How Far Do You Live From Those You Serve?

I live just 5 ½ miles from The Orchard Church Ministry Center.  I drive on suburb streets and it takes me about 10 minutes to drive in.  When I lived in Idaho I lived 17 miles one-way from the church & office in another city called Meridian.  Without any traffic, it took me a good 30 minutes to get to church.  With any bad weather it could take 45 minutes easy.  I felt like it was very limiting to my ministry in Boise.  If someone wanted to meet with me, I found myself thinking about what time they wanted to meet. Is it close to rush hour? Can they meet at a different time to avoid traffic? Of course if there’s an emergency I would come no matter the time.

I could lead a small group from my house. But, it was very far for many people. 

I couldn’t invite people over for lunch. People did come, but it was always such a drive out to our place I knew in my heart of hearts that it was limiting to my ministry. 

Now, I like being so close to the Ministry Center and where the church meets on Sunday.  I actually feel like I am available to the people.  I am really getting to know the community around the church as well, and serving them.

Being on both sides of this situation at different times, I’m really feeling that for a modern missionary/pastor to be effective, he should live in the community that he serves.

But what about you? What do you think? Is it really important? What have you noticed in your own context?

Mojo:monday

Last night was the Harvest Party at The Orchard Church.  It was a great event with around 1000 in attendance.  A big thanks to EVERYONE who helped out, from the small groups running games, the walking cowboy show, the horse drawn hayride, the tireless popcorn and cotton candy makers, and all the food service people.  What an event!  I made lots of great connections with new people or ones that hadn't attended on a Sunday yet.  Our daughter Hallie was a pirate and pictured here with Kim.  Connor had fun getting his picture with Josh, a Jedi, and then running off to eat 2 1/2 servings of cotton candy before we intervened.  Thanks to the Cepedas, Goldsteins, Winegearts, Limings, Julie B., and Stacey for having our small group game and giving candy out to the kids!   

Friend Friday

This is Doug in the drivers seat along with Keith riding...um...shotgun

This weeks Super-cool person of the week is Doug Connelly!

Born - Indianapolis, Indiana

Married - 13 years

Favorite Movie - Comic Type Movies, not stuff like "Pretty Woman"

Music - I like all kinds

Hobby - Playing Sports, Running

If I had a Billion dollars I'd - start churches all over the world but mixed with that I would build them upon the gospel of Jesus of course.  In third-world countries apply humanitarian help to show the love of Christ as we reach the world for Jesus.  

Job - Bridgepoint Church

Location - Meridian, Idaho

In all seriousness, Doug is a really good friend!  I got to thinking about Doug and our partner in crime, Keith, when I found this old picture this week.  This picture was taken on our way to a "Staff Retreat" in Salt Lake City, UT.  We stopped at a gas station and they just had to jump on the bike.  If I recall, before the trip even started we sat in the church parking lot in the van for about as long as the drive was to UT. :-)  

When The Saints Go Marching In

On August 22nd my grandma, Arlene Davey Brandt Rowles passed away.  She was 94 and would have been 95 in September.  As a pastor I've had the privilege to do many memorial services, comfort families and see people come to Christ as a result.  This time around I'll just be attending her service on Friday in Ohio.  The pastor of Calvary Baptist in Lancaster will perform the service as she was a faithful member there and very involved before her health was failing.


She sang in the choir, taught Sunday School and had been the church treasurer for a time.


When I found out of her passing I had these thoughts:
About death...it was a reminder of how serious God takes sin.  It was also a reminder of the absolute truth of God's promises to us.  For a believer, death can be called a good and gracious thing in our lives.  She's not in pain, there's no more doctors visits, tests, or physical struggles.


I knew that Christ would be lifted up and glorified in some way through this process and memorial service.  We will be reunited again someday.  Although its a loss for us that remain, its a gain for my grandma.  
She is in the very presence of our Lord.  I'm a little jealous!  


Her obituary is HERE.

“ O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? 1 Cor. 15:55

A doomsday prophet

Michael Stifel was an ambitious young German monk whose apparent capacity for numerical mysticism and cabalistic interpretation landed him in a great deal of trouble. Despite his fellow clergymen’s attempts to get him to shut up about it, Stifel proselytized that the end of the world would come on Oct. 3, 1533, at precisely eight o’clock in the morning. His congregation was appropriately freaked out by this news, so when the hour came and went, he was summarily ejected from his ecclesiastical quarters and flogged in the streets.

A Man Born Blind

I noticed today that:


In the Gospel of John, there is more room on the pages given to this blind man who was most likely also a beggar, than any other character.  I believe the reason why so much has been written about this man is because he took his stand for Jesus Christ.  This is one of several awesome men who were living in Jerusalem while Christ was on earth and guess what?  He came down through history nameless - we do not know who he was!


Another man was Joseph of Arimathea.  I don't think he comes to the pages of scripture as great as this blind man did, but he did come out, and we are thankful for that.  Elsewhere in John we read that for fear of the Jews he was kept back from confessing openly.  Its neat that all 4 gospels record what Joseph did for Christ. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus and he gave Christ a new tomb.  

And on that note, I'd encourage you to read those accounts about a man named Joseph of Arimathea who stood up and confessed Jesus when some disciples had forsaken Him, sold Him and denied Him!

March's Full Worm Moon

So, tonight and many other nights I post to Facebook and Twitter the "Moon Phase".  Connor is into the moon and what it looks like, also we see a full moon's relationship to the kids behavior.  

As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. For this reason, the March full moon is often known as the Full Worm Moon.

Northern Native American tribes knew this moon as the Full Crow Moon when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter. They also used Full Crust Moon because the snow cover became crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night.

The Dakota Sioux named it Moon When Eyes Are Sore From Bright Snow. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is a Colonial American variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon. It was considered to be the last full moon of winter.