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True Course Ministries Awarded
I received an email last week from Michael Godfrey, the founder of True Course Ministries. The ministry has been selected to receive the 2007 Malcolm S. Knowles Award for Outstanding Adult Education Program of the Year. This is an award from the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education. The ministry had been nominated by Dr. Randall O'Brien, Provost and Executive Vice President of Baylor University. The award will be presented in Norfolk, VA on October 31st during the AAACE Conference. I blogged about True Course Ministries earlier. Congratulations Michael! Should Christians Complain?Tonight in Prayer and Bible study Marcus Led us to Psalm 13. There was quite a bit of discussion when the question of Christians and complaining was discussed. I wanted to write down some of my thoughts and since blogs are good for people rambling about things that only they care about, but they think other people want to hear their opinion on, here we go. Please feel free to comment, I know you want to.
Psalm 13
1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts 3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. 4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; 6 I will sing to the LORD, 2/3 of the Psalms are laments. Laments and complaints are kinda the same, but laments are more raw. They reveal true, deep frustration. Is it wrong for a Christian to express emotions like this to their creator? Our God is all sufficent and provides all we need. We are created as emotional beings. In the right time the spectrum of our emotions make us whole. God made us that way. To be completely honest and vulnerable before Him sometimes a lament is all we can utter. A lament is not just a complaint. It is an honest expression of frustration tempered by the belief of God's soverignty and provision. So, do Christians have the right to complain? Maybe not, but a lament is perhaps one of the times of most intimate communion with our creator. He is personal and more than interested in us. He cannot be hurt by our questions and venting. WorldConnex Today at the WRBN's Pastors' Conference ( I am not a pastor, but I get to eat anyway) we had Bill Tinsley as our speaker. He is the leader of WorldConnex. WorldConnex is an organization that was created by the Baptist General Convention of Texas by a vote during the 2002 Annual Convention. It was incorporated in 2003 with its own leadership and board of directors. Its assignment was to "create something new." The BGCT understood missions in the "connected" 21st century will need to be different from missions in the "disconnected" 20th century.
Currently WorldConnex is in the 3rd phase of their development. Phase 1 was to research and discover what missions in the 21st century is as is all about. It took them a year to do this (How is the world changing?). Phase 2 was to identify what to do with that (application). They came up with three categories of application: (1) Activating Churches, (2) Front Line Services, and (3) International Connections. Phase 3 is implementation.
Pastors' Conference is the first Wednesday of every month during the school year. Rachael takes reservations at the WRBN. This year the meal costs $5 a person. The New HouseWell not so new. Beth Ann and I moved into a new to us home at the beginning of August. It was a God thing. It was the right price (needs some work though), right time, and it moved very quickly. It was two to three weeks between the time we put an offer on the house and the day we moved in. In between that we put our house on the market and sold it. WOW!!!
Like I alluded to, it needs some work. The house was built in 1940 and has only had two owners. Some of the rooms (Breakfast Room, Master Bedroom & Bath) have the original wallpaper on the walls. Structurally, it is in excellent condition. The wiring is a little scary, but I'll work on it. It is just 5 blocks from our old house on Trice, but it feels like a different world. That's Waco.
We have enjoyed having the youth over for S.E.E.D. twice already as well as the staff. It will take a while to paint, etc.; but it will be worth it. Check out the pictures. We are still moving in and painting, so be gentle. Not pictured are the Master Bedroom & Bath, they are both unpresentable at this time. Of all the rooms they are in most need of updating. For now Beth Ann and I are living in the Pink Bedroom and will tackle the Master last.
Family and friends are always welcome. Email me or leave a comment and we'll have you over for a meal or game.
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