Shattered our goal!
Just want to celebrate again the awesome job you all did with Operation Christmas Child this year.
Last year we had 25 boxes. This year we thought we’d be bold and set a goal of 50.
You all brought in over 90 boxes!
Praise God!
A special thanks to Amanda for pulling everything together and helping our kids to know why they were doing it!
Dangerous Sunday
What a Sunday! A hard truth… a dangerous prayer… and a truly worshipful time.
It wasn’t that the perfect message was preached or just the right song was sung, simply put, the unmistakable presence of God was there.
Two key take home thoughts:
1) It’s time to stop trying to use God for what we want and start seeking how He wants to use us.
2) At any given moment we are worshipping something. Remember to stop, ask yourself what you are worshipping right now? and then ask what it would look like to worshipping Jesus in this moment?
Christmas at the Shelter
We’re planning to have Christmas a little early this year at the Women’s Shelter.
December 10th we’d like to bring some cookies, decorate a tree and gift the families at the shelter.
Many of them are far from family and all of them are in a time of major transition.
This is a great opportunity to both Follow Jesus and Live Love by celebrating his birthday!
Denise is the contact, but if you email us at Vibe@theAlley.org we’ll make sure to get the info to her.
In gratitude
I’m on the email list of Dr. Jeff Myers (professor of communication and leadership guru) and found a challenging insight.
Here are the highlights…
In his book The Psychology of Ultimate Concerns, Robert Emmons identifies what he calls the three virtues essential to success in life.
1) Self- Control
2) Humility
3) Gratitude
Gratitude is defined as, “the capacity to feel the emotion of thankfulness on a regular and consistent basis, across situations and over time.”
Of the three the one that people lack the most is gratitude
My own thoughts: How often do we truly react to God in gratitude? Think about all that we take for granted, all that we assume the right to and how few times we actually stop to appreciate it.
Personally this is a very convicting truth. Whether it be the food on the table, the sun in the sky or most amazing of all the redemption of my soul… I all to rarely stop and truly thank God.
Entitlement seems to rule the day.
So, stop. Take more than a minute to evaluate and give thanks.
Here’s a verse for meditation…
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16
The Most Dangerous Prayer
I’ve felt stirred in preparation for teaching in the past, but not once as much as I have been for this coming Sunday.
Here’s a sneak peek… Any guesses on what the most dangerous prayer might be?
Why I believe (week four) and more…
Thanks to Lawrence for sharing your story with us!
I’ve personally really enjoyed this series… and am so thankful for Jon, Evelyn, Jody and Lawrence.
Also thanks to Stan for laying down the Joel 2 music track!
Movie Review :: Fireproof
Fireproof follows the story of firefighter Caleb Holt (Kirk Cameron) and his wife Catherine (Erin Bethea). Their story will ring eerily true to many married couples.
It is a compelling, moving and ultimately rewarding movie to watch.
With that said, though the movie is on the big screen it doesn’t come with the same cinematic feel that most modern love ballads do. I found the overall story line to be great but the acting and delivery left something to be desired.
At times, especially in the beginning, it felt more like I was watching a church drama put on tv than an actual movie.
But don’t let that hold you back… Fireproof is a fantastic movie, that is bound to make you both laugh and cry. It’s an excellent choice for a date night, but I wouldn’t hold back if you don’t have a date to go with.
I felt that even where cinematically the movie was lacking the strong storyline redeemed the movie.
I give it a resounding 5 out of 5 bricks on the Alley scale.
Men’s Brains and Women’s Brains
I was drafting a movie review of Fireproof when I stumbled upon a video gem on their website. It is both hilarious and enlightening.
Watch for the movie review tomorrow… for now… enjoy!
For Today Only__ Nooma Freebie
Rob Bell’s latest Nooma video (Tomato) is available to view (in full) today and today only on neueministry.com
Some of the vids I love, some are okay. This one is EXCELLENT! Solid, meaty and powerful truth.
Check it out… while you still can!
Why I believe. (week three)
A special thanks to Jody for sharing her powerful story with us.
This will especially speak to anyone who has walked the road of loss.
