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Just a brief post to catch your eye and say that the August portion of the calendar has been updated...and I'm sure you'll notice that the first event of the month is TOMORROW: the bible study for the gals that starts at 6:30pm. As always, childcare is provided if you need to take advantage of that.

Also, just in case you weren't going to click on the Calendar button over there and see the events planned for this month, I'll go ahead and tell you that we are having a "Sunday School Social" (that sounds very 1950's-ish) on the 22nd. The plan is to meet at a restaurant and then go to the bowling alley and knock down some pins. The alley and food establishment are still up for debate and decision, so if you have a preference or an "if you're eating there then I'm not coming," let me know, and we'll be sure to avoid that place.

So mark your calendars and when I call and ask you if you're coming, don't tell me you scheduled a last minute shawl-knitting party with your Auntie Melba and Grandma Frances because you didn't know of our plans - I won't buy that excuse. Hope to see you tonight at church!

Stuck in my head

Yeah, yeah, so it's been more than a few days since the last post. Summer is tough, and I was lazy the month of June...and maybe May too. But starting this month - er, the middle* of this month, rather - I'm getting back into the swing of posting a little more regularly.

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head? I mean, all day the same words over and over again? You'll take a break to do some work or something, but you find yourself mulling over them again 5 minutes later or singing it night after night in the shower (the absolute best place to sing, by the way...the acoustics are great, and you'll sound 400 times better than you actually are). I've had this happen to me over the past week. I recently found an album by Newsong released in 1989 that I bought for a particular song on the album, entitled Not the Half Has Been Told. But that's not the one that's been stuck in my head. As I was mulling over the song for the 537th time this week, I was asking God why he chose to place that on my brain the past few days, and it occurred to me that maybe the reason was so I'd share it with somebody. So here's a line or two:

All things work for our good
though sometimes we can't see how they could.
Struggles that break our hearts in two,
sometimes blind us to the truth.

Our Father knows what's best for us;
His ways are not our own.
So when your pathway grows dim, and you just can't see Him,
Remember, He's still on the throne.

God is too wise to be mistaken,
God is too good to be unkind.
So when you don't understand,
when you don't see his plan,
when you can't trace his hand,
trust his heart.

How true is that? Things happen sometimes that you just can't explain why. There'll be times when it makes zero sense why something went down the way it did, why somebody walked away, why you lost something, or why - being in the will of God as best you know how to be - you're going down a road that seems unfair. If you could see the future, well, then maybe you could understand...but I guess, then, it wouldn't be faith. So until the future gets here, maybe the best thing to do is to trust the thoughts of God's heart, which of course you know, are:

...thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an unexpected end.

-Jeremiah 29:11

Lend me your ears...and your posts...

To all of you who feel the need to point out my many flaws in keeping this blog consistantly up-to-date (mainly I'm speaking to Greg and Joey), this post is for you: I am ready for YOU to write a blog post and I'll be more than happy to stick it up here.

Thats right, if you've got something on your mind - maybe something that God blessed you with last Sunday or just how good he's been to you this week - email me and I'll copy your text right into a blog post for the class to read. We've been getting a lot of praise reports lately in Sunday School, and I thought that this would be a great way to share with everybody in the class something the Lord has done for you lately.

Speaking of recent Sundays, did you get to hear the Fox family sing on Sunday night? I was talking with Micah on Monday and we were pretty bummed that they've been coming to this church for 2 years and that was the first time we've heard them sing?! How awesome was that! It's always an extra blessing to me when short guys (like me) have a strong set of pipes on them, too. If you didn't make it Sunday night, you might want to get a copy of the service, although the sound quality may not be that great b/c they used their own equipment instead of running it through the house speakers.

Thanks to all of you who made it to movie night this past Saturday. We had a good time, and I for one ate too many Reeses Pieces...and whenever you can say that, you know it's been a good day. We will do it again soon.

If it seems like Sunday School has been sort of sporatic this month, it's because it has been. Missions Day and Father's Day has kind of thrown off our groove, but we'll be getting right back into what we started a few weeks ago for the new quarter, that being a study of the book of Proverbs, so be looking at Proverbs chapters 3 & 4 this week. Maybe we can learn just a thing or two from the wisest man who ever lived, who was under the inspiration of God when he wrote Proverbs as a note to his son...maybe. :)

Next Quarter = Next Week!

So I mentioned in class yesterday that June marks the beginning of a new Sunday School quarter, and thus the beginning of a new topic for us to look at each week. Thanks for helping me out and giving suggestions for what you wanted JW and I to teach on these past 3 months. After a slow start (to the suggestions), I ended up having a lot more than I could possibly cover. If your topic didn't get covered, it was probably because I had already taught a lesson on something you suggested, and I was moving on to somebody else's request. If you still would like some info on it, though, you can always email me or call me and I'll be happy to find and answer for you.

That said, now the question is what about next quarter...er...next week?! What do you think? I visited my brother in Chattanooga last weekend, and their whole church is doing a Sunday School series studying the book of Proverbs. That might be interesting, and Proverbs is full of truth that can help us everyday - and it's plain and easy to get for people who need it plain and easy, like me. I'm open to any suggestion from you...maybe you've done a particular bible study in the past that has really helped you, or maybe you'd just like to see us gear the lessons more towards a particular format. In any case, leave a comment or drop me a line and let me know what's on your mind (sounds like the ending of a cheesy limerick).

AND, in case you missed yesterday and missed the big news, I'll send a big E-CONGRATULATIONS to Greg and Lisa, now officially betrothed to one another to be wed in holy matrimony! If I had thought about it, I would have taken a picture of Lisa's ring and posted it on the website for all the girls, but I am a guy and, consequentially, do not think about those things. But we're happy for you Greg and Lisa, let me know what kind of cake you want for the wedding and I'll save you some money and make it myself.

It is time...

...to help our missionary family out. If you remember, I mentioned in class maybe a month or two ago how our missionaries (David & Katie Gardner) would be needing some items to help them get started on their first official missionary "tour" in Peru (David was raised there, so not really his first trip, but their first stay as missionaries together). Well, let me explain Plan B.

No, there is no time, let me sum up Plan B:

As it turns out, through God's provision using some other folks and timing issues, it's no longer possible for us to be able to get some things together and to David in time for he and Katie to fly to Peru...they're leaving on June 2. So here's the skinny - they are still in need of some stuff, and are probably going to have to buy lots when they get there. In addition to that, the plane tickets they just booked cost around $1500...and on top of all of THAT, they aren't yet 100% supported yet (meaning, if it takes your family $1000/month to pay the bills, that would be like trying to do it with $600 or $700).

I feel like we ought to do what we can to help them out before they go, and the best way obviously is to take up an offering. Listen, if you're like me, you don't have piles of cash that you can't decide what to do with-trust me, I know, nobody's using dollar bills for tissue paper b/c they have so many extra. But, if you can help out in any way, please do so, and if you can't, don't feel bad about it. You can give $1, $5, $5000, or anything in-between, and if you'd like to write a check make it out to College & Career Sunday School Class. Everything, of course, will go to them, except for the 25% administrative fee that goes to me (just kidding).

If you're gonna be able to give, I'll need it by Sunday, May 17 to make sure I can get it to David and Katie before they leave (they are currently driving hundreds of miles/day to raise support). Even if all we're able to do is buy some groceries, I think we can be a help to them.

Let me know what you think, and if you want to find out more about David & Katie's ministry, there's a link to their web page over on the right. Thanks in advance for whatever you can do to help, and don't forget to PRAY FOR THEM TOO!!

Let me just say that I do not have the perfect job for blogging, like some of you (ahem, E'thelton), and blogging on the blackberry in the woods doesn't work too well. So, I was slack in posting this week. But, here's something that's been on my mind since Sunday:

If you were in church Sunday night, Bro. Gene commented that it was becoming "too quiet" around GSBC and asked for volunteers - some men to come and sit on the front row and "AMEN" the preacher, Bro. Eddie Davis, whenever you agreed with something he said. I don't know if you noticed or not, but there was one thing in common with the men who volunteered and sat on the front row: AGE. Not that the men who got up there were decrepit or anything, but nobody up there was under 50 years old.

One of my absolute favorite things about our church is the atmosphere. It's not restricted to just one thing, like the choir or the preaching or the special music...it's all aspects of the service. And the support and "life" from the audience is a unique part of that. I found myself wondering Sunday night if that atmosphere that I love and that most of us take for granted will be around, say, in another 10-15 years? There was nobody on the front row that night that I or anybody else would call a "young man" or somebody in the mid-stages of life, unless my memory is telling me lies, and yet the guys up there were the stalwarts of the amen choruses that we hear every week. The guys who, believe it or not, ADD ATMOSPHERE to our services. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that I have felt more movement of the Holy Spirit in services where I knew others were experiencing Him as well.

Who will ensure that our atmosphere remains the same in the years to come? What happens when those men can't speak out anymore like they used-to? Who will be around when the leadership roles of the church must move to a younger demographic? And I don't think that we should limit this conversation just to MALES...there are plenty of responsibilities that women have in our church today that someone will have to take-over-for one day. How can we keep GSB from becoming a ho-hum church that is (dare I say) BORING and or DEAD because it feels like no one WANTS to be there?

Bro. Eddie Davis commented on Wednesday night that GSBC is one of his favorite places to come because of the atmosphere...I hope that he can still say that in 10 years. Who will start supporting the preacher/choir/special music AUDIBLY? Who will start to take responsibility for the prayer-burden? Who is going to ensure that the atmorsphere of GSBC will be for our kids what it was for us?

Could you do it? How weird would it be if you started saying "amen"? How about me? Just something to think about...something that I've been thinking about a lot. Maybe we'll all hear a few new voices in the weeks to come...

some thoughts and announcement reminders

So it occurred to me a little while ago that I haven't brought up the movie night idea ever since I announced it in class a few weeks ago. As it turns out, someone DID come to me and offer their lovely home for us to use, but I'll check with them again to make sure it's still a go. I was thinking of having it at the end of this month or beginning of May - maybe April 25 or May 2 (both dates are Saturdays). Let me know (like pronto) if this won't work for your or if you can't make one or either of those dates. Also if there's something you're dying to see feel free to suggest...Sheffy is still up in the air, but I think that may get shot down...and save the Star Wars Trilogy for your geek convention. Other than those, I'm up for anything :)

It was great to have our missionaries (or half of them) in class with us Sunday. I mentioned to you a few weeks ago that they will be needing some supplies when they head to the field this summer, and David will be getting me a list of some things that they really need to get before they go. Think about what it would be like to pick up your life, move it to a foreign country, and start over...that's pretty much what David & Katie are doing, and obviously there's a lot of stuff that needs to be purchased. Keep them in your prayers as they continue to seek support, and as soon as I know what they need, I'll pass the word. Check out the link to their website (brand new website, I might add)...I posted it over on the left.

I hope you and your family had a great Easter weekend. Don't forget to PRAY for each other this week...I appreciate you and look forward to seeing you Wednesday.

GUYS: Don't forget the bible study that will be starting Tuesday, April 14 @ 6:30pm at the church

GALS: Don't forget the baby shower for Ashley Thompson also on Tuesday, April 14, @ 7pm...if you can help bring some food or goodies contact my wife (megan.crittenden@gmail.com)