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That’s Amazing.

Published
by
Dave
on April 9, 2007
in Faith, General and Life
. 0 Comments

I have found myself repeating this phrase a lot lately - “That’s Amazing.”  Most of it has came while watching the mini-series “Planet Earth” on Discovery.  If you haven’t had the chance yet, I highly recommend you watch it…it’s just incredible.  There are just so many places and things on this planet that we’ve never seen before.  Some of the animals have instincts and behaviors that I just marvel at.  For instance, we were watching the episode on the shallow sea and there was a clip of dolphins chasing after fish in really, really shallow water.  I mean, we’re talking like less than a foot.  They would get their speed up, then chase the fish almost on to the beach, then flop back in to the water.  Believe me, you need to check out the series…I guarantee you will say “that’s amazing” at least once.  If you have Discovery HD by chance…you’re especially in for a treat.  stunning.

part two of “that’s amazing” - the local weather.  I’m sure a lot of you have been effected by it but I’m still completely boggled by what has happened over the past week or two.  6 days ago it was 80 degrees.  I was outside in shorts and sandals…the very next day- snow.  I know Ohio is kind of weird, but we’re talking 45+ degrees of variance in 24 hours.  crazy.  I’ll be glad to have the warm days back again.

and the last part of “that’s amazing” - Easter at W3CU.  2-3 months ago when I arrived home from the Radio City gig there was already some buzz going about Easter.  As time progressed my pastor developed a vision of having 800 in service.  One small part of the preparation was to send out a mailer to 3000+ people.  Being the aspiring graphic artist that I am, I took the project and ran with it.  So 2 weeks ago we sent out 3170 mailers.  Additionally there were 1800 handed out personally by our congregation.  I also had a hand in a couple of other projects, but my role was pretty limited in it’s reach.  Most of it fell to the personal contacts that our people made to their friends, family, and co-workers.  To be honest, I didn’t think we would ever reach 800.  I thought 600-700 maybe.  Now, keep in mind that I live in a town with a population of about 1200 or so.  The biggest “city” is Hillsboro, 30 minutes away with a population of like 6000.  Our church normally runs around 375…so jumping to 800 was no small feat.   With all of that in mind- we did it…806 in attendance today.  I mean, that’s just insane, we doubled our attendance!  Not many churches can do that, I don’t care who they are.  Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not all about numbers…but those numbers represents lives.  And today we had a direct impact on the lives of 806 people.  The service was great, one of the best I’ve ever experienced and I can only hope that a fraction of the people felt the same way and will dig in a bit more to our church and more importantly God.

random ramblings.

Published
by
Dave
on March 29, 2007
in Faith, General, Life, Music and Politics
. 0 Comments

Lots happening in middle America these days. Headed away this weekend to help out with a youth retreat. for those that don’t know, a youth retreat is a weekend for the teenagers at church & their friends to get away from “normal” life and focus on getting to know God and each other better…or at least that’s what we hope for. At first I was almost dreading the idea, but as time goes by I’m looking forward to it more and more. There are 3 other guys my age going and I’m looking forward to spending some time with them.

Jen has been gone for the past 9 days and I have to be up in about 5 hours to pick her up at the airport. I think she had a good time with her family in Washington, but I’m REALLY looking forward to her return. Besides the normal stuff like cooking…I really get lonely in this house by myself. I can’t imagine living my whole life unmarried.

Politics are on the horizon. I go through phases I think…I got so burnt out from the last Presidential election, it’s taken me almost 3 years to recover. I don’t really like any of the candidates so far. I’m hoping that Fred Thompson (yes, the actor) might consider running. I was a big Bush backer back in the day…but it seems like he is just, without going into details- wore out. My political views are changing some too…I’m starting see the world as a bigger place than I once did. I’m still a conservative for sure, but I see both sides of the coin a bit clearer than I did a few years ago.

I’ve picked up yet another hobby in the past couple months- RC cars. Ever since I was a kid I always loved anything that had a remote control. I got a little cheap RC buggy for my birthday when I was probably 10-11 and I ran that thing to death. This past Christmas I asked Jen for a “real” one, like the type you buy at a hobby shop. For lack of better gift options, she bought it for me. Unfortunately it isn’t much fun to stand outside in the cold to run the thing so I had to wait for warmer days and I just recently started playing with it regularly. It’s really a lot of fun. I told my dad it reminds me of the feeling I get when I ride my dirtbike only there’s no threat of getting hurt.

One last thing. If you haven’t heard the new Jars of Clay album, Good Monsters, stop what you’re doing and go to iTunes, Amazon, or to your local shop and pick it up. It’s just one of the best albums I’ve heard in a while. Well, I’ve been addicted to Andrew Osenga’s album The Morning for a while, but it’s a little more of a specialized taste, whereas I think just about anyone will like Good Monsters.

Anyway, that’s it for this edition. I’ve got to get some sleep so I can get up in a few hours. Leave some comments people!

my world vs theirs

Published
by
Dave
on March 16, 2007
in Faith, Life and Technology
. 0 Comments

watertower

I sometimes forget that I live where I do. After spending a couple years at college (one of the most wired schools in the nation) then spending another 2-3 years touring the US, I guess I just assumed that m y town had went through the tech boom just as I had. I assumed that email was a normal way to communicate and websites were a good source for recent information. Sadly, 6 years into the 21st century not a lot has changed from where we were when I left.

This isn’t a new thought or idea, it’s just that a few things have brought it back to my attention of late. For example, a few nights ago I was attempting to find out some High School basketball scores. Checked the high school’s website- nothing there, the local (Cincinnati) news station site- nothing there, the local newspaper site- nope nothing. I would turn on the radio and check i guess…but FM radio? I mean, really…how about an live audio stream? ha! yeah right!

So, i eventually gave up and decided that it wasn’t worth the time or effort to find out. I know that sounds a bit snobbish, but really, it’s time for the community to wake up! There is a big world out there and we need to get a little taste of it. Not just technologically, but socially, theologically, & spiritually!

Just like the technology side of things, I often forget that there are churches in my community that haven’t changed in 30 years…they do the same thing, week after week, and the same people come week after week. There’s no growth, no new faces or new methods, just status quo. Being in my home church, I’ve seen things progress (albeit very slowly) and we’re reaching out into the community like never before. We’re moving, and according to the things i’ve seen and read, we’re not the only ones…unfortunately we’re the only ones doing it here.

Anyway, there isn’t really a point to this post. just a little rant really…

I wish people would WAKE UP.

PS: i know the photo isn’t the greatest- keep in mind it was one of my first shots with *gasp* a FILM camera!

untitled.

Published
by
Dave
on March 6, 2007
in Faith and Life
. 1 Comment

I went to a funeral today. One of the older gentlemen in my church passed away and I was asked to run the sound. My immediate response was that of disdain. I barely knew the guy…and funerals are so depressing. But, I remembered some of the things that I’ve thought about in the past…and about some of the things I’ve read and I was reminded of how important I think it is for us all to mourn with those who are in mourning.

It’s always a lot easier when the person who has passed on was a Christian…and even easier when that person has lived a long and fruitful life. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for those closest to him, but easier than it would have been had either of the above been untrue. It was a nice service…and I was reminded of my past encounters with the gentlemen as a child. He always had a pocket full of candy and if you approached him following any church service he was always happy to give it. I think he found pure joy in making children smile. He was a good man.

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