they swim at, what they eat, what regions they swim in etc.. He rushed over to me in alarm last night after dad read to him that some sharks were "bottom-feeders".
Imagine the thoughts of a 5 yr old...
Sharks eat bottoms.
Imagine the thoughts of a 5 yr old...
Sharks eat bottoms.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Excess
Contemplating excess.
Why do we as a culture deem it necessary to purchase a 10 lb tub of cheeseballs for a small family? Why do we need gi-normous homes that are energy consuming and so poorly designed that we only use 1/2 the space? Why do we need huge front yards? Why do we buy and keep so much trash? Why is Christmas a million cheapo presents event instead of a few quality gifts event? ( I know some of you are irritated I even mentioned Christmas and consumerism together..)
I read on a blog recently the definition of consumer. One of the words used to explain was "devourer". There are global comics from as early as WW2 that visualize the US as an incredibly obese individual shoveling nations into it's mouth. Later through the 70's we appeared gobbling natural resources. I hate this picture. I've traveled internationally, and while there are positive aspects fronted about the US, if you can get someone to talk honestly - there is always a sense of the US taking more than their share. I know the other 1/2 being what we've invested and given, but have we ever taken an honest look of what we use personally?
One of my friends has a husband who could live the most spartan lifestyle (a 3 pr underwear kind of guy) . Probably why he's a pastor. ;) While this is extreme, I've noticed that every time we've moved it has been (painfully) refreshing and dynamic to release myself of the expectation of "thing comfort".
Finally, a story. When we got married a "clingy friend" made me a gift. It was not pretty, useful or practical. It was more like - horrible. But it was large and meant to be displayed prominently. I hung onto this for YEARS for fear she would come over and not see it out and being loved. And I didn't even really like the poor girl. The one time she visited my house - I yanked it out of it's dusty trashbag and laid it out. She didn't even see it. Realizing my re-re bahaviour, it went into the trashCAN and hopefully to the dump. Can anyone relate?
Why do we as a culture deem it necessary to purchase a 10 lb tub of cheeseballs for a small family? Why do we need gi-normous homes that are energy consuming and so poorly designed that we only use 1/2 the space? Why do we need huge front yards? Why do we buy and keep so much trash? Why is Christmas a million cheapo presents event instead of a few quality gifts event? ( I know some of you are irritated I even mentioned Christmas and consumerism together..)
I read on a blog recently the definition of consumer. One of the words used to explain was "devourer". There are global comics from as early as WW2 that visualize the US as an incredibly obese individual shoveling nations into it's mouth. Later through the 70's we appeared gobbling natural resources. I hate this picture. I've traveled internationally, and while there are positive aspects fronted about the US, if you can get someone to talk honestly - there is always a sense of the US taking more than their share. I know the other 1/2 being what we've invested and given, but have we ever taken an honest look of what we use personally?
One of my friends has a husband who could live the most spartan lifestyle (a 3 pr underwear kind of guy) . Probably why he's a pastor. ;) While this is extreme, I've noticed that every time we've moved it has been (painfully) refreshing and dynamic to release myself of the expectation of "thing comfort".
Finally, a story. When we got married a "clingy friend" made me a gift. It was not pretty, useful or practical. It was more like - horrible. But it was large and meant to be displayed prominently. I hung onto this for YEARS for fear she would come over and not see it out and being loved. And I didn't even really like the poor girl. The one time she visited my house - I yanked it out of it's dusty trashbag and laid it out. She didn't even see it. Realizing my re-re bahaviour, it went into the trashCAN and hopefully to the dump. Can anyone relate?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
