Things vs. People

So Carla says to me the other day, "why do we as humans spend so much time talking about people instead of about things?" You know...gossip. Good question...one that I cannot get out of my head. In the meantime, the Lord planted another question. "Why do we care more about things that we do about people?" Another good one.

We care more about things, but we talk more about people. How sad.

We need to care about people so we see their hurts and fears. We need to care enough about people to share Jesus with them. We need to care enough about people to step into their worlds and show them the King and His Kingdom.

And we need to talk about things. Not just any old things, but about things that matter. We need to talk about the Lord. We need to talk about love and grace and mercy and holiness. We need to talk about faith and faithfulness. We need to talk about the Word and the impact it has on life today.

Lord, help me to care enough about people to talk about the right things....

Healing Service

This coming Sunday, Cornerstone will conduct a healing service. We have rearranged the chairs in a circle to face the center. Around of the outside of the circle, there are various stations. One has a cross and some notecards and pencils for people to offer written confessions to the Lord. An anointing station is at the foot of the biggest cross and people seeking healing will be invited to kneel and be anointed. The whole service is structured around James 5:13-16. There are several prayer stations around the worship center too. One station is a place to receive and celebrate communion. Each participant will receive a carnation and will be invited to pray for someone who needs healing as they place the flower in a large arrangement at another station. All the while, our worship leaders will be quietly singing and praying while various Scriptures are shared. I am very excited for what the Lord will be doing in people's lives as we look to Him. Please pray for us.

A good weekend...

Had a very good weekend. Here are some highlights:

A blast on Friday just hanging in the 'burgh w/ Carla...ended w/ Pirate game and fireworks w/ friends called Cornerstone. What a great time.

Watching the Lord work in some people's lives yesterday in worship. Awesome.

Picking up trash and playing paintball w/ some Cornerstone kids.

Now I'm off to a good Monday...

The Wheat and the Weeds

Tomorrow, I'll be sharing the parable from Matthew 13 about the wheat and the weeds. Only Matthew records this parable of Jesus, which is curious in and of itself. The parable is a tough one, to be sure. Here are some thoughts:

At our parsonage, there are some weeds in some of the flower beds. This afternoon, I am going to spray them with RoundUp weed killer. That will take care of them...

I hope none of the spray gets on the flowers...

I like to think of myself as a flower...

I am probably closer to a weed than I am a flower...

I wonder if God ever thinks about using "weed killer..."?

I'm not gonna reinvent the wheel...

...so I am just going to say amen to this...

I'm Back!

And here are the pix from our trip...check it out!

On a Mission

Cornerstone heads out after worship today to Philippi WV. We are on a mission trip until next Saturday. We'll be leading a Vacation Bible School in the community as well as working on some homes. Mostly, we hope to be sharing what we have found in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. "See" you all in a week!

I knew it was true...

Click to enlarge...get it?

Christmas in July? How about Thanksgiving?

I'm preaching this weekend on LIGHT. I can't wait...gonna be pretty cool. But one of the "biggies" in Scripture dealing with light is what Jesus says in Matthew 5:16: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." We are called to let our lights shine, not for our own glory, but for the glory of the King and His Kingdom!

So what does Thanksgiving in July have to do with it? I'm glad you asked! I just want to express my thankfulness to the Lord for those in ministry with me...the people called Cornerstone Church...who are letting their lights shine for the Lord.

I am thankful for an awesome group of professionals with whom to work. Pat, Laura, and Lori, you're the best. I really feel thankful for our sense of teamwork! You go girls!

I'm thankful for the Ministry Management Team. You are friends and true advisors. You four rock...better than the Beatles!

I'm thankful for my Worship Brainstorming Group who helps me to be a much better preacher than I could ever be on my own!!!

I'm thankful for ministry teams that are gettin' 'er done. Teams working together to make sure our eyes are on Jesus. Awesome.

I'm thankful for the new people God is bringing our way. What a blessing to see so many new faces joining our joyous crowd of worshipers.

I'm thankful for the countless numbers of people who do all kinda crazy stuff behind the scenes that sometimes nobody but God sees (and sometimes me!) This is what makes it all really happen, and I'm thankful to each of you...you know who you are!

Last and most, I'm thankful to Carla. What an awesome life partner God has given me. I could never be the Christian, husband, and pastor I am if weren't for her! I can't wait to spend July 4th with her...then July 5th, and July 6th, and July 7th, and, well, you get the picture. God has so blessed me with her...words escape me.

Can you tell I'm thankful?

CIT Week is Over...

Well I am back from Camp Allegheny and I had an awesome week. I was leading the camp that teaches teenagers how to become counselors in our summer camping program. I had a wonderful group of teens and we had a blast. They all passed the course and will now come back to spend a week on their own working with the counseling staff of another camp. The weather was pretty good, I had a couple of great adults to help me, and God was good! (He still is, BTW!)

This picture shows a couple of my CIT's (counselors-in-training) receiving training on nature and how to relate creation to the Creator. Leading that session was Dennis Tawney, camp director and environmental biologist type person.

All in all, I had a blast, but I'm glad to be back. Next Sunday after worship, I'll be joining the Cornerstone Mission Trip Team on a mission to Philippi WV. I can't wait! The Kingdom is not about sitting and talking, but about going and doing....and we are!