$37.46 is enough for a family of four at Red Robin, but just barely covers an entree at Mickey and Mooch.
$37.46 spots you a few decent tickets at the Bobcats game, but don't plan on it covering your parking and certainly not 2 hot dogs all the way and a coke.
$37.46 would be enough to handle three of my haircuts, but won't style my wife's curls. (Now to be fair here, she would counter with, "I only get one haircut for your three!" Point taken.)
But for one boy, $37.26 meant far more than a night on the town or a couple of caramel macchiatos with an extra shots of espresso.
While sitting in my office this week (that would be the back table at Cafe Mia) a boy who still loves bionicles and doesn't mind when ice cream slips down his chin approached my "desk." He carried a plastic ziplock bag full of every kind of coin and a wad of bills. Sheepishly he looked up at me, dropped the bag in my hand and said simply, "Pastor Brian, this is for the church."
Let's face it, in surburbia, we sneeze and $37.46 flies out of our pockets. It doesn't go very far. That's one tank of gas, one trip to Target, and one family's movie night.
As I wipe away the tears, I can't help but think of another little boy who brought a bag to the disciples. It was all he had, but they probably thought, "2 loaves and 5 fishes - that's won't go far beyond my stomach." Yet in Jesus' hands a sack lunch fed thousands.
Why does $37.46 matter? Because with it Renaissance Bible Church started her ministry. That little bag was our first tithe. We'll never know the little boy's name back in John 6:9 and we won't make it a practice to list someone's name by their contributions, but I can't wait to see what Jesus' does with Nate's ziplock bag.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
So this is a blog!
O Pioneers,
Wow, John Karant set me up on a blog - you know, the trend that has swept across the world that probably none of us do. We'll see if it sticks! It's actually a cool way to communicate and check in on what is happening with the church or just muse on various and sundry items.
For those of you Renaissance folks, here are some updates:
1. We had a great meeting this morning with what we are now calling the "Advance Team." I realized that "Advisory Team" just didn't fit because we will be getting advice from everyone on our launch team. You all have a ton to offer and we will take advantage of it. I'm reading a great book on WWI right now that highlghted General "BlackJack" Pershing's advance team that had to go over to France first to prepare the way for the hundreds of thousands of troops that were on their way. This team was responsible for building the vast infrastructure for the army to come. In the same way, this small team will be heading up all of us as we seek to build the infrastructure of this church. If you haven't already, you will be getting calls or emails about your vital role as we get ready for launch. The team consists of:Brian Goins, Don Meredith, Lee Francis, Jeremy Davidson, Dale Fite, Dave Burns, Todd Knepper, Jan Francis, and John Karant.
2. We will be opening a bank account today or tomorrow and will get the information out to you post haste so those checks can start rolling in. We will set up online banking so you will be able to send it over the internet as well.
3. Cox Mill Elementary is our #1 option as far as a meeting place is concerned. We will update you as soon as we hear the final affirmation, but right now plan on Sunday afternoons at around 4ish. Sunday mornings are booked right now and we thought it would be great to have our Bible Study and then all eat together for dinner - again just following our Acts 2:42 principle.
4. UNC got beat last night by Va Tech at home. I'm bitter, but at least we beat Duke last week.
Love you guys,
Brian
Wow, John Karant set me up on a blog - you know, the trend that has swept across the world that probably none of us do. We'll see if it sticks! It's actually a cool way to communicate and check in on what is happening with the church or just muse on various and sundry items.
For those of you Renaissance folks, here are some updates:
1. We had a great meeting this morning with what we are now calling the "Advance Team." I realized that "Advisory Team" just didn't fit because we will be getting advice from everyone on our launch team. You all have a ton to offer and we will take advantage of it. I'm reading a great book on WWI right now that highlghted General "BlackJack" Pershing's advance team that had to go over to France first to prepare the way for the hundreds of thousands of troops that were on their way. This team was responsible for building the vast infrastructure for the army to come. In the same way, this small team will be heading up all of us as we seek to build the infrastructure of this church. If you haven't already, you will be getting calls or emails about your vital role as we get ready for launch. The team consists of:Brian Goins, Don Meredith, Lee Francis, Jeremy Davidson, Dale Fite, Dave Burns, Todd Knepper, Jan Francis, and John Karant.
2. We will be opening a bank account today or tomorrow and will get the information out to you post haste so those checks can start rolling in. We will set up online banking so you will be able to send it over the internet as well.
3. Cox Mill Elementary is our #1 option as far as a meeting place is concerned. We will update you as soon as we hear the final affirmation, but right now plan on Sunday afternoons at around 4ish. Sunday mornings are booked right now and we thought it would be great to have our Bible Study and then all eat together for dinner - again just following our Acts 2:42 principle.
4. UNC got beat last night by Va Tech at home. I'm bitter, but at least we beat Duke last week.
Love you guys,
Brian
O Pioneers
February 13, 2007
That's also the title of a great book by Willa Cather just in case you are
interested. I wanted to give you all an update on the state of Renaissance
this week.
- The women are going to throw down some power tonight as they gather to pray at Jan and Lee Francis' house at 7 pm.
- The Advance team will be meeting tomorrow to discuss the nuts and bolts of putting the foundation underneath this church. Soon we all will be finding a place to help out, whether it be organizing the kids ministry to preparing our missions program to help with payroll, we'll all be finding our spot on the wall (to borrow a theme from Nehemiah).
- I just talked through the articles of incorporation with Don this afternoon and so we should have our account set up by tomorrow - so we can start sending in those tithe checks!
- Our hope is to start meeting weekly on Sunday, February 25th for a Bible Study. Morning or evening will depend on the place we can meet.
A few things to be praying for:
1. A place to meet on a weekly basis. We are praying for a spot that we can meet on Sunday morning. However we may only have a spot on Sunday nights. For now Cox Mill Road is open, but we are evaluating other options as well. Highland Creek elementary is a no as well as Odel School Rd.
2. Pray that we will all be flexible and maintain a sensitivity to the Spirit in the early days of this church. Our goal is to build a solid foundation, but foundation work is not always easy or comfortable. Pray that we can be gracious towards each other and believe the best when things don't go as expected.
3. If you think about it, pray that our house would sell in the next month. And we have put a bid on a foreclosure that we really like in Highland Creek - we hopefully will hear back in the next day or two whether or not we got it.
4. Pray for Taylor Gibbs (leukemia) and his parents as they go through this trial.
5. Pray for our friends Christian and Susan Werner as they are planning on having a baby this week.
6. Pray for Brent and Nicole Vickers and their daughter, Ashton who is now at home and doing well.
If you haven't already, pull out Acts 2:42-47 sometime this week. Notice
what the early church focused on - and should still be a model for us today.
While the methods might change, our pursuit of teaching, fellowship, eating
together (it's in there!), and praying should be a hallmark of every church.
When you see the words, "Devoted themselves" in 42, that word devoted
connotes "a fierce dedication." They were fiercely dedicated to building the
early church through these means.
Look forward to all that God has done and is about to do.
In Him,
Brian
That's also the title of a great book by Willa Cather just in case you are
interested. I wanted to give you all an update on the state of Renaissance
this week.
- The women are going to throw down some power tonight as they gather to pray at Jan and Lee Francis' house at 7 pm.
- The Advance team will be meeting tomorrow to discuss the nuts and bolts of putting the foundation underneath this church. Soon we all will be finding a place to help out, whether it be organizing the kids ministry to preparing our missions program to help with payroll, we'll all be finding our spot on the wall (to borrow a theme from Nehemiah).
- I just talked through the articles of incorporation with Don this afternoon and so we should have our account set up by tomorrow - so we can start sending in those tithe checks!
- Our hope is to start meeting weekly on Sunday, February 25th for a Bible Study. Morning or evening will depend on the place we can meet.
A few things to be praying for:
1. A place to meet on a weekly basis. We are praying for a spot that we can meet on Sunday morning. However we may only have a spot on Sunday nights. For now Cox Mill Road is open, but we are evaluating other options as well. Highland Creek elementary is a no as well as Odel School Rd.
2. Pray that we will all be flexible and maintain a sensitivity to the Spirit in the early days of this church. Our goal is to build a solid foundation, but foundation work is not always easy or comfortable. Pray that we can be gracious towards each other and believe the best when things don't go as expected.
3. If you think about it, pray that our house would sell in the next month. And we have put a bid on a foreclosure that we really like in Highland Creek - we hopefully will hear back in the next day or two whether or not we got it.
4. Pray for Taylor Gibbs (leukemia) and his parents as they go through this trial.
5. Pray for our friends Christian and Susan Werner as they are planning on having a baby this week.
6. Pray for Brent and Nicole Vickers and their daughter, Ashton who is now at home and doing well.
If you haven't already, pull out Acts 2:42-47 sometime this week. Notice
what the early church focused on - and should still be a model for us today.
While the methods might change, our pursuit of teaching, fellowship, eating
together (it's in there!), and praying should be a hallmark of every church.
When you see the words, "Devoted themselves" in 42, that word devoted
connotes "a fierce dedication." They were fiercely dedicated to building the
early church through these means.
Look forward to all that God has done and is about to do.
In Him,
Brian
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