Saturday, March 13, 2010

Evan's Rock and Roll Band Wins the Battle of the Bands

Last night Evan Shoemaker's Rock and Roll band won the battle of the bands. I love their style of music. They played John Mayer, Steve Miller, Foo Fighters, Matchbox Twenty and Skynyrd. Rock and roll. Evan looks like a rock! Take a look at those guns on his arms. He's a football star and a rock and roll star. All of the members of his band are great musicians - their music is tight, their singer is great - man, the are impressive - we've got to have them play some Friday night. They are awesome!

Friday, March 12, 2010

40 Days of Getting Real - Norway Ave Members are Writing a Book for our 2010 Fall Journey

This fall Norway Ave Church members are going to write a book for our 2010 Journey. Last year we used Saddleback resources (40 Days of Love) and bought boxes of Tom Holliday's book (The Relationship Principles of Jesus). God bless our church family with 27% growth! It was great - God blessed it and we know has has led us to take another journey this fall. It will begin Oct 17 and last 40 days. This year we're going to write the book. Freddy Peatros is going to work with me in order to get the book professionally published. Freddy has written several books and has connections to self-publishing companies. We really appreciate his help. I am going to meet with the writers this Sunday after church and give them the writer guidelines which are below. Writer’s Guidelines - The theme of our fall 2010 Journey is “40 Days of Getting Real.” We are asking you to help write the book. Jeanie put together a great list of possible topics on page 2. It’s not an exhaustive list but it gives you ideas for what you could write about. We want you to select one topic below and tell your story. Do not intellectualize or philosophize – keep it real. Describe your struggle and how God helped you. Once the manuscript is complete we’re going publish it. Yes, that’s right! Your story, along with 39 others will be published (very affordable packages are currently being offered (e.g. iUniverse and another self-publishers) and the church will read one story a day for 40 days during our 2010 fall journey. It’s going to be great! The book will contain 40 stories from 20 men and 20 women who “get real” for Jesus. The idea “Get Real” came from Matt. I believe God gave it to him. Read his email below. Matt captures to whole spirit of the journey in two paragraphs. Hey everybody, When the idea hit me, it reverberated in my soul as a member driven "from the heart" offering of personal testimonials that holds nothing back. Our fears, guilt, shame, betrayal, hate, anger, sadness, ... along with our triumphs, victories, renewals, times of refreshing, spontaneous praise, joy, peace ... basically everything and anything, all in black and white and totally surrendered to God. The concept is to "Get Real and Be Free!" To live to the calling of "life to the fullest" and to be completely and totally God's every day, every second. Free of the garbage and bondage of things in this life Satan uses to hinder us. There are so many amazing people in our church family with so many powerful life events that we are aware of. Think how many more are out there that we are unaware of! We get as many folks as possible to share their stories and agree to have them published in a book that our entire family can read and be challenged and encouraged by. Love you all, Matt Now that you understand the theme, please follow the writer’s guidelines. 1. Read and mediate on 2 Cor. 1:3-5. 2. Present your story in two parts 1) What it is like and 2) How Jesus helps. 3. Mention the name of Jesus at least 4 times (very important) 4. Refer to at least 4 Bible passages or verses. 5. End with 3 questions and a short prayer (aim your questions at reader reflections) 6. Manuscript length should be between 1000-1200 words (Times New Roman – 12pt) 7. Save your manuscript as “first draft” and email it as an attached document (with a digital picture of yourself) to Jeanie (secretary@norwayave.org) by June 1, 2010. 8. Receive constructive feedback from four editors and be willing to modify it. The editors are Susie May, Stephanie Hayes, Bill Wright and myself. Discouragement Worry - Loneliness - Depression - Dissatisfaction - Confusion - Temptation - Anger - Rebellion - Fear - Impatience - Grief Stricken - Lukewarmness - Doubting God - Pain Health Problems - Marital Problems - Addictions - Empty Nest - Trouble with Children - Aging Parents - Jealousy - Conflict - Mental Anguish - Job Loss - Guilt Death of a Family Member - Changes in life - Moving to nesw City - Abandoned - Anxiety - Divorce - Promiscuity - Interracial Marriage - Child with a disability - Loss of a child - Growing old - Spiritual stagnation - Pride - Gossip - Disobedience - Single in a Married World - Fear of failure - Arrogance - Losing a mate - Not able to have children, etc. Writer's will choose their topic, which may not be on the list above. Someone called me today and ask if they could write about "middle age rage" - it is perfect. The list is contains suggestions but the Holy Spirit will ultimately decide what goes in the book. Real stories. Real struggles. That's what Jesus wants - authenticity. We're going to stop pretending, take off our mask and get real for Jesus.
I want to share what I will be presenting at the conference in Pitt next week. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming - God is soooo good. My presentation was just posted on the American Counseling Association's (ACA) Website. I am a little nervous about it b/c very smart people will be in the audience. There are two links below. The first link is ACA's homepage - ACA is the mother association of the counseling profession w/ 19 national and international divisions - http://www.counseling.org - The second link takes you directly to my handout - if you have 5 minutes please skim it - http://www.counseling.org/handouts/2010/397.pdf This is an important score as I work toward tenure - for me, it's like a big touchdown b/c in may impact the counseling profession at two levels (accredation and licensure). Please pray I do a good job presenting, that I am able to answer all questions (the professors from Texas A&M and Seattle Pacific will not be able to copresent due). Then, please pray that God continues to open more doors of opportunity like this - I give him praise and I am so thankful for what he is doing for me! My passion and primary role is pastor but I enjoying being a professor on the side. Paul made tents, I teach.