From Evotional

You know you’re a redneck if…

you have a set of salad bowls that say “cool whip” on the side!

you make change in the offering plate

fast food is hitting a deer at 65 mph

you have a race car on your prayer list

you stare at orange juice containers because they say “concentrate”

your mailbox is spelled male

your dad walks you to school cause you’re in the same grade

Jeff said a couple things worth contemplating:”Debating our righteousness is like debating about who can jump farther over the Grand Canyon. It doesn’t matter how far you can jump. You’re both going to fall the same distance.

Catalyst is going on this weekend. They had a guest appearance by Jeff Foxworthy, below is a blog wrap-up of the first day.

Today was the conference’s first full day, and in addition to a solid lineup of speakers (Andy Stanley, Marcus Buckingham, George Barna, John Maxwell, and Gary Haugen), the hit of the day, at least for me since my momma was raised in the hills of eastern Tennessee, was the surprise appearance of comedian Jeff Foxworthy (“If you put your TV that works on top of your TV that doesn’t work, you may be a redneck”).

Foxworthy had traveled to Kenya this past spring with Andy Stanley and some others to visit various ministries. He had fun with the audience pointing out that his definition of “redneck” is “a glorious absence of sophistication,” which applies to many of the key characters in the Bible:

Samson, who grew “the mother of all mullets” and who caught 300 foxes, tied them in pairs with tails tied to a burning torch, and set them loose to burn the fields of their despised neighbors, the Philistines? “Redneck.”

How about David, who killed somebody with a slingshot, sneaked into a cave to play a trick on somebody who was going to the bathroom in there, and then spied over the fence on a naked neighbor. “That’s as redneck as it gets.”

Saw this over at Catalyst blog. As churches we had an awesome opportunity to connect hurting people to God, but how good of a job did we do?

Barna Research studies reveal despite an intense surge in religious activity and expression in the weeks immediately following 9/11, the faith of Americans is virtually indistinguishable today, 5 years later, compared to pre-attack conditions.
(Barna Update 8/28/06)

Here’s a good definition of truth from the book, Breaking the Missional Code.

“Truth is not a set of rules to be obeyed, mysteries to be known or evidences to be mastered, but Christ, by whom we know and are known. Truth is not discovered, it is revealed in relationship to both the head and the heart. Therefore, Truth is not something merely known or proclaimed but Someone experienced, tasted, and seen as the Psalmist says, by grace, faith, and presence that not merely knows the Truth but loves Him.”

Pastor Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church

I also posted this on our church website. Some food for thought

As a church, we would all agree that we are committed to developing fully devoted followers of Christ. In planning the use of our property, we need to think about how our land will help us to reach others, make disciples, and worship God.

Our land should definitely benefit the community. Too many times, churches become so protective of their facilities that they forget the reason they exist. By involving the community with our church, we build relationships, gain credibility, and are able to share the hope and forgiveness of Christ. I could envision Cornerstone being a place for conferences and community events as well. One of the first things we could do would be to build a walking trail and playground with parking. We also need to think soon about a multi-use building that could be used for services, meetings, dinners, dramas, sports, and anything else we can think of. We need more classroom space now for our children’s ministry, so we need to think about how to integrate classroom space into the building. As time goes on and we grow, we should think about how to transition into a larger worship facility that is more suited for providing an environment for our worship service. I also would like to see us continue to innovate and incorporate technology into our facilities and our worship. Good sound and video will help communicate the important message that we have to share.

I also think that the land is so full of natural beauty that we should not mess it up with metal shell buildings. My idea would be to use natural materials such as stone and wood to build the signs and buildings. An outside baptistry/fountain would be good to think about as well.

We need to trust God and focus on our goal of reaching others for Christ and making fully devoted disciples of Christ.