WC Remodel - 7

More success! This has to be the slowest remodel project in the history of the world - at least in this house! We are getting so close, though, and it feels good. If you remember from installment 6, I had a few things to check of the list and I got 3 of them done this weekend, plus several other things.

The shower panel came in so I was able to get the entire shower installed!


I still need to do some trim work along the top edge and sides. The instructions were not clear on measuring how to place the panels, so I was off pretty bad. This goes all the way back to the texture stage because I had to tape off the wall so as not to have texture behind the shower panel so the glue would stick good. It didn't come out quite right, but its nothing some trim won't hide!


I guess you are supposed to pull that blue stuff off the chrome at some point. We'll wait until its good and finished!

This picture doesn't really show it, but the grout is finished and I also got the light covers put on. Now the plumbers need to come do the toilet and some trim work will be all that's left.

All that was done on Sunday and Monday evening because I spent Saturday doing other projects - like getting Avery's new bunkbed put up! Thanks to Uncle Vernon's donation of his childhood bed, she is one happy little girl! She has slept on the top AND bottom - quite possibly in the same night, but I'm not sure about that.


We also got our Christmas tree and some lights put up as well - that was really fun with Avery this year. She was so excited to get the ornaments hung it was hard to keep things under control! She's been quite disappointed that we didn't make a paper star for the top. After all, Caillou (her best cartoon friend) made one for his tree this year. She even suggested that since we obviously didn't know how to do it, we should travel to his house for lessons. We told her we were pretty sure Caillou lives in Canada and she thought that sounded like a fun weekend trip!

One other thing - on the way to buy the Christmas tree, Avery was looking over Jill's new cell phone and reviewing which number called who on speed dial. She said, "Mom - number 1 calls you voicemail." Voicemail?? How does she even know what voicemail is? So we asked her how she knew that and she gave us the most ridiculous look while replying, "Well, it does have an envelope on the button, you know!" Oh my. Reckon what our phone bill will be when she is 13?!!?!

Membership Class - Harvest Christian Fellowship

Over the next couple of weeks I would like to post some of the materials we have covered in the membership class at Harvest. I want to do this for two reasons:

1. It helps me to process the information if I can try to restate and/or explain it to you, and

2. I would like your honest opinion on the materials. If you read something that causes you concern - biblically or personally - I want to know. We have not committed to this church yet and should we choose to do so, want to make sure we are making a well-informed and biblically based decision.I should have posted this material immediately after receiving it, but I did not. So - it may be a little dusty in my mind as I try to reconstruct it for you here.

The class was divided up into 4 sections:

1. Who is Christ?

2. What is the church?

3. What makes Harvest unique

4. Ways to get involved - specific ministry opportunities.



We were also given some preliminary information about the church and that is where I want to start today. Please give me your honest opinions/views about this.

Harvest Christian Fellowship - Statement of Faith

• We believe the Bible to be the revealed will of God, the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice.


• There is one God, externally existent in three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  God the Father has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. In Jesus, God became man to reveal the Father to us and to save us from our sins. Forever He is fully God and fully man.


• Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, became our atoning sacrifice through his death, and was raised from the dead bodily, ascended to His Father and will personally return in power and glory to the earth.


• Although we are created in the image of God, we have nonetheless "all sinned" (Romans 3:23). Until we call upon Christ to forgive our sins and become our Master, Scripture claims we are under the dominion of Satan and are members of the kingdom of darkness. Only through faith in Jesus Christ and the cleansing of His blood can we be saved. When we believe in Him, our sins are forgiven, and we are rescued from the dominion of darkness and transferred into His Kingdom (Colossians 1:13).


• The Father and the Son have given the Holy Spirit to regenerate us, transform us into the image of Christ, and equip us for service. Personal holiness, healing, the fullness of the Spirit and all the spiritual gifts received in New Testament days are available now and should be eagerly desired (1 Corinthians 14:1).


• We long for the return of Christ, at which time He will rectify everything that is presently wrong. Until then, we are to work faithfully to bring the world to Him through evangelism and discipleship. (Matthew 28:18-20).


• When Jesus returns, dead believers will be physically resurrected. Believers still alive will also receive their glorified bodies. Unbelievers will also be raised. Then there will be a judgement. Those who are in Christ will live with Him forever. Those who are not will be cast into Hell.


• The church as the body of Christ has been given special gifts (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc.) to equip every member of the body to do the work of ministry. The Church is entrusted with the ordinances of baptism in water, holy communion, the anointing of the sick, the marriage ceremony, the appointment of called persons to specific ministries, and with the preaching of the World.


• Ultimately, we believe whatever the Bible teaches on any subject. it is our absolute and infallible authority in all matters of faith and conduct because God inspired every word of it in its original form.
  

Harvest Christian Fellowship Membership Covenant
Having received Christ as my Lord and Savior and been baptized, and being in agreement with Harvest's statements, strategy , and structure, I now feel led by the Holy Spirit to unite with the Harvest church family. In doing so, I commit myself to God and to the other members to do the following:

• I will protect the unity of my church by acting in love toward other members, by refusing to gossip, by following the leaders, by understanding biblical standards for correction or church discipline.


• I will share the responsibility of my church by praying for its growth, by inviting the unchurched to attend, and by warmly welcoming those who visit.


• I will serve the ministry of my church by discovering my gifts and talents, by allowing the pastors of this church to equip me for service and by developing a servant's heart.


• I will support the testimony of my church by attending faithfully, by living a godly life and by giving regularly.


• I have read and understand the biblical expectations Harvest Christian Fellowship has for each of the members of this church. I agree it is my responsibility as a member of this church to embrace and promote these standards of living. I will live by these principles and encourage the other members of this church as they do the same.
  ________________________
  Member's Signature and Date
  _________________________________________________________________
  

I think it is pretty cool the church has a membership covenant and doesn't just accept every Tom, Dick and Harry who wants in. There are high expectations of membership and from what I've seen, the membership works hard to live up to them. Worship is dynamic because everyone there is committed to the church and more importantly, to God and His service. Pew warmers are not welcome to stay for long here, and that is refreshing to me.

So - what are your thoughts? Anything here that puts a burr under your saddle? I'm all ears...

WC Remodel - 6

Jill summed up my latest "progress" quite well in three pictures.

1. Here I am thoroughly reading the instructions for how to properly install the shower wall panels.


2. Here I am doing a really good job of applying the glue.


3. Here is proof at how well I follow instructions.


The bathroom did NOT get finished as planned this weekend. Another panel is on order and so - we have to wait until after Thanksgiving for success.

I DID get the tile laid and most of the painting and caulking done!

Bado: (that means what's left)
Grout.
Shower walls and door.
Light fixture covers.
2 pieces of trim.
Reinstall vanity.
Install towel racks, hooks, etc.
Paint doorframe.
That's it!

WC Remodel - 5

And then it was the 412th day and Gabe said, "Let there be light!" And there was. So much it blinded you to be in the room! And also on the 412th day, Gabe said, "Let there be water!" And there was. So hot it was scalding!

Unfortunately, Gabe is not God and when he said "Let there be light!" there should have also been power for drying hair and charging toothbrushes. There was not. Since Gabe is not God, he can't tell the difference between two identical yellow wires coming out of an electrical box whe wiring in the outlet. Nor can he remember to read the cleverly written label on the end of said wire before he cut that extra length off. Oh well, Gabe the Master Water Closet Remodeler can't get everything right on the 412th day! There must be something left for tomorrow...

WC Remodel - 4

I was finally able to make some progress on the bathroom this weekend. It's really starting to take shape! Here's some pics...

The door is finally hung. I had to remount the hinges onto the other side of the door. While I was at it, I stripped the 10 layers of paint off those hinges - they look like brushed nickel now. I wish they could stay that way! Now I have to reverse the latch and move the catch to the proper height so it will stay closed.

I really, really wanted to show off these lights turned ON! I got all the lighting and electrical done and was ready to connect it all - only to discover I had the wrong breaker. What a dud. Lights should be functional tomorrow. We went ahead and hung the mirror to get the look going. The brown still has to be painted as does the beadboard.

In case you hadn't seen it, this was what the corner from the mirror picture above looked like before we started. Big improvement!

I was able to get beadboard up as well since the last post. I've been waiting on the plumber to do the shower, so I'm hoping the edge of the beadboard matches the edge of the shower. We'll see...

The vanity and sink are mocked up, but not installed. I want to lay the tile first and then mount the vanity to gain a little extra height. Every 1/4" helps, you know. As you can tell, it was a tight fit for the 49" vanity top. I'm not sure it will come out. I got the hardware on the vanity as well. Question here - should the hardware for the vanity and cabinets all match? I vote yes, Jill votes no. What do you think???

This is beadboard on the commode corner. You can see my biggest mistake of the weekend at the bottom left of the light switch box. It's impossible to know where the studs are in this house because of the thickness of the wood behind the sheetrock and wouldn't you know it - there was a stud right where I drilled for the corner of the box. I drilled and drilled and never broke through - this is a bad sign. Sure enough, I was square on the stud and had to move over. I guess a little patchwork will fix this easily enough. Next time, I'll be sure to drill a small test hole!

This is the ceiling above the shower and commode. I put in recessed lighting and I hope it works OK. I think I'm finally done with crawling around in the attic of this house doing wiring! YEAH!

Next time...

The plumber comes this week to install the shower and toilet.

Tile will get laid.

Caulking will be done.

Painting and finish work will commence!

Stay tuned!

Willys Trailer

I'm sure you ladies who read my blog won't appreciate this post, but there are some manly men out there who need to hear this news and see the pictures. Since I got my Land Rover, I've been thinking it would be cool to have a 4x4 trailer to go with it. These were popular in Kenya with Overlanders - folks who were traveling around Africa or just going on safari as they could pack all their gear in the trailer leaving the vehicle available for passengers or just free to drop the trailer and go exploring. Often the little 2 wheel rigs had a tent that folded out on top of them and you could leave everything set up and go exploring without breaking camp. They are full of little nooks and crannies for storing things - water jugs strap on the side, kitchen utensils - everything you need for camping. Plus, you can just leave it all packed up in the trailer when you get home and it's ready to go next time!



The only problem with these commercial rigs is that they are very expensive. And, I've not seen them for sale in the USA. That doesn't inhibit me, though! I'd seen some on the web that were homemade and got to figuring I could do the same. About this same time, there was a community farm sale near Abernathy where a neat little green trailer appeared. It was just perfect - small, lightweight, high off-road stance and had lots of little extras like tarp hooks, parking break, swivel hitch, shocks, etc. It was very old looking and had lots of rust damage in the bed. One of the tires still had the tread on it, which was the old military tread from way back when. It was a purpose built military trailer obviously. I went to the farm sale intending to buy it - if it was cheap. Only one other person bid against me and I won it for $100. I also happened to buy some good mud tires for it at the same auction - $2 each.



Happy with my bargain, I brought it home and got on the Internet to do some research. It turns out this trailer was built by Willys specifically to go behind the M38A1 military Jeeps from WWII. It uses the same axle as the Willys Jeep so the bearings and tires would be interchangeable for easy maintenance. I discovered my trailer was missing several features - such as the parking brake handle, a fold down jack, a fitted tarp and the orignal pintle hitch has been replaced with a farm type hitch. The original trailer also didn't have the tailgate that somebody made in mine. The little trailer was originally watertight and would float with up to 500 lbs of gear inside. Judging by the design and features on mine, it was actually a post-war model produced in the early 1950's. Good restored models bring over $1500 on the net these days, so I got a steal!





Now for the pictures. It's not pretty, but it will be a good little trailer once it's fixed up a little.

The rims are 16" , which match the Land Rover for now. I'd like to change the LR to 15" because tires are so much cheaper for that size.


Notice the little hooks all the way around it. You can buy a fitted replacement tarp for it that had bungee sewed into it to match these hooks.


The hitch is actually on upside down. That bracket on the top should be on the bottom and holds the kickstand jack. I'd like to cut off the farm hitch and replace it with a 2" ball.


It's really rusty inside. The kicker is that whoever parked it with the tongue on the ground could have opened the built-in drain plug in the floor and prevented this!


My trailer had a custom-built tailgate. I think that makes it much more functional. You can see the tires I bought inside it. They look pretty cool mounted, though that little project cost me $60 for mounting and new tubes!

The little trailer pulls real nicely and I think will be perfect for hauling camping gear to the mountains!

WC Remodel - 3

Here are a few more pics from this weekend's work. Well, actually the painted bedroom was done the day Jill got home from Dallas!

The bedroom is now khaki colored - I'm sure Jill can tell you the official color's name if you are so inclined. This is the view looking at the closet door.


This is looking at the west window.


And this is looking at the north window. You can't really see the texture, but it looks 100% better!


I got some work done in the bathroom yesterday. This is the vanity in place for measurement. It will be removed before I lay tile. I want the tile underneath it for the extra height.


This is the linen cabinet that is set back into the wall between the studs.


Looking into the linen cabinet, I had to notch out one corner to go around the corner stud. It will be caulked and the stud was sanded and sealed. It doesn't quite match, but once it is full of towels you will never know!


This is the commode corner. Mother Jill suggested a chocolate brown color above the beadboard wainscoting, so we are trying it. Not sure if we like it or not. It is much easier to paint before all the trim is up, though!


Here is what happens when you take the cheapest plumbing bid. I got ready to install the shower and put down the base. There wasn't a drain pipe in the hole. So, I drew a circle where the drain pipe should be. It's way off. I told them to center the pipe at 12"x12". they did it at 15".


Finally, I got the medicine cabinet installed. It is right above and to the side of the vanity and the shower will be in the big white spot beside it. Since the linen cabinet butted against a wall, I didn't need one piece of the crown molding. I was able to redo it a bit and make it fit this cabinet, which didn't have a molding. It turned out looking much better and seems to help it match better too.

We went to Lowe's after church and picked up the beadboard and electrical supplies. Soon it will be looking much more finished and have it's own lights!

WC Remodel - 2

It's been quite a long time since I updated my blog, so I thought I'd post a few more pictures of the progress in the bathroom. I've been able to make some relatively steady progress and things are starting to shape up! These pictures are from 2 weekends ago while Jill was out of town. I was able to get all the sheetrock finished and textured! Last weekend nothing much happened since it was Avery's birthday and Jill's folks were here.


Since I was going to be doing texture, and it is SO messy, I decided to go ahead and do the bedroom and closet while I was at it. So - it took A LOT of blue tape and plastic to keep all the flying texture off the things I didn't want textured!


Looking into the closet - I had to add sheetrock on the back wall of this closet. When that wall was added to create the hall bathroom (10 years ago according to the date and signatures written on the studs) they never finished the job. Now its done and textured to boot!


The bedroom door and air conditioning vent hole. Lots of patching was done to cover up all the cracks and dents. This room had no texture on the walls so you could see every little hole and dent.


Like I said, lots of tape and plastic.


It was REALLY messy! Everything was coated in fine powder dust from sanding the sheetrock. I found out too late you can wet sand sheetrock and avoid this!


This hole in the bathroom will be filled with a set-in linen cabinet. I had to use the stud space inside the wall so the cabinet would set back enough to clear the door opening. That was after making the door 6" narrower and adding that length to the wall you see here beside the blue tape.


Once I got the texture runny enough to flow through the machine, it worked great and went fast. My arms were sore for days from holding up 20 lbs of mud above my head!


Looking into the bathroom from the Master Bedroom. On the right, where all the white is, there used to be a door leading to the staircase. Not anymore!

We had a good time together. Avery is working in the "shower" area. Right above me you can see the hole where a cabinet will be set into the wall.

Avery was a BIG help and LOVED the mud!

I'll post more pics of this weekends progress soon!

Video Experiment

I'm trying something new here - posting a short video to see if it works. This is a bouncy shot of Tsavo elephants taken near sunset inside the Tsavo East National Park in Kenya this summer.

WC Remodel

The WC (Water Closet, or bathroom as you may know it) is coming along! After sitting vacant and empty for 1 whole year, I'm back at it and making progress. The plumbers came about a month ago and got our pipes sorted out, then I've been working on the weekends to get it up to speed. It's hard to take pictures in a 6x7 room with no lights, but here's a few to show the progress.

Working on the floor. I had removed the floor down to the dirt and went back with new joists since the old ones sag and are somewhat rotten.

Working on the door. We needed more room to fit the vanity in, so I "borrowed" the 24" door from the stairwell and replaced the existing 30" door. I suppose any of you who visit in a wheelchair will be out of luck, but it works for us for now! The hole where the old door was is being covered up, since it was useless anyway.

Originally there was a window in this bathroom. Somewhere along the way, the office was added and the window was covered up, but they cleverly left the opening and used it for shelving. I had to reduce the size to fit a standard 18" cabinet that will be recessed into the spot since the new shower will cover part of the old opening.

Jill was a really big help putting up the sheetrock over Labor Day weekend. It actually looks like a room now instead of a dark, dingy cave!

This weekend was spent taping, bedding and sanding the sheetrock. It's definitely coming along and texture is next! While we do the bathroom, we are also going to texture the adjacent bedroom and we also finished out the closet as well. The people who remodeled that closet, who didn't put sheetrock on the inside of it, did the work 10 years ago according to their note on the wall. I added my own note to point out I'm not the only nor worst procrastinator around this house!

Stonebridge Fellowship

September 2, 2007
Most of the churches we have visited so far are fairly large - maybe 500-2000 members. These are the ones that seem to be easier to learn about remotely - i.e. the internet - before attending, and ones that we feel would have good stuff going on with Avery. Stonebridge doesn't really fit that mold. It is a very new church planting effort located in Plainview - it's only been together about a year and has maybe 100 in attendance on Sunday. One of my employees, Aaron Ainsworth, attends there and invited us to try it out - so we did.
As usual, we did a little research on the internet (http://www.stonebridgefellowship.org/). Stonebridge is a church plant by the First Baptist Church in Shallowater of all places. We thought it very interesting that a small town church on the South Plains would be planting another church in a bigger town in the same general area. When asked why FBC is doing this, their response is "For years, we have encountered a number of people longing for a contemporary church, one in which they can identify with. We know that a vast majority of college students, young families, and people of all ages and cultures do not attend church anywhere. We want to offer an exciting alternative." So, they have a neat little church plant going on right in the town where I work and we showed up.

One of the cool things about Stonebridge is their meeting place. They borrow the antique Fair Theatre. "Located in the heart of Plainview's National Historic District, the Fair Theatre was built during the roaring 1920's as an all-purpose theatre for vaudeville and medicine shows.Today, the Fair Theatre's tradition is still alive. It has been restored to its former glory with beautiful balconies and a spacious auditorium that seats over 500 patrons." It's a really neat old building and I really like the idea that this church is recycling it - using a facility that is mostly empty anyway and using it for God's purposes without spending tons of money on a new building. We met Aaron at the front door and he introduced us to a few of his friends that were hanging around the lobby. I was disappointed the concession stand and popcorn machines weren't turned on :). It would have been a cool place to have coffee before church - and I told him he should suggest it. One of the members we met told us about the children's program and that Avery would be with us for a little while and then go to her class after the kid's sermon during the service. He actually went and got her teacher and brought the girl to meet Avery so she would be comfortable going with her when it was time. We really appreciated the extra effort to make us feel comfortable. After waiting for Aaron's wife for a while, it was time to begin worship so we filed into the theater. I was halfway expecting it to be dark and for previews to be showing on a screen!
It wasn't dark, but there was a screen. Not a movie size one, but big enough for us to see the words of the songs. I was a little disarmed by the huge counter running on the screen that ticked off the miliseconds, which i assumed were until worship started and not for when we would blast off into heaven or something. It kind of gave you an edginess that something was going to explode. I'm not sure if that was pursposeful or not, but boy were we ramped up by the time the thing hit zero! And when it did, several college age kids appeared on stage and welcomed us to join them for worship. The worship leader had an acoustic guitar, there was a girl singing back-up (and sometimes lead), some drums and a keyboard I think. It was actually a really good band that led us in a good semi-acoustic worship time. They were really talented, especially considering their age.
The children's pastor invited all the kids onto the stage for their lesson, so Jill took Avery up and sat with her. After they were done, they all trotted off to the upstairs classroom for the remainder of the service and we continued worshipping. The pastor talked about community that morning and important it was to be together and share our lives with each other. Toward the end of the lesson, he invited us to do something really different - and he warned us we'd be uncomfortable and possible not like it. I was thinking, "oh no. This is too much for a first visit!" He wanted us to look around and go find someone else in the church that we didn't know. (That was easy enough for us!) We were supposed to share with that stranger what God was doing in our life at that point in time and then pray together. Then he told us that communion had been prepared down front and he wanted us to come down and take communion together as an experience in community with our new found brother/sister. Some girl came up to Jill immediately, but I looked around and all the guys were already paired up. Being the social butterfly that I am (ha) I started to get butterflys in my stomach. About that time, my friend Aaron popped back in from taking the baby out and we broke the rules and paired up. I must say that the pastor's idea was a really good one and that was a really neat way to experience communion. It's just pretty cool that even though there were strangers all around the room, in acuality they are family because of our relationship with Jesus. That means we aren't (or at least shouldn't be) strangers at all!
While Stonebridge was a neat little church that has a great mission, we really felt like we need to be a part of a more established church at this time. The youthfulness of this church is pretty exciting, but it also means the leadership is very young and there will be lots of growing pains. Not that we are looking for an easy church to just attend and not grow with - just the opposite. We just don't feel like this is the ministry God is leading us to tackle right now. We applaude their efforts and their small group ministry. Aaron keeps me updated on what they are doing - things that are often non-traditional and attractive (like going out and doing community service projects on Sunday morning instead of sitting in their theater). I'm anxious to see what God does with this little group!
Posted by Gabe Moudy at 6:23 AM 1 comments
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CityView Christian Fellowship

August 26, 2007

We are a church with a vision toward:

• Becoming a catalyst in bringing spiritual transformation to Lubbock and West Texas.


• Breaking the American tradition of being primarily a “come and hear” church to become a “go and tell” church.


• Equipping our people to see themselves as full-time ambassadors of the Kingdom of God where they live work and play.


• Endeavoring to influence pastors and church leaders through encouragement, friendship and training, to get outside the four walls of their church.


• Penetrating the marketplace with kingdom principles.

We figured a church with this kind of vision must have something good going on. It's located in a new building out on Milwaukee near the new Target - nice building, but kind of unassuming and not flashy with a big sign. You kind of have to know what it is since its not well marked. I kind of like that. We drove into the parking lot and though there were clearly marked "guest Parking" spaces, we opted to be stealthy and parked as though we knew what was going on. I didn't want some greeter guy who spies on the guest parking to prey on us as soon as the car door opened. that probably doesn't happen, but that is what having guest parking makes you feel like will happen when you are a guest. The building is nice and modern, set way back from the street and surrounded by undeveloped land. It was obvious where the entrance was (which is not always the case with a church) so we went in it. I guess our stealthy approach diminished upon entering the building because the man who greeted us at the door immediately asked if this was our first visit. Maybe he asks everyone he doesn't recognize that question, but probably we just looked lost.

He made a little small talk, welcomed us to the church and asked how old Avery was. He personally escorted us to her class area (which is a really cool thing for a visitor in a big building) and introduced us to the children's staff. They got us all fixed up and even let us go beyond the "sacred" check-in desk which parents are not allowed behind. She wanted us to feel comfortable leaving Avery and to meet her teachers and that was really great and much appreciated. I was surprised to find that her teachers (a couple team) was one of my customers. I didn't know he attended church there and we had a nice visit. I hoped she acted nice! We wandered back toward the big room and were again greeted by a guy handing out a paper for the worship service. He opened the door to the room and...

...it was filled with round tables! That is not what we were expecting. Not only that, but there was the smell of coffee and breakfast burritos in the air. We looked around and everyone was eating at those tables! Someone pointed us to the food and encouraged us to load up. We'd just eaten breakfast so, we got drinks and some fruit and cautiously looked for a table. I don't know about you, but I have some anxiety about finding a table in a big room full of complete strangers. We found one that was mostly empty (I'd hate to be told a seat we wanted was "reserved") and sat down. The lady across the table was alone and we introduced ourselves - deciding making small talk was our way to ease the tension. Rather Jill decided this - I probably would have just sat there staring at the stage. Turns out she was a visitor too and was a little thrown off by the circle table set-up. She'd visited one other time and assured us it wasn't like this the first time she came.

As we ate, there was a couple milling through the crowd meeting people, but we didn't notice that before they met us. Jill asked how long they'd been members here and they replied, "Well, I guess since the beginning when we started the church." Jill was mortified to discover that he was the Pastor and we had no idea! No wonder they were circulating and introducing themselves! Soon two other couples joined us and we had a really nice chat with them. They told us a lot about the church, its history and mission. One of them happened to be a farmer from New Deal, so we were able to connect and that made it much easier. After about 45 minutes, the Pastor got up and welcomed us. It turns out that every year the church celebrates their anniversary this way by having a big birthday bash. The church turned 7 this year and it was a really neat thing to see them celebrate their community like this.

Since we had eaten breakfast, there wasn't a musical part of the worship that morning. We watched a video about the the summer basketball camp the church had recently hosted in East Lubbock. It was pretty neat to see them reaching out to the community that way. One of the camp leaders got up afterwards to talk about the experience and to do that, he needed 8 volunteers to help him. Once they got up front, he borrowed an object from each of their pockets and proceeded to make up a rap, on the spot, about those objects. It was definitely my first rap in church! He did a great job and I applauded the church for not being afraid to tap the talents of the membership, even though it be nontraditional, and share that with the body. While he was rapping, one of the girls who is a cheerleading coach had a little group of girls on stage behind him doing their "choreography" to the rap. It was really neat!

The Pastor got up and shared a message with us after that. He had a lot of details about the church's history and God's hand in getting them where they were. He told an interesting story about how they came to own the land where they are and it was a good way to learn about the church and their mission. He introduced a class they offer called "Directions" that promised to help Christians learn their spiritual gifts, ministry styles and find a place in the Kingdom (not specifically in this church) to use those gifts. It was compelling enough that we attended the course on Wednesday nights throughout September and have been blessed very much by it.
Even though this was a very different Sunday to visit the church and we didn't really get a feel for their worship time, we are very glad we cam eon that day. It really gave us an opportunity to see the heart of the church by participating in their celebration, by visiting with members for an extended time and by enjoying the fellowship and their laid back style. This visit has been a highlight for us so far and we definitely want to go back on a "normal" Sunday. If we choose to worship in Lubbock, this is a very real possibility . We enjoyed the warmth and friendliness of the people and appreciate very much the heart and vision they have for ministry in the workplace and "outside" the church. That is what all churches ought to be focusing on!

See more at http://www.cityviewlubbock.org/
Posted by Gabe Moudy at 8:00 AM 1 comments

Thinking About Church (and Faith)

I've been reading a new book that's rather intriguing and am wondering if anyone else out there has read it. The basic premise is that the author, a self-professed atheist, wanted to give Christianity or other religions a fair chance to convince him of their legitimacy. So, he set up an auction on eBay. The winning bidder could have the author attend 1 hour of worship service for every $10 bid. Interestingly enough, the winning bid was over $500 and the winning bidder had the author attend various Christian churches of all sizes and denominations and give his observations in blog format. You can look at this at http://friendlyatheist.com/ . He makes some very interesting observations about how churches approach sharing their faith with those who do not share their church background or upbringing. Stay tuned for more, and send me your comments if you've heard about this book.

Fishing Moguls

It's been a month since my last post, so I can safely add something here without spoiling my reputation for terribly infrequent posts!

One of my favorite parts of living in Kenya was being close to the sea, something totally new for a drylander like me. There was always so much to learn about the maritime culture - the tides, the boats, the fish, the salt air. I think the locally crafted Kenyan dhow's were my favorite. These little boats, or canoes as you might imagine them, were carved from a tree trunk and fixed with a small sail and maybe an outrigger or two for stability. Early in the morning 2 or 3 guys would make their way to the beach and push their boat out into the aquamarine water for a day's work of fishing. It was always such a calm, serene process that happened every morning just down the hill from our house. No noise, just ancient wooden vessels being pushed into calm water and silently slicing out of the bay into the wide blue yonder of the open ocean.

One morning as I watched the dhow's pull onto the beach after a day of fishing, I watched the men pull their catch from the boat and stretch their nets on the beach to dry. These men who were so poor - barely clothed, no income but the sale of a few dollars of fish, no other way to make an income because fishing for a living is a last resort. Fishermen in Kenya are uneducated, they barely survive, they are at the bottom of the career ladder. Then it hit me - something I'd never really thought about before. These are the exact guys that Jesus called to be apostles, his best friends and disciples, as he began his ministry that rocked the world. Peter and Andrew, James and John - they weren't the fishing moguls I'd always imagined them to be. They didn't have a huge boat with a rowing crew. They weren't professionals, just local guys trying to scrape a living from their canoe. You know that story when they caught 132 fish and it swamped the boat? I always thought those must have been big fish! That wasn't it at all - the boat was just tiny!

Jesus picked the local guys, the ones at the bottom of the career ladder so to speak. He picked simple guys - guys with little formal education, guys that maybe tried to make it in rabbinic school but failed because they just didn't quite have what it took, guys that knew hard work and weren't afraid of it. Why? Why didn't Jesus pick the educated, or religious, or upity? Why were these guys willing to drop their nets and follow him? Why did he pick them?

And what about me? I don't really fit the mold that Jesus picked from. I'm not at the bottom of society - I have money, I have an education, I've grown up in the church. I don't have a shady career like Matthew, I'm not a revolutionary like Simon the Zealot, I'm pretty plain. Does he pick people like me? Does he pick people like you?

I'm convinced that he does! Jesus picked normal folks from all walks of life to be men and women that abandon everything to follow him. Can Jesus pick a wine-tapper who spends his time atop palm trees collecting the ready-made brew for his buddies? Sure! Can Jesus pick the American Mom who spend her time wrestling kids and running errands? Sure! No matter where we come from, who we are, what our background is - Jesus has picked us to join his team. What a great privilege to know that even in spite of our inadequacies, He asks us to join his mission in the world and make this place better for everyone. That is what fishing for men, I think, is all about.