Friday Five...12/28/12

Here's the final Five of 2012!

1. Favorite Christmas Reaction: 

Oh how times have changed...

2. Favorite Musical Instruments:



3. Favorite Marketing Video (that I'm pretty sure applies to everyone somehow) - Plus it's just cool how they made this video.



4. Favorite Thing My Wife and I Made for Christmas:
That's right...homemade chocolate pie...well, except the crust. We didn't want to make a crust, but everything else...homemade!

5. Favorite Thing You Need To Sign Up For Now So That You Can Get Your Materials On Time.

The classes start January 9th at 6:30 PM! Register today by clicking HERE! 

Thursday's Thing...12/27/12

Ahhh...Christmas is over. Christmas is over? Christmas is over! Now all the bills start rolling in and where's the money coming from? 

Ever feel this way? What better time to jump in and take hold of your finances. We're here to help. Campbellsville Christian Church is hosting Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University Wednesday Nights starting January 9th through March 6th. We'll meet on the 3rd floor at 6:30 PM. Register today!

You need to register as early as you can so that you can receive your class materials before we start.

Monday's Mention...12/24/12

This will be a light blogging week for me, you know, with Christmas and all. Today's mention isn't about anything that has already happened, but what I am anticipating happening tonight at the Candlelight Christmas Eve Service. 

It's always a joy for us to gather in the sanctuary with our children to refocus our attention on the Christ-child that has come to redeem us and restore us back to our Heavenly Father. If it's not your usual practice to attend, let me strongly encourage you to try it out this year. 

I know the kids are in bed and you're tired from a family get-together. It'll be worth it. I promise. The kids will go back to sleep, the dishes and trash can wait a little bit. 

11:00 PM is a wonderful time to bring in your Christmas Day. I'll see you there, right?

Friday Five...12/21/12

Well, we're still here. Guess the Mayan's were wrong...

In light of still being alive, here is this week's Friday Five:

1. Favorite Upcoming Class offered at CCC: Financial Peace University 

(Starts January 9th)

Register HERE: http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/locations/org/42884/class/221439/atid/m_mi

2. Favorite 3D Pencil Drawing (that's really ony 2D)

3. Favorite Kid: Seriously, have you seen this kid?

4. Favorite Infographic:

5. Favorite Pun 'O The Week:

"Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes."

Have a great weekend! 

Thursday's Thing(s)...

Two things:

1. Register early for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at C.C.C. starting January 9th. Here's the link (you need to register online to get the materials for the class and to have access to all the extra online resources): http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/locations/org/42884/class/221439/atid/m_mi


2. Cool infographic about the history of photography. (Click it to see it full sized)

Wednesday's Word..."Ripple Effect" 12/1912

Ripple Effect

I met a man the other day with a very troubled past. Very troubled. He'd spent a significant amount of time in prison, with a past of drug and alcohol abuse. He's recovering and seems to be doing quite well. 

We spent a couple days together as we were painting my living room. We talked about life, faith, and our personal journeys. At one point we started talking about our church experience. This conversation has haunted me for days now. 

He explained to me that, as a child, his father would take him and his siblings to church every Sunday morning and evening...until one night. It was an after church congregational meeting. A church member began to stir up some controversy surrounding the preacher and had gotten this meeting together to drop the bomb on the preacher that he was going to be fired. The preacher and a significant portion of the congregation was oblivious to the plan. As he describes it, the meeting turned ugly, people were shouting and arguing, and as a result this man's father gathered up the kids and walked out of the church, never again to return...to any church. His father response? "We don't need this!" 

For this man, that was his last experience with the church. He relayed the story to me as though it had happened yesterday, but it had been 40 years earlier. 

I don't know who was right and who was wrong in this situation at his childhood church, and it really doesn't matter. What mattered were the attitudes and actions of Christians. Now, hear me out, I don't believe that it's fair to push blame on this particular church member for all of this man's poor life choices, but what if that moment, in that church building, became a defining moment for his life. 

He stopped going to church. That withdrew him from the people who could have influenced him for the positive. He begins to choose friends unwisely and ends up heading down a path of alcohol abuse, then into smoking pot, and ultimately in and out of jail on meth charges. 

Imagine with me for a bit that this church member approached his dissatisfaction with the preacher in a loving, Biblical, Matthew 18 type of way. Would things have heated up to a shouting match in a congregational meeting? Would that little boy be dragged out of church by his father never to return? I don't know. 

James 1:26 says "Those who consider themselves to be religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless."

We may never know the ripple effects of our words, actions, and attitudes on the lives of those around us. We bear a powerful name, the name of Jesus Christ, and we must never lose sight of that Name.  If we are the body of Christ...

- What is Christ (you) saying at your workplace?
- What is Christ shouting at practices and ball games?
- What is Christ watching on TV, seeing on the computer, and listening to on the radio?

What is the message of Christ you are speaking? Is it true to the message of the one who redeemed you, who called you out of slavery to sin, and rescued you to new life? What will the ripple effects be of your words, actions, and attitudes today?

-- "and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5b) --

Are You Amazed?

This is the video referenced by the 

Campbellsville Christian Church Christmas Devotional for tomorrow. Not real sure why this posted today. 

This devotion appears on page 30. 

Didn't get a copy of the Christmas devotions? Get it here!

Monday's Mentions...12/17/12

In the midst of an unfathomable evil, some really cool stuff happened this week...

One of the best responses to Friday's events from Orange Parents...worth a read.

1. Friday morning, about the time of the shooting in Connecticut, I had the honor of baptizing an inmate from the Detention Center. I cannot begin to describe the look of joy and freedom that this man had. It was a beautiful moment...I wish you could have seen it.

2. Sunday Morning I saw something great...and not what you think (the steel band in the foyer was GREAT!). I walked past the 1st & 2nd grade Sunday School class beginning to fill up and there was John McLean, teaching the class...by himself! One of John and Farrah's children was sick at home and Farrah had to stay home and John taught the class by himself. I think this is so cool. Let's face it fellas...so many of us would have just called in sick, right? 

3. Last night, over 75 people gathered together to make simple blankets for families with new babies at the Crisis Pregnancy Center and for local nursing home residents. We were able to make 42 blankets in one hour! It was a beautiful picture of people being the hands and feet of Christ. We gathered together to pray over the blankets and for the recipients. It's a simple thing, but we never know the ripple effects. 

 ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:37-40)

Check out the pictures below...

Friday Five...12/14/12

Here's your dose of my favorites for this week!

1. Favorite Controversy...Should Christians Smoke Pot? Seriously, it's a thing; even moreso as states begin to legalize marijuana usage. Mark Driscoll makes a strong case in this article: read it here.

2. New Favorite Christmas Card. (via @jonacuff)

3. Favorite Post from Blake's Blog this week: A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words: What's Yours Saying?

     **Parents be aware of what you are putting in your and your child's hands this Christmas and be prepared to dialog about it and how to use it wisely!

4. Favorite "Old" Video You've Never Seen: Listen Listen Listen (Autotune Andy)

     I'm a big fan of Andy Stanley. I was at a conference and the MC's used the following video to introduce him. 

5. Favorite Christmas/Tech Video...from two years ago: North Point's iBand (this was part of their pre-service music)

    **Talent+tech=Rodney very happy!

Have a great weekend! 

Wednesday's Word...Translating Christmas Songs...12/12/12

I was sitting in church on Sunday, actually I was playing guitar, when I was thinking about "What Child Is This." I love this song partially because I really like minor chords, but a few years ago I discovered the extra chorus that no one sings at Christmas:

Nails spear shall pierce Him thro'
The cross be borne for me for you
Hail hail the Word made flesh
The Babe the Son of Mary

People just don't sing that. It may be morbid to think about a child being born, only to be killed; but isn't that exactly why we are excited about the birth of the Christ-child? He is our Savior...that's why He came to the earth. 

The other thing that I find interesting is the verse that precedes that chorus:

Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass (I mean, "lamb") are feeding
Good Christian fear for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading

I get why we changed the word "ass" to "lamb." Honestly, it's a distraction to me as well...and you can forget about Junior High boys...they'd never be able to recover and focus back to worship! 

There are all kinds of songs that I am very glad we update, mainly because I don't have any idea what an "Ebenezer" is or how exactly to "raise it." 

However, just because I don't understand it doesn't mean it's not worth singing or seeking its intended meaning. As a matter of fact, I just learned that "raising my Ebenezer" in fact, is a reference to 1 Samuel 7 when Samuel was referencing God's faithfulness. 

So, "here I raise my Ebenezer" is to recognize God's faithfulness in your life. Interesting huh? I may be rambling, but I just wonder how much we are missing in worship when we sing things that we don't understand? For now, though, I think I won't be using the word "ass" in church...just to be safe.

Bonus points for the first person to tell me what song "raise my Ebenezer" comes from! Leave it in the comments.

While you're at it, try your hand at raising an Ebenezer to remember God's faithfulness in 2012.

Monday's Mention...12/10/12

Yesterday was a great day! We officially launched into the Christmas Season here at C.C.C. 

Last night we had around 225 people gather for our annual Christmas Banquet followed by a time of worshipping the Christ-child. Families hung their Christmas ornaments on the church tree and we read the account of Christ's birth from the book of Luke. 

Yesterday morning, Seth and Katie Johnson played a moving arrangement of "O Come All Ye Faithful" during the offering. If you haven't met them, take some time to talk to them. Seth and Katie are brother and sister and both are students at Campbellsville University. We have been blessed by their musical talents, but you may not know that they are active volunteers in our Student Ministry as well as involved in our young adult small group. 

That's worth a "mention!" 

How are you becoming "rooted in God's love" this Christmas season?

Friday Five...12/7/12

Here we go...

1. Favorite Optical Illusion...Seriously...who does this kind of stuff?

2. Favorite Christmas Card...

3. Favorite Christmas Song (at least for now)..."I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day" by Casting Crowns (ps. the C.C.C. Praise Team will be playing this song on Sunday morning, Dec. 16th!) 

4. Favorite Christmas Music Video... "Born Is The King (It's Christmas)" by Hillsong

5. Favorite Joke this week...

--  I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me. :-)

Have a great weekend!

Wedneday's Word...12/5/12

JUDGED.

      A number of years ago in California, an elderly woman went to the grocery store to do some shopping. When she returned to her car, she noticed four men getting into it.
     The woman dropped her shopping bags, reached into her purse, and pulled out a small handgun that she carried for protection. She ran to the front of her car, aimed the pistol at the men, and began screaming at them at the top of her lungs. She ordered them out of the car and warned that if they didn’t, she would blow their brains out.
     “I know how to use this gun, and don’t think I won’t!” she screamed.
      The four men didn’t hesitate. The threw open the car doors, scrambled out, and started running as fast as they could.
     The woman was trembling, but kept her composure. When she was certain the men were gone, she put the gun back in her purse, picked up her bags, and loaded them into the back seat of the car. She then climbed into the driver’s seat and decided to go immediately to the police station to report the incident.
     But there was a small problem. Her key wouldn’t fit in the ignition. A quick glance around the interior confirmed that she was in the wrong car! Her vehicle was parked four spaces away in the same aisle of the parking lot.
     She loaded her bags into her own car and drove to the police station to confess what she had done. When she told the story to the sergeant, he couldn’t control his laughter. He just pointed to the other end of the counter where four very shaken men were reporting a carjacking by a mad, elderly white woman.
The woman apologized, and no charges were filed.

     While we may have not pulled a gun on someone, if we are honest, we have probably misjudged a person or situation at some point in our lives.

      Jesus said in Luke 6:37, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

     There is a difference between judging and being judgmental. The message here is of being judgmental  We are called to be discerning. That's judging. Our attitude towards others is an entirely different thing. Christians, unfortunately but at times rightfully so, have gotten a reputation for being judgmental. No one likes to have preconceived ideas thrust upon them based on their skin color, level of education, appearance, their home, or their accent. 

     As soon as our conscience feels superior, we have put a wall between God’s story and theirs. We must make up our mind to get on level ground and love them where they are. I have found that when I judge before I love, I have a difficult time ever getting to the "love" part. However, when I choose to love first, judgement never has an opportunity to rear its ugly head.