Dear actionchurch,
Thank you so much for the housewarming / wedding gifts. It really means a lot to Rachel & I to have a community that loves and cares about us. I have had so much fun making actionchurch not look like Don put everything together using Microsoft Paint. And Rachel is looking forward to taking care of your kidos in actionkidz. We look forward to serving along side you and getting to know you better in the next year!
Love Rachel & Josiah
We love having guest bloggers here on the actionchurch blog! Here are some thoughts from Kirsten on disappointment.
Recently I just finished reading “The Shack,” written by Paul Young (if you haven’t read it yet, I do suggest taking a look at it). As a quick summary for those who have not read the book, the main character, Mack is dealing with a “Great Sadness” that is greatly affecting his relationship with God. Mack is drawn to “the shack” where he encounters the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in face-to- face interaction. Throughout the rest of the book, Mack expresses his anger and questions why God has caused him to experience this “Great Sadness” that overshadows his life.
Many questions that Mack poses toward the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are similar to questions inside of me; questions that other’s answers have never completely satisfied me inside. In one scene of the book, Mack questions God as to why he is disappointed in humans when we fail time and time again. God responds saying that he is never disappointed in human failures; he hurts to see us fail and live in pain, but he is never disappointed. In fact, it is almost the complete opposite. Because God knows all, He knows every single time that we will fail before returning to him. So if He knows that we will fail 47 times before turning towards him, he is not disappointed, for he knows that there is only 46 more times until we decide return. We are just one mistake closer to being in communication with God again.
I’m not saying that this is necessarily correct (it is always good to question what we read and hear); I am just saying that this has caused me to see God in a new light. I have always felt that every time I screw up, God has been extremely disappointed in me, and it is almost as if the guilt weighs on my shoulders. But what if God is never disappointed in us? What if he almost celebrates because we are just that much closer to him? What would that mean in our lives to live without such a guilt, such a shame? For me I feel free; I feel a burden lifted. Without this guilt and shame, I feel a joy and a love that only God can give, and it arouses a desire in me to live life to its fullest. May we take this joy and love and spread it among our community, spread God’s unfailing love to all that we meet.
Though the mountains may be shaken and the hills be removed, my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10)
actionchurch received a very nice email from a “friend” in Hong Kong. It seems people worldwide are interested in helping us out! We not only want to hear your ideas about new places to meet, we want to know how to make actionchurch better. Is there something that you think you could help with, or a new way to do something. Let us know what you got!!
And now, an email from our “friend” Mr. Chan Lee:
*For those who didn’t get my sarcasm… I’m just joking. We AREN’T doing this. :-)
“ Dear Friend,
I bring you greetings. I am Mr. Chan Lee, I work with BANK OF CHINA, HONG KONG. I have a Business Proposal of $17.3M for you to handle with me from my bank. I need you to assist me in executing this Business Project from Hong Kong to your country. I need to know if you will be able to handle this with me before I explain to you in details. Should you be interested please send me the required information below;
(1). Full Names
2).Current Residential Address
3). private phone number,
I will want you to reach me on my private e-mail:
(l_chan28@yahoo.com.hk). Finally after that I shall provide you with more information.
Regards, Mr. Chan Lee ”
Yes, you are looking at the branding for our one week series we are doing. Yes, I will be hand drawing each slide related to the sermon that you see on the screen. Yes, you will like it, and Yes, it will be mind-blowing.
Come on out tomorrow to actionchurch to join in our discussion of faith & doubt. I (Josiah) will be talking a little about some of my doubts, and Don will be cleaning up the damage that I leave behind. (Haha, yes that is a joke…) Everybody doubts. I’m no Bible scholar, but when Jesus was in the garden asking God if he really had to die I wonder if he was doubting just a little bit… http://read.ly/Matt26.39.NIV I promise you Don won’t be answering things like you always hear, and there probably won’t really be any total answers… (That’s kinda what doubt is, not having answers…) The Pledge is back on stage this week, ready to rock some new songs for you and your mom! And of course, who doesn’t want to see my, “art”?!
Josiah's sofa he will be bringing^
A couple weeks ago at the Relay for Life, Don and I were brainstorming about what the Chill series would look like. It was late, or early, depending on which way you look at it. And maybe we were still fighting off the brain freeze we had from having way too many free snow cones. We decided that the best way for people to “Chill” was for them to be sitting in their own chairs. Nothing against our sweet setup of chairs and tables, but I know some mornings at actionchurch I wish we could have “Bring Your Bed To Church” day…
So this Sunday, bring your favorite chair to “chill” in. If you want to bring something more on the outrageous side of things, and you out shine everybody else, I will buy you lunch. *Sectional sofas are always a great idea… Or if you just want to bring that extra comfy recliner, or rocking chair that is just as good. We have got the A.C All-stars on stage, and Don will be talking (not from his jacuzzi) about another way we can trust God and just chill.