Owner's Breakfast

Once a month at rH we have what we call Owner's Breakfast. This is an opportunity for us to come together and fellowship, pray, discuss, and dream about our plans for the church. We are calling our members 'owners' because we want our members of rH to understand that we are heirs of the kingdom of God and each have a role to play in His kingdom. Membership in our culture has come to imply a consumer attitude - get your membership card, enjoy the services, and leave. At rH we want people to really to participate in the body of Christ. Christie and I came to this term after visiting Vintage 21 a church in Raleigh, NC. I'm excited that we are creating in our DNA a place where people we not just join but really become a part of the body and use their unique gifts to serve God's Kingdom.

This week at rH we continue our study in Colossians, You've Got Style. Hope to see you there and stop by Saturday at our Owner's Breakfast (9 AM).

The Gospel for Today

At thegathering I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes from author Leonard Sweet.

"The mystery of the gospel is this: It is always the same (content), and it is always changing (containers). In fact, for the gospel to remain the same, it has to change. The old, old story needs to be told in new, new ways. In fact, one of the ways you know the old, old truths are true is their ability to assume amazing and unfamiliar shapes while remaining themselves and without compromising their integrity."

My son Luke loves milk. I can pour his milk into different cups for him. Some cups are easier for him to drink out of while others are more difficult for him to handle yet. I personally enjoy the harder cups to drink out of and would not enjoy drinking out of his sippy cup. But Luke is able to understand, enjoy, fully take in all of his milk, and not spill any out of his sippy cup. If I choose the easier cup over the harder one have I altered Luke's milk any? Absolutely not! I have only allowed him the opportunity to really enjoy all of his milk.

It is important to understand if changing methods change the message of the Gospel. Experiences change but the Gospel does not. And this is important for leadership to make sure that methods (containers) don't alter the message (content). We can begin to really understand what Paul meant when he wrote, "I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some." (1 Corinthians 9:22). What an incredible challenge for us today!

If we are to preach the Gospel for today we must contextualize the culture around us, discover the containers that the people use, and begin filling them up with the message of Christ. Our challenge is to understand our preferences and not to let them become prejudices that blind us from reaching those Christ has put in our paths to reach. I am convinced that the church today must explore the containers people are using and begin filling them with the Living Water. These are the containers they drink out of everyday. A great challenge and yet it may be one of the greatest opportunities for the church to preach the Gospel for today!

This Week @ rH

Tomorrow night Sunday at 6 PM will have thegathering, a place for anyone and everyone who is seeking out the way of Christ. We are starting a new message series entitled, "You've Got Style." It is a study through the book of Colossians, a New Testament book in the Bible. I'm really excited about it and hope you'll join us if you are in the area.

As I posted earlier we ran out of chairs last week, but got some more, so come and don't hesitate to bring along a friend. Make sure you check out the rH website for all the great events coming up (Scrapbooking night, International quiz night).

Hey, if you come by thegathering I'll make this promise, I won't tell you the ending of the new Harry Potter book! See ya then!

Record Attendance, New Job, Great Stuff

Yeah, it's one of those just 'great stuff' happening weeks. Those are good to have ever now and then. This week I started at Headway Corporate Resources as project manager of the Resource Center. I have a learning curve to get pass but confident that I swing through it. I'm excited about the company - they really seem to know their stuff and how to do it. They treat people with care - it's not just your normal staffing company, they are a mark above the rest. So if you need a job, let me know or your company needs lots of jobs, let me know. I can help.

realHope had record attendance Sunday night. We had a great call this week and well the short of it all....we're growing! We ran out of chairs and are not sure what we will do this coming Sunday! We gave the rH website a fresh update so check it out. I really please with the results so far. We are also working on a new feature to allow people to donate online, so yeah, you no what that means friends and family....

Christie's mom, sister, two nieces, and cousin are here for a couple of days so we have a full house! Also, last Friday we found out we are going to have a girl (I'm still not sure what to think about that one!) But, in the end of it all it's all really great stuff!

Time Off

Well this week I'm enjoying some rest and catch up on somethings around the homestead and for rH before I begin my new job at Headway. I started the week off doing some premarriage counseling and visiting the zoo with Christie and Luke. Luke just wanted to see Giraffes and luckily at the very end we saw them. It was a lot of fun but really hot!

I finally got a calendar put together for rH for the next couple of months and started putting together a preaching series calendar together as well. Our big project that we are starting to get underway is to get morning Sunday services going. We feel like more people will choose this time to visit us and well frankly we like to grow.
The biggest challenge is what do with worship. We really need a gifted worship leader so please pray that God will lead us to the right person to do this.

It seems this is the week for people from the past to check in. At least its been people I still like to hear from! Well that's all the update for now, maybe something of more interest later.

Some Last Things

Ahh yes, some last things that I will ever have to do have come. Today was my last day at the hotel, my last day standing on my feet for eight hours checking in people who don't understand rates and are to cheap to pay for parking, my last day eating the nasty food in the employee cafeteria, my last day doing airlines, my last day doing a room move, or taking luggage to a room. Ahh yes, some last feel good.

Today was also the last day in the week where I completed working out. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday's I committed to working out. Always feels good to complete the first week.

So on now to some first and even more familiar things, like having evenings back and weekends, and having more time for rH.

This Week at rH

So today I ran the mile again...well sort of. I thought it would be good to take Soleil, my dog with me. She likes to run...really she loves to run especially when you don't want her too. So off we went this afternoon, but surprise, surprise, she was slowing me down. She actually wanted to stop half way through. Guess I'm not the only one who needs to get in shape.

This week at thegathering we continue in our Revolution series searching for answers on how to face obstacles in our journey. The fact is everyone of us will face obstacles in our journey. Our aim is to finish the journey well. How do we do that? Find out this weekend at thegathering, Sunday @ 6 PM.

Want to know what other great events are happening at realHope? Check it out on the web (www.realhopechristian.org).

See you Sunday and if I don't lift up a prayer for us!

Health & More

Yesterday afternoon we welcomed our first new baby to rH. Steven DeVarne was born, Sunday around 4 PM, seven weeks early! Jen went into the hospital with complications earlier in the morning. We saw both Scott and Jen today and they both were doing well. Their son is doing well to and will have to stay in the hospital for a few weeks while he gets stronger. Overall both mommy and son are doing very well. We are excited that rH just grew by one! Congrats Scott and Jen!

And today I started exercising, ran over a mile today. Why oh why does working out have to be so much work...guess that's why they called it working out!

International quiz night went well. We plan to do another by the end of the summer. It was a great time of fellowship and fun. I was really glad I was the host because I didn't know any of the answers. They were really hard questions! Like what is the most popular candy to hand out at Halloween?

Well, only four days left at the hotel!