I’ve not been blogging on here regularly since I began writing on Theophilux.  I need to blog on here more.  It’s good for me to do so.  I need it to get through some things that I’m thinking on that doesn’t have an outlet yet.  So hopefully I will be back to blogging on here soon.

I’m excited about things happening in my church.

  • New website (still filling in the pages, but this is a major upgrade for us that we needed)
  • New Vision
    • Growing Deep, Growing Together, Growing Out
    • For more info on this, check out our website.  I think this is the best vision statement I’ve ever dealt with.  It is all encompassing.
    • Vision Sunday will be this Sunday.  The Vision will be given to the congregation.
    • The implementation of the Vision will be handled in a new organic way
  • New Sunday School model
    • Previously, Sunday School (or Sabbath School) was modeled after an academic environment.
    • In case you haven’t noticed, the academic model of a single person lecturing is not that effective especially among children who have been in school for 5 days already.
    • The new model will be more discussion based (or activity based for the kids, and I don’t mean coloring)
    • In fact, its more like a small group; more personal yet maintaining a focus on the Biblical text
    • It will be called Growth Groups (In case you didn’t notice, Growth is the key in the vision statement)
  • New Preaching model
    • My pastor has done some wonderful sermon series in the past.  They were topical in nature but they have changed many lives including mine.  But there is a better model.
    • Lectio Continua is the practice of preaching through a book of the Bible as a series.  In full, it is preaching through the entire Bible!  It is a Continuous Lectionary.
    • Preaching is the public exposition of God’s Word.  It contains the words of Life.  Therefore, preaching through the Scripture is preaching life.  And its preaching the way it was given to us.  (Anyone have a pastor that preaches this way currently (or are you a pastor that preaches this way currently)?
    • Currently, the plan is for the pastor to begin a Growth Group on Wednesday nights that focuses on the same book of the Bible that he is preaching through.  I think this will be tremendous in getting people to actively engage in the preaching on Sunday morning.
    • Many more plans are in the works.  Discipleship is the aim, Growth is the goal.

Free Hymns

I found a link on challies.com a while back that was to a ministry that has been recording hymns done in more modern ways, with new verses too.  The link is http://pagecxvi.com/share.  Here is an excerpt from the email I received from them after I downloaded the songs for free (they are free until Wednesday, March 25th):

For all of you who were wondering where our name “Page CXVI” came
from, we’d love to share with you a little bit about it. Page CXVI is
a reference to page 116 of our personal copy of The Magicians Nephew
by C.S. Lewis. It is a poignant passage where Aslan begins to sing
Narnia into creation out of a black void. One of the characters,
Digory, describes it as,

“…it was the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so
beautiful he could hardly bear it.”

As the hymns project began to form, our hope was to wrap the strong
lyrical content of the hymns, with music that portrayed our personal
reactions to the life that God has brought to our “black void.” The
most personal song on the album is by far “Joy” with the counterpart,
“It is Well” was written by Horatio Spafford after losing his son to
scarlet fever, all of his real estate investments to the Great Chicago
Fire, and his 4 remaining children to the sinking of a boat. The
contemplative turn from “Joy” into the lines from “It is Well” comes
out of our own personal tragedy this past year and combines a Psalm
like lamentation with hope. Our intention with all of these songs is
to be a source of comfort and encouragement to all who hear them.

Thank you again for listening and sharing.

Page CXVI

Go download it.  It’s free right now and it’s quite good.

And I’m pumped.  God is faithful to those He loves.  I have no anxiety, only anticipation of what He will do in this age, and in the age to come.  Sola Deo Gloria!