Questions that surface while raking leaves.

...and a good example of how to take a brake from said leaves...


Did Jesus ever have a Date?

The FDA and World Hunger

Today on WBAL 1040am news, a report said that the FDA was going to give thumbs up today to eating cloned animals. The producers would not need to report on where the animal had genetically come from. So cloned beef is possibly headed to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Wow, what a world.

So I had a question, and am by no means educated on the genetic process of cloning at all, but I wondered could cloning solve the world's hunger? Could we clone enough cows to feed all people's beef? Sure there's a money element to it, but could genetic engineering save the world?

Hmmm.

--Ben

Sermon Open-source

On the Links column is a Place to Go called Sermon Open-Source. It is an open forum to creatively think through teachings and series. Hop in let me know what you think. Remember this is open-source so you don't have to be right, smart, or pretty. Just give your input, and we'll knock it around.

Who knows? Maybe you'll help craft the message that brings a loved-one to Christ, or cures hunger in Annapolis, or multiplies a new church.


--Ben

Christmas Thank You 2006

Book Review: In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day

In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day
By: Mark Batterson
Sister’s, Oregon: Multnomah, 2006.

My interest in this book was generated because of my proximity to the author. Mark is a Pastor of an A/G church in Washington, D.C. They have a fantastic story that is available at their website, www.theaterchurch.com. Mark’s daily blog, www.evotional.com , has been a great inspiration to me. The reason I blog is because he recommended it to me in a personal interview I did with him in 2005. In that same interview, he was excited that a publisher had contacted him about writing a book. He was thrilled, and In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day was the book that followed.

These thoughts that I share are just my thoughts. I’m no critic, so please be careful on basing your reading judgments on my interpretation. I want to make one more statement about how I came to read the book. Mark put out an invitation to a district official that he would like to give a free copy of the book to church planters. So I contacted him, and had his book a week later.

I don’t like the cover. Blunt I know, but I thought it made the book look especially cheesy. In fact, if I were just picking the book up and deciding to buy it, there is nothing attractive about the presentation. The cover, quality, and margins of the book drove me crazy. I know that’s anal, but I’m a guy who actually reads everything on and between the covers. Why do I start out bashing this way? Because if you were in a store and looked at it, I would hope you’d buy it anyway. The content is very good, just get past the presentation.

Overall this is a book about looking for opportunities and making them victories no matter how unlikely. Every lesson in the book is loosely hung on a story from 2 Samuel 23:20-21. The obscure story is of Beniah who had three amazing exploits on his resume’ and went on to become Commander-in-chief of Israel’s army at the time of David’s kingship.

The chapters are laid out to lead you from understanding the lions (opportunities) that face our lives to becoming a lion chaser ourselves. Whether it’s unlearning our fears, or wrestling with risk each of the chapters invites us one step closer to embracing the impossible only making it improbable, and realizing that it is a God ordained moment that we need to pursue. I think Mark would say that the summation of this book is that at the end of our lives the greatest regrets will center on what we didn’t do, what lions we didn’t chase, far more than the ones we did. So maximizing the message of In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day would lead to less regrets and greater accomplishment for God.

The chapters are filled with stories from mission’s trip experiences. My favorite came in the story of a monkey that pooped on a girl’s head that was terrified to come to Africa because of Lions. She never accounted for the monkeys.

This book is a very enjoyable read. It’s also a quick read. I finished it in about 5 days of moderate reading.

Someone requested that we pursue the Chase the Lion Series this year at SRC. The Operations Team will be discussing it as a possibility on our preaching calendar.

--Ben

In light of my recent mission requiring BB guns, and for the enjoyment of my brother-in-law, Andy.



Pimp-My-Profile.com

Oh Baby!

Well, I know that many of my readers have found out through various means, but as of tonight it is 100% officially public. Corie and I will be parents again in August. We will be having our first Dr.'s appointment on Thursday. Just a little extra excitement for the holiday.

God Bless,

--Ben

Merry Christmas!

Anti-Punnet Square Vindication

Do you remember doing Punnet Squares in school? They were the determiner of dominant and recessive genes. And you plugged in the hair color and eye colors of the parents and it predicted the dominant genes that would be passed on to the child. When we learned them I said, "No way!" I didn't believe the statistical method, and still don't. God made my day by giving my daughter blue eyes.

Today I've been vindicated. If you're interested in Biology or genetics check out this article. Someone tell Michelle Grace to read it. ;-)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6195091.stm

BB Guns and Christmas

Isn't there something special about BB guns and Christmas? I remember the year that I got my BB Gun. What a great Christmas present. I hope that all boys of responsible age are given a gun and taught about safety and the joy of shooting.

I borrowed a BB gun yesterday from my brother-in-law for a project that I have going on. A little covert-op. I got it out this morning and started target practice. I varied the pressure one pump, two pumps, three pumps. I don't think I'll need more than three. I'm not trying to kill anyone or anything after all.

It feels great to remember the training that I've had over the years of what guns and shooting are all about. I hope we can have the same excitement about the training we've had on the Christmas story this year. Maybe this is the first year that you are going to learn about the real meaning of Christmas. Look at Luke 2 in the Bible as a manual of what happened at the first Christmas.

Remember to breathe, look at your target, and pull the trigger of joy for your Christmas.

--Ben

No Pity Intended

It has come to my attention that some of you felt pity for me with my OLDmobile experience. Please understand that I did not write that story for pity. I actually intended us to laugh together about it.

Thanks for your compassion.

--Ben

The last voyage of OLDmobile.

I had a plan.

Saturday was going to be the last flight of the green machine. My 1994 Oldsmobile. It was originally purchased new by my in-laws, and then given to my wife, but she eventually commandeered my Jeep Grand Cherokee to transport our little girl, Sydney. So I was left with the Olds.

So Saturday came and went, I didn't get to repair my motorcycle (my alternative transportation) and I was behind the wheel yet again on Sunday A.M. Now, there are some things you should know about the Olds and why her last day should have been a while ago. The car has a transmission that when hot will not down-shift, therefore running fine, until you need to stop at which point it stalls until it cools and then will run again repeating the cycle. And oh yeah, the lights stopped working. Like the headlights, dashlights, the running lights, the BRAKE lights, and Hazards, but the blinkers work.

Arrive Sunday...

I had a ticket for the Raven's game. I had a plan. I was going to slip out early from SRC. I was going to announce that I had a ticket to the game and then slip out around 11:30 and be on my way to the Purple Mecca.

But when I got to church I was told that our transportation guy (we love you Joe) had gotten called into work so I would have to take the trailer home. Therefore I had to stay until everything was packed up and ready to roll, then I had to have someone else risk their life by driving my car to where I was dropping off the trailer. I told them to make sure to stay in front of me, and let them know that I was pretty sure that the transmission would make it to the destination; which it did. We arrived safely, but now we're 45 minutes behind schedule.

I then headed to the bank and at Pasadena rd. and Ritchie Hwy. I stalled out, pushed my car into the gas station and waited for another 10 minutes. Back on the road I stalled again at the bank ATM. It took so long to restart that I walked over to Taco Bell ordered two burritos to go and went back to the car and ate both of them before the car would operate again. By the time I got home, changed and was headed out the door it was 1:00. (that's kickoff time) So I got to Cromwell to take the train into the stadium, waited for the train to get there, then went in and arrived with only about 6 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. So I basically missed the first half of the game.

Awww....anyway,

The best is yet to come. I got back to Cromwell at about 5:15. Pulling into the station I'm seeing the sun going night, night. It is still bright enough that I wouldn't need lights...come on people...

Grid lock.

By the time I pull onto 648 it's dark. Like need lights dark. So I'm making my way along as the helpful genius behind me is flashing his lights at me. He pulled up next to me at the light and had a pleasant conversation about my need for lights. I got home as fast as possible, making sure to avoid the places that our beloved officers of peace regularly frequent. Making my dark way down the dark backstreets of my neighborhood I pulled over to the curb every time I saw a car moving about. Then I would continue to my ultimate destination and park the beast in my yard and there it ended. This relationship between man and machine. Thus ended the last voyage of the OLDmobile.


--Ben

Weekend Update

Well, another weekend has come and gone. It was a good one. Friday night I went out with my family. We went to Rocky Run at Marley Station. It's nice to be with family. My wife and I go out just about every week on a date, and sometimes we take our little girl. I recommend that all husbands and fathers watch over their families this way. Date Night is a gateway to a great marriage. I'm not claiming perfection, but I will claim regularity.

Saturday, I did the usual...wake up late (8:00 a.m.), take Corie's car to get gassed up and washed, run some errands. I came home, and later around lunch time we put up Christmas lights. Be sure to include our house on your drive-bys of Christmas lights. Include ours in the Comedy section, because they're pretty sad. It's my first time putting up lights. Last year a friend, Jim, decided to hang-up his lights for good (pun intended). He gave them to me, so I thought I'd better put them to use. The icicles don't look too bad, but the ralling looks pretty ridiculous. I just hope Sydney enjoys them.

That night we went to Corie's cousin's house and played with the other kids, and Santa (ever notice those are the same letters as Satan? :-)) Sydney didn't like Santa. But I got a ticket to go to the Raven's game out of it. Thanks Glen, you're the greatest and most debonair person to marry into that side of the family.

Service on Sunday was good. I don't like the word Service. What do you call it when family and friends come to the same place to celebrate? (I'd better be careful here, some of your comments could get out of hand.) I'm sure the etymology has something to do with Romans 12 and our "reasonable act of service" , coming to serve Christ, or some such thing. I'm just not sure that it's really a good word to describe what happens. A lot of you are a lot smarter than me, so I'm sure you could interject.

One thing that SRC has going for it, it gets you out in time to see the Raven's game. Umm, yeah, that's how we planned it. (not really, but it is convenient.) So the game...well...I had a blast. I love going to football games, always a great Christmas present..."Oh, season tickets? You shouldn't have...Yes!" But I digress. For the really interesting albeit comical story of my adventure in getting to the game, you'll have to tune in next time...

--Ben

Christmas List

I hope you don't find this presumptuous, but someone asked what we needed as a church. I thought there might be some interest in knowing that, so here are some things.

1. A set of TV trays, even if there from a yardsale and there's only 2 or 3 out of 4.
2. A paper slicer (The kind that can be turned into a machete in case of emergency, that's what I day dreamed about as a student in middle school. Can I get an amen, Andy?)
3. A paper shredder.
4. Lighting Package (We're not Rock stars, just would like to improve the lighting in our Room, The lighting is poor. This limits our video efforts.)

Anyway, those are a couple things.

Thanks,
Ben

Faithful readers and occasional commenters

Hey everyone,

My dad just told me that he's been trying to comment and has been unsuccessful for a few days. I'm not entirely sure why that it, but I would guess that it has something to do with the new format of blogger. Bloggers know that there are major changes going on and my site has been upgraded to the Beta version which is about to go mainstream. That said, "personalities" that you may have previously commented under may have been axed in the new setup. It will require you to re-set up your commenter account. This is free, and not difficult.

1. Click on the blue link called "sign-up here"
2. Then you'll enter your e-mail address.
3. Pick a password
4. Re-enter your password
5. pick a display name
6.type in the security code (this is case sensitive)
7. accept the terms of use
8. click continue

This identity will be usable at a number of Google applications. But primarily for my blog :-)

It shouldn't require you to use a different name or password than you had before, just to re-sign-up. Try that, and let me know if it works.

--Ben

Book Reviews

Man, have I got some book reviews coming up. I just have no motivation to write them. Recently I've read Breakout Churches, In a Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day, and am still reading Velvet Elvis. (If anyone is interested in Velvet Elvis, let me know I have a small quantity of brand new books that I'll sell for $10.00. That's below amazon's new and used prices.)

I'll get to the reviews soon. Which would you like to hear about first? That may give me some motivation.

--Ben

P.S. I've noticed some of you checking out Sermon Open-Source. I'm glad, please jump in and get in on the conversation.

Last Call For New Music

At SRC we plan our singing together based on what we call the 12 song superset I think I call it that because I've always wanted to be a DJ on the radio and that would sound really cool to say. Anyway, for a number of reasons the band will on play about 12 songs in a given quarter of the year. What are the reasons?
1. We don't have a place where instruments stay setup, so rehearsal is confined to only when the instruments come off the trailer on Sunday morning. Limiting the songs insures that we are able to play them at the highest quality.
2. We like to sing the same songs over and over. For real, I think it's awesome when people can really identify with a song, and when that connection is made everyone wants to sing them over and over. Now we try not to repeat songs on back to back weeks, though sometimes it happens. The point is that when people know songs really well and fresh, they sing them louder, and that's probably a good testimony to our guests.
3. We Don't like to sing the same songs over and over. Now wait didn't we just say... Yes, here's the beauty. We sing the songs for three months, and then you won't hear that song for at least three months. We believe that music is just great, but we don't think the perfect song to express our relationship with God has been written yet. (I'm currently working on a draft of it. Just kidding.) So in tune with the Bible, we're on a constant rotation of "singing a new song to the Lord".

So where do you fit into this? We're preparing our new superset for Jan.-March. Feel free to recommend a song or 2 or 12.

Checkout the menu bar

Today I added a new feature to my blog. To the right you'll find links some familiar and one new. I've broken them up into "Places to Go" and "People to See". Places to Go are other Ben Rainey/SRC links. For instance, the Sermon Open-source link is a place where you can get into conversation with me to help with sermon preparation. For those who may not know what open-sourcing is, it's an environment for the free exchange of information like wikipedia.com. (Not occultic) It is simply an evolving encyclopedia that is open for new entries and information.

I would like to invite you to participate in the preparation of the teachings at SRC. Check it out from time to time, and any help you can offer would be much appreciated. All of us knows more than any of us.

People to see is just a list of friends or people I wish were my friend that I find inspiring. Enjoy!

--Ben

I'm loving Podcasts

Most of you know that I'm a talkhead. I love to listen to people talk. I listen to talk radio all the time. But I've found that sometimes it distracts and wastes my time. I have found a great alternative. Podcasts.

I have subsrcibed to a bunch of different pastor's podcasts, and I listen to them throughout the day. For instance I really like the podcast from www.churchleaderinsights.com . Now I'm listening to things that are much more educational and are very practical to living or Christ.

I'm loving it.

--Ben

Christmas Care Open House

Hey everyone,

The OT (operations team) met last night and what a great meeting. We are blessed to be served by a group of people who really want to honor God in our church. Janet, Doug, Christine, Matt and I are dedicated to our mission, and are working to lead all of us in living it out.

We decided that after the Christmas Care Project, we'll be meeting at Ron and Janet's for an open house Christmas celebration. I look forward to sharing the stories, and maybe pictures of the morning's service project. Begin praying now for that. We want to serve them and show them Christ.

--Ben

Yesterday

For the last several weeks I've been floating around amongst travels and distractions, but last week was great. I really felt good about the way I handled my time, and preparation for Sunday's message. And as I told everyone yesterday in church, I was really being blessed in my faith, because of the spirit of God that was there. Thanks to everyone there for making yesterday so special to me.

I really enjoyed teaching, and just thought I'd say thanks. I got to take communion yesterday for the first time as part of the ministry time yesterday because we changed some of the elements of the church. I apologized yesterday for not having figured out a way earlier, but what a blessing to participate in that. It was my own stupid fault I know, but sometimes I can be slow.

Ben

Resource Idea Needed

Hey we're doing it. Severn River Church exists to become a significant church in the greater Annapolis area, making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey God's word. Yesterday we had some ask to be baptized. YES!!!!

Now the problem. How do you baptize someone in December at a community college? Any ideas? Help me out.

--Ben

Let Down

Yesterday I had one of my most creative teachings yet at SRC. I had a number of comments on it. But alas, our recording technology didn't show. Drew was away, and Matt's car broke down in PA, so we had no recording Technology available. So I'm going to post the quasi-manuscript for you if you'd like to see it. I especially like Scene 4 title:

The Story:

Scene 1: Freak-show

Paul and Silas are being followed by a Demon Possessed Girl.

Modern Day Equivalent

Acts 16:16 - 21 (NIV) ¹⁶Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” ¹⁸She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. ¹⁹When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar ²¹by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

Was verse 20-21 just false allegations? No, They were at fault for a doctrine called “exclusivity”. That means that they were teaching that people should only worship God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Roman Empire had religious law. It was a polytheistic culture, but required in addition to whatever God you wanted to serve that you always include worship to the Emperor. Christianity is an exclusive religion. It excludes all other God’s but the one true God, and He doesn’t permit worship to any other. This gave the pimps the legal standing to have them arrested. This doctrine would cause problems for many Christians throughout the persecutions. In fact it still is affecting us today in America. We live in a pluralistic society, so everyone can believe what they want. Hurray for the USA! But our culture has become inclusive of all religions and despises the doctrine of Exclusivity. However God hasn’t changed, therefore though in Christ’s love we love everyone, Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to receive eternal life with God.

Scene 2: Arrested Development

Isn’t it interesting the role that crowds played in the Bible. It seems like crowds popped up all the time in the ancient world. Perhaps because they didn’t have transportation, they were always “around”. Just hanging out for the next Gospel Bash…I don’t know.

I love how specific it gets referring to how the Guard was instructed on how closely Paul needed to be guarded. He ends up in Maximum Security in the middle of the jail. Lock, stock and Bible. (cheese. I know)

No he didn’t have his Bible, but he started singing and most of the singing we do is scripture based, and I imagine his probably was too.

Acts 16:22 - 24 (NIV) ²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. ²³After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

I can’t imagine that it was very comfortable to be beaten till your bones hurt, and then be locked in stocks. Did you ever get locked up in the stocks at Ocean City on the boardwalk at a Bar? You know which ones I’m talking about? I loved those. I would get locked in them every time we walked the boardwalk. The difference is that I wasn’t bleeding to death, nor could the stocks really keep me there since the holes were purposefully cut extra large.

Scene 3: Rockin’ Out

Locked up, bleeding Paul and Silas have a midnight worship service and start singing hymnals…oops, I mean hymns to God. I don’t have much experience with prison, which is probably good, because I would be crying in the corner wetting myself if I was ever stuck in a cell with a guy named Tiny. Prison doesn’t seem to be a happy place. In fact if we were to start the Glee Club choir in prison when we’re the new guys, I’d be fearing for my life. But Paul and Silas start singing and “Other prisoners were listening to them.”

Then God does something awesome. Worship can do some amazing things. An earthquake shakes the prison so much that the chains fell off of the prisoners. What a miracle. But the greatest miracle as I see it is listed last when Paul shouts that all the prisoners were there. It was probably the biggest miracle to the jailor too, because he’s got his sword out, and he’s going to commit suicide. Those prisoners were his responsibility, and if they escaped his life was on the line, and his families too. I wonder if he was going to stage a death so that his family would be taken care of? I wonder if he was thinking “well, if it looks like the prisoners killed me in a prison break…”

I’m not sure, but what I know is that miracle of all miracles a bunch of convicts stayed put when there was nothing holding them there. There is something powerful about worshipping God even when everything seems hopeless.

Acts 16:25 - 28 (NIV) ²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. ²⁷The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

Scene 4: What do you do with a Dunkin’ Jailer

Wow, it’s different to think about a society with no electric lights. The incandescent friend of all of us, was nowhere to be found. This is within 90 years of the time turn to Anno Domini. Edison hadn’t shown up yet, so…

Lights, Camera, Action. The jailer comes in and comes right to Paul and Silas, and says, “what must I do to be saved?” What is the essence of this question? Is he really asking for “salvation”? Salvation is a word that Christians use to describe what happens when they receive God’s gift of eternal life. I think he’s asking how he can be saved from his supervisor, because surely someone is going to escape.

Paul answers his question though on a different level. It’s our memory verse for this week. Acts 16:21, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved – you and your household.”

Things change right then. Paul and Silas tell them about Jesus, and they get saved alright. Then he brings them out of maximum security, and right into his house and clean their wounds, and give them food. And this is the most exciting thing, They got Baptized. I think Baptism is one of the most exciting things that happens in churches. I watched a video this week of a church in D.C. that did a Baptism in the Bay. I didn’t just watch it, I watched it about 7 times on Wednesday. And I cried every time. Why did I cry, because there’s nothing more moving to me than people who choose to follow Christ, and then obey him by being baptized. It’s kind of a “No Going Back” statement, that this is for real in my life. It takes people from pretenders to contenders. They’re the real deal, they don’t just talk a good game, they walk it. See there’s nothing holy or mystical about going under the water and coming back out. It’s totally physical and emotional, and it’s about telling the whole world, that they can love you or hate you, but you’ve given your life to Christ. It’s why I sat on the couch, holding my daughter Sydney on my lap as we watched the video together for my 7^th time that day, and I watched her watch it. And I said to her, “One day, you can love Jesus with all your heart. And you can be baptized and tell Him and the whole world that you are totally His.”

That’s what happened to the jailer. Think about what happened. The jailer jailed Paul and Silas for following Christ exclusively. Now the jailer has decided to break the law as well. Wow!

Acts 16:29 - 34 (NIV) ²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” ³²Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

Scene 5: Peace Out.

The next morning they decide to release them, so they get to go. In Peace. Paul requires that he be excorted out because they were unjustly beaten. He was a roman citizen and they had a different set of laws than the other people Rome had conquered. The magistrates actually come and escort them out so that they can travel out of the city safely. Probably because those guys who had their demon girl exorcised were waiting to enact vigilante justice on them. They go back to the church plant. They say good bye, and off they go.

Acts 16:35 - 36 (NIV) ³⁵When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” ³⁶The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”

Memory Verse: Acts 16:21, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved – you and your household.”

Historic Decision

There are a number of ways to look at numbers. In fact, I think that it's crazy when Arithmeticians don't, and they use formulas made up entirely of letters and signs...weird. Have you ever seen "Numbers" on CBS. Kinda cool in a hokie, my dad likes the show, way.

Anyway, this week the Oversight board of Severn River Church approved the lived out action to the message that I preached 3 weeks ago. "You Can't Out-give God." Check out the sermons page under multimedia and click to listen Heroes Part 4 (either or both of them.)

We stated in our founding documents that we wanted to give a tenth of our undesignated giving away to support missions in local and international ways. It is a step of faith, but ultimately, I believe, it positions us to receive the blessing of God. Because here's the deal, whether it's your personal tithe or our corporate tithe. Tithing is the blessing. We don't give a tenth so that we can get more money, stuff, happiness, etc. The tithe is the blessing, it's a blessing to give God our faith, and find that we can do more with 90% than we could with 100%.

It's not easy or flippant. As we looked at the financial reports on Tuesday, we saw some good things happening in a two month window. But there is a huge difference ahead of us between budgeted expenses and expected income. Our Partners have been very faithful in their help and support. SRC is doing well as its members are giving over projected income each month. But there is a significant portion of our expenses that still have no income stream to feed them. It would be easy to just hold that tenth for ourselves. To believe that we could do more with 100% than with 90%. But in my own life and in so many that I know we've found that trust and faith is blessing.

Part of trust and faith is prayer, so I'll ask you to keep praying that God will open up other partners to help us, and as you do enjoy the blessing.

--Ben

Severn Man vs. Magothy Man

Podcast anyone?

I was wondering if any of my readers ever downloads a podcast? Anyone? Anyone? I just subscribed to several for the first time.

If you don't know what this is, I can explain it in another post. I am assuming that everyone does.

--Ben

Up late...

Tonight was very enjoyable. I have been pretty busy lately. Tonight we just got to chill at the house. Corie fixed a great Buffalo Chicken Salad, and we ate as a family around our table. I love it. Sydney is just so cute. It makes me laugh thinking about it. She's in a chubby face stage right now, so that when she flashes her drama queen smile it is exponentially cute. Your getting fresh information, and don't say you heard it from me, but our next series is going to take us into the book of Matthew. I can't wait. I got a jump on it this evening, because my wife went to bed at 8:00. What a great night, hope you sleep well, and check the posts below, because I think I posted three times today. So much to say. I feel like I have to spread them out so people will see them.

--Ben

Message Help

Scene 1: Freak-show

Paul and Silas are being followed by a Demon Possessed Girl.

What would be a modern day equivalent. Obviously people can be demon-possessed, but I’m thinking more about the economic outcome. The reason that this caused problems for Paul and Silas is that it cut the gravy train for the girls pimps. What would be modern day equivalent? Can you help with your thoughts?

Acts 16:16 - 21 (NIV) ¹⁶Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” ¹⁸She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. ¹⁹When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar ²¹by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”

San Diego...The Rest of the Story

Corie and I flew out on Wednesday, and the "delay" in Vegas, then on to San Diego, where we got our rental car and headed for a drive downtown. What a lovely place. We headed over to the zoo, but there wouldn't have been enough time, so we headed over to Coranado "island" (actually a peninsula) and drove up to the beach, and put our toes in the cold water. (Did you know the Pacific is always cold there because the currents come down from Alaska? I didn't.)

Then off to our hotel, checked in and headed to Corie's favorite restaurant "The Cheesecake Factory". We ate outside that night and it was very nice. I made up a jingle for the restaurant, but it was full of enough cheese to make a cheesecake so I'll spare you the details.

Thursday a.m. we went to the Zoo and spent about 3 hours. It was great, I heartily recommend it. But make a day of it, and take your time.

Thursday afternoon we went to the first of 9 sessions. It was very good 3 of the sessions were conducted with 3 speakers who would share the time to talk about their stories. The first one included Mark Batterson, Lee McFarland, and Scott Bruegman. Very good and inspiring session. It was followed up with a Q and A time. I found all of these sessions to be good. I would have liked to give the keynote sessions to them for expanded opportunity to share stories and field questions from the audience.

The three sessions were called affinity groups. There was one for young leaders (for me), one for planting in the inner city, and one for Churches looking to mother.

My affinity group was really good 1 out of 3, pretty good 1 out of 3 and didn't connect the other time. BUT! The resources in the really good session were really worth the whole trip. Thanks to Scott for sharing those things. Wow.

The Keynote speaker was David Garrison, a Southern Baptist missiologist. He was rather boring, and not inspirational, but I felt he deserved some grace because he was 12 hours opposite from our time. He is currently a missionary to India. I bought his book, because I wanted to learn more about Church Planting Movements. (I'll do a book review as soon as I'm finished.)

We flew out on Saturday morning, a quick hop to Phoenix and then back to Baltimore. Apparently nothing fell apart while I was gone, our church had an increase in attendance up to 31. They must have heard that Matt was preaching...

--Ben

We're Back

Hey everyone,

I'm back from San Diego now. Corie and I had a great time. We did not get to Lego land, but the Casa De Reyes was fantastic. Wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone. It is a little hard to find though.

San Diego is beautiful. It is a treasure for our nation. We went to the SD zoo, and that was very enjoyable. I recommend that as well.

We got delayed in Vegas for a couple extra hours on the way out there, which really fouled up our plans. I told Corie that it wouldn't suprise me if every flight layover in Vegas got "delayed" as a scam to get your money. There are slot parlors on every pier.

The conference was good about 3 out of 9 sessions felt worthwhile, but they made the whole trip worth it.

More to come....

Ben