Another Ministry Update

I haven't given an update in a while. Last update was that out of 154 applicants for a job at my church, I was in the final 10, but did not make the cut down to 5. A person was selected and brought in over this weekend to meet and greet the focus groups that position would minister to and then he was voted on last night. He got the position. I have my own opinions and if you care to know them, you can email me. I won't share them publicly on this blog.

I am submitting my resume to church positions that have a missions/evangelism/outreach/discipleship/singles/young adult focus. Single focus or any combo of these is what I am looking for. There are 3 churches I have submitted my resume in 3 different states, but the one in SC is my number 1 objective.

I am taking two classes in seminary and plan on taking 2 more next semester.

That is it for now. If you know of any openings, point them my way. Baptist or non-denominational churches with a Baptist belief are my preference.

The Australian Green Party?

Here is a Friday Funny

Friday Felicities

This was created by my cousin, Natalie, who now resides in heaven. Her list today would be much better than mine. This is a list of things that make me feel good and blessings in my life.

1. Peeling a banana for Ian
2. Playing the piano
3. Looking at pictures of mission trips
4. Going to dinner with Lona
5. Listening to Madeleine sing
6. Reading my Bible

This was my first attempt. I will try to continue this each Friday.

The Heart of the Matter

I have been reading about Augustine and the Augustinian tradition. To Augustine, the heart represents our whole self before God. Thomas Martin, who wrote and compiled this book, Our Restless Heart, had these words to say:

From the heart I come to Christian faith, become a member of the church, the Body of Christ, and begin to recognize Christ in my brothers and sisters, with a particular openness of heart to the poor. Heart is that touch point where true integration of the interior and exterior, the spiritual and the incarnational, takes place. Heart is never the final goal, yet what does not start from the heart goes nowhere. Equally true is Augustine's insistence that if something is claimed to be in the heart but never manifests itself outwardly in love and community, it is nothing less than self-deception. His insistence upon the heart is thus not a self-serving escape from responsibility into interior religion and privatised faith. To come to the heart is simply to discover that we are God's work, that God does dwell within us, that at our deepest and truest level of self we are never alone - and certainly never unloved.

A Memory Stone

The Old Testament has several examples of when an altar was built or a stone was placed in memory of an event. I have a few of them myself. One such stone is actually a church made of brick in the small town of Santerem, Brasil. Santerem is on the Amazon River halfway between Manaus and Belem. Christian Missions Unlimited (CMU) built another church nearby and some team members were able to visit the one I built in 1993. Ray Welch was on both trips, 1993 and 2008. I wish I could have been there. Here are a couple of pictures.

Hurricane Ike Pictures

These are some incredible pictures of the power of a hurricane.