Monday, August 29, 2011

Monday Book : The Total Money Makeover...

the other day i witnessed a conversation i found quite alarming. a younger, post-college aged guy was talking with a guy who had to be into his 60's. here is how the conversation went:

the younger guy comments about the fact that he hadn't seen any of the little league world series because he doesn't have cable. the older guy found this quite unbelievable. but the younger informed him that he is poor and he needs to save money in any way he can. to which the older guy responded by telling the younger guy that having cable didn't cost that much. he told him he had a package deal...he got cable, internet, and phone all in one.

and then came the kicker. the older guy told the younger that this package deal only cost $130/month. to which the younger guy said, "exactly, that's a lot of money".

of course, the older guy seemed to disagree.

and as if that is not bad enough, the older guy went on to ask the younger guy why he didn't have any student loans...insinuating that if he had loan money he could easily pay for cable. and to top it off, a while back i was at our local food shelter and i saw this same older guy there getting free food.

it was a conversation that made me at the same time, furious and in disbelief.

if i had time and space, i could go on with at least 5 other stories i have encountered recently of people suffering difficult situations and circumstances as a result of poor financial decisions. the bottom line is, there are not many things that are more damaging and paralyzing than poor financial decisions. and i am convinced that, in most cases, people simply don't know. they are doing what they have seen done.

my wife and i have enjoyed the great blessing of being debt-free for the entirety of our marriage (over 5 years). it is something that cannot be described in words! we have been debt-free and have been able to continue to make wise and informed financial decisions largely because of the wisdom and teaching of dave ramsey.

he and his business have a ton of amazing resources. click here to check out everything they have to offer.

if you are looking for a good place to get started with ramsey's principles and ideas, this book, The Total Money Makeover is a great choice. i challenge you to pick up a copy...you will be challenged and changed...and it will be well worth the money spent!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Life of David [Intro]...


last night we started a teaching series on the life of david. we will spend the entire school year entering in to david's story. (the image above can serve as our logo...and if you missed it...sorry...but let me just say a russian david is awesome!)

i am incredibly excited about this journey. i think it has so much to teach us...so much potential to mold and shape us.

last night was all about setting the stage for the journey. we spoke to three specific questions:

why one story for the entire year?
who is David?
why the story of David?

much of what was said came from and was inspired by Eugene Peterson's book on the life of david entitled...Leap Over A Wall. if you were at dig last night, you know that i read a number of quotes directly from the first chapter of his book. and as promised, below are those quotes:

"Story is the primary way in which the revelation of God is given to us. The Holy Spirit's literary genre of choice is story."

"The biblical way is not so much to present us with a moral code and tell us, 'Live up to this', nor is it to set out a system of doctrine and say, 'Think like this and you will live well.' The biblical way is to tell a story and invite us, 'Live into this. This is what it looks like to be human; this is what is involved in entering and maturing as human beings."

"I see so many things in him I wish I had - and so many others I'm scared to death I do have. All you need to relate to David is a membership to the human race." -Beth Moore

"David's importance isn't in his morality or his military prowess but in his experience of and witness to God. Every event in his life was a confrontation with God."

"The David story is the most complete, detailed rendering of God-dimensioned humanity that we have, the common life that God uses to shape humanity to his glory. As the story develops, we see everything about us interpenetrated with God; our imaginations expand and we see what it means to live largely, aware of God's grace and beauty in every detail of which we're invited to participate."

"The David story serves to train us in the, normative, in seeing, accepting, participating in the miracle hidden in the ordinary, the supernatural suffusing the natural. Thoroughly trained by David, we're not apt to impulsively discard our lifejackets and abandon daily meal preparation - supposing that this is the way to 'deeper' and 'higher' spiritual life - when Jesus walks on the water and feeds the five thousand."

"David's is a most exuberant story. Earthy spirituality characterizes his life and accounts for the exuberance.
Earthy: down-to-earth, dealing with everydayness, praying while doing laundry, singing in the
snarl of traffic.

Spiritual: moved and animated by the Spirit of God and therefore alive to God."



i am excited for this journey because i know it will change me...i know i will not be the same on the other side.

why are you excited? what part of the david story do you latch on to? what intrigues you?

Monday, August 22, 2011

Monday Book : Leap Over a Wall...

this Wednesday, we are entering into a teaching series, where we will hang out for the entirety of this school year, on the life of David.

i am incredibly excited about this journey! the potential i see for learning and growth is huge. so much of the potential lies in the fact that it is a massive story that we get to enter into...and that it is not just a far off story that happened, but that it is story that can and does become our story.

the book that has really inspired me to do this series is a book by Eugene Peterson (the author of the Message), called Leap Over A Wall. it is a great book. a fresh, refreshing and challenging look at the story of David.

here is a great quote about entering into the entirety of the story:

"The David story, like most other Bible stories, presents us not with a polished ideal to which we aspire but with a rough-edged actuality in which we see humanity being formed - the God presence in the earth/human conditions. The David story immerses us in a reality that embraces the entire range of humanness, stretching from the deep interior of our souls to the farthest reach of our imaginations."

he goes on to say at the end of this paragraph:

"But David's importance isn't in his morality or his military prowess but in his experience of and witness to God. Every event in his life was a confrontation with God."

i am excited...it is going to be a fun journey.

if you are interested in listening along to the teachings, you can find them on our website at www.digdeeper.org.


Thursday, August 18, 2011

Introducing a New Blog Strategy...

a new school year is under way, and we are back in the swing of things here at campus house.

with the new start i am excited to share that i will be taking a new, more intentional approach in blogging. here is what it will consist of...

on thursdays, i will write a follow-up to the teaching from the night before here at campus house. i hope for it to be a place to expound a bit and a place where conversations can take place in response to the teaching.

on mondays, i will write about a book i am currently reading or have recently read.

periodically, i will share other thoughts that pertain to this journey of finding our way back to God.


so...with that in mind...here is the first thursday post...


last night, part of what i talked about was expounding on our vision..."A Jesus community helping students find their way back to God"...specifically trying to grasp what we mean by "back to God".

we traced a path that moved from the first words of scripture..."In the beginning God created"...to John 16 and 17 where it talks about this God who created being relational and each member seeking to glorify and delight in the others...and that it is in this image that we are created...when God says "let us make man in our image...in our likeness"...and that after He creates, of all the possible details that could have been shared, the detail that was shared was that this creation (named Adam and Eve) were "naked and unashamed".

my proposal is that "finding our way back to God" is about journeying back to this place where we are naked before God...and yet are unashamed. honestly, i don't know exactly what that looks like, but i know i want it...whatever "it" is.

what do you think "it" is. what might it look like for us to begin to get a glimpse of being "naked and unashamed" before God?

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Week of Welcome 2011...

it is all at once overwhelming and exciting to think that another school year is right around the corner.

i see so much potential in what this year will contain! the leadership is amazing...i am super excited about the teaching material God has led us to...and the community development opportunities are better than ever.

this coming week is packed with events, in hopes that students will find opportunities to connect and find belonging amongst our community. here is what the week will hold:

Sunday, March 14th :: Prayer and Worship at CCH @ 6pm
Monday, March 15th :: Burgers, Dogs and Ultimate Frisbee at CCH @ 5:30pm
Tuesday, March 16th :: Chocolate Fondue and Live Music at CCH @ 7pm
Wednesday, March 17th :: DIG Worship Gathering at CCH @ 7:30pm
Thursday, March 18th :: Mud Volleyball meet at CCH @ 5:30pm
Friday, March 19th :: Bonfire meet at CCH @ 7pm

If you are a student, come and hang out with us. And make sure you spread the word.

If you are not a student, would you consider praying alongside us in this journey. Pray that God would bring the right people at the right time to make the connections He desires!

This is not just another week...the possibilities and potential are truly sky high!!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

The Power of Memory...

last week, cailyn and i were on vacation with our families in the smoky mountains of tennessee. it was a great trip for many reasons. some of the things that stick out to me the most actually took place in the traveling to and returning from tennessee.

part of what traveling from warrensburg to tennessee meant, was that we would be crossing over our bike route from last summer (for those that don't know, cailyn and i rode bicycles from virginia to yellowstone national park last summer...if you are interested in reading about the trip, you can check out the blog posts in the archives of this blog from May, June and July of 2010).

we actually crossed the route in two different locations (we went home a different way than we traveled there). our return trip, took us over last summer's route at berea, kentucky. as we passed the exit, read the signs, and looked at the surroundings, it was amazing how quickly all of the memories came rushing back.

we stayed the night in berea, and within minutes, we were able to remember where we camped and ate dinner the night we were there. we reminisced about a college campus we rode past that day. we reflected on conversations with a kid at the campground who was from a suburb of my home town. we remembered phone calls we made that night and pictures taken there. the memories seemed to just flow and flow.

it was amazing to be literally flooded with memories! what a blessing to relive such a great time in our lives!

as i processed all of these memories, i began to think about just how amazing it is that God created us with the ability to remember and to think and to reminisce back to memories. it is amazing to me and is one of the things that makes me the most confident there is a God and He is the Creator of life! i can wrap my mind around the physical and scientific pieces of our bodies. and while they are incredible, they are still very logical. but our minds, memories and the ability to think are not logical...i can't begin to wrap my mind around it. and i love it. it causes me to stand in awe of God. it causes me to worship Him!

He is God and i am not, and therefore He understands the making and recalling of a memory...He knows how the mind works, and i do not...and for that i am grateful...and for that and so much more i choose to worship Him as the Creator God!

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