Planting Perils: Part 2

Sometimes, in your quest to do the right thing in a new Church, you end up stepping on people's toes.

Here is an instance when we did just that with our "Church Plant" in West Sacramento:

Every year the City put on a parade for something or the other. Loads of families came out to stand in the sun and watch the floats go by. We thought it would be cool if we handed out drinks, for free, to people watching the fair. Do the old God loves you and so do we at SouthPort Church.

Well, it went great! People at the parade loved it and it was a great time. The only people that didn't really like it were the people from the PTA at the local Elementary. As it turns out, they were selling drinks just down the block from where we were. I guess their business was somewhat less than booming that day.

We really did try hard to make a good impression on the community and community groups, like the PTA. Maybe we should have checked things out a little more.

Expelled

Emily and I went to check out Ben Stein's (You know, from the Wonder Years, Ferris Beuller's Day Off and Win Ben Stein's Money) new movie Expelled. In it, he highlighted scientists who have been, in his words, Expelled, for bringing up the idea of Intelligent Design in academic settings.

Apparently, even though there is no viable provable scientific theory for initial origins, it is ok to teach any sort of theory other than the possibility that a there was a creator. For instance, it is ok to say that lightning, goo, space aliens or whatever brought about life on earth, but to say that a "God" did so is a terrible mistake.

Anyway, it must be creating a hullabaloo with some. A crop of articles and the like have popped up in defense of the academic establishment. Here is a sight the National Center For Science Education slapped up.

Here is the Expelled website itself.

Here is an article from Worldnet Daily.

In any case, it was well done and quite provocative. Worth a look, I think.

Our Unit is in the News Again.

This time in the AZ Republic.

See the article and pics here.

Planting Perils: Part 1

It is time for us to plant our summer garden. Last year, the melons turned out great, although we harvested some of them too soon, the carrots were eaten by ants before they had a chance and the corn roasted alive. I just found a potato a couple of weeks ago that went unharvested last year.

As I prepare for the garden, I remember my adventures and misadventures in what we call "Church Planting", the act of starting a new community of believers.

I left Arizona and my position as a Pastor in 1999 to head out to Sacramento (well, West Sacramento to be precise) to lead what was billed as a Re-Start or Re-Plant. A re-plant is a much more difficult beast than your standard start up Church and even though I got all the official training and assessments and all that, it was still only accomplished by the grace of God.

I guess you're going to have to stay tuned to see the lessons I learned and some of the stuff that went on as we followed God in this venture, cause I am gonna go see the movie "EXPELLED".

On another note, if you're the type, please pray for our family as we consider our steps in serving God. I have had some conversations about leading a Church Plant and I am thinking about how I should be involved in this compelling and exciting ministry area. Don't have time for getting on my soap box now, but it has been shown time and again that starting new Churches is among the best ways to bring people to a relationship with God, and that is what I want to continue to be about.

I don't like the name, but it is a brilliant waste of time.

Try it out by clicking here.

Death at the Magic Kingdom

The girls are showing animals again at the County Fair and we are headed out there again today. The rides at the fair always give me shivers. Where else can you find large rusty metal structures hastily assembled by stoned workers. I still ride them, but they just seem inherently dangerous. Not safe like the scrubbed and polished walkways and railways at Disneyland, right?

Well, a few years back, T.J. and I headed out to the happiest place on earth for his 16th birthday. Ok, we really didn't intend on doing it, but I was slated to share at some conference on Church Planting in Anaheim and he was along with me to take in the sights. Since it was his birthday and he had never been and we were in Anaheim, I said, "Hey, lets go to Disneyland.". So we did.

We had just taken in the Haunted Mansion when the attraction added another permanent resident. Ok, that one was bad......I'll try again.

We had just left the Haunted Mansion and were approaching the spot in front of the Shooting Gallery where my brother and I had stood alongside the railing grudgingly waiting for my overdue parents several years ago. As I was explaining this to T.J., we heard a crashing sound and I felt a whip like sensation across my shoulders and back. Tree branches were crashing down around us. People began calling for help and a woman was screaming for her child.

I dove in to see who might need some help, but the park employees efficiently rushed in and began to shoo away anyone who was not laying down. So, we stood by the shooting gallery and compared wounds. We both had scratches on our arms and some big thick welts on our backs and shoulders. No real harm done to us. A red popcorn cart was completely crushed and I saw a man laying down, out cold. T.J. told me he saw a guy with a blood covered face walking about.

We later learned that a person was killed by the giant Oak tree that fell. It was planted right beside the water on one side and a large concrete walkway on the other. Oak trees, I learned, need adequate drainage and breathing room, or they will come crashing down. As this one did.

We did get our money back. In retrospect, maybe we should have laid down or something so we could have gotten lifetime passes. However, Diane doesn't really think we should go back anyways. I think if I do, I will just avoid that spot.

Hows about that!?!

16 years today.

These pictures are from 8 years ago, so halfway between then and now.