Month: January 2008

Posted on

1 corinthians 11:17-34

the second message in the “robert terrell winter preaching tour” happens this coming sunday at fellowship baptist church in waupaca. this is our sponsoring church (i.e. the entity that makes it possible for us to be tax-deductible and get insurance) and therefore it would be nice to do a good job. it’s not like i ever really want to bomb in front of a group. after all this is GOD’s word that is being dealt with and therefore it should be life changing anytime we dig into it. still on a personal side i would like to do a really good job when it comes to the church that is sponsoring tapestry (i would hate to leave with them thinking “what type of reject have we sponsored?). since, i desire to do i good job i’ve turned to my second best resource … you (obviously the first is the HOLY SPIRIT and we’ve talked already and continue to).

if any of you are interested in reading the passage that i will be dealing with and then sending me any thoughts you have i will gladly steal all the credit from your great input. 🙂 actually, as i have said before i have always tried to bounce passages and ideas off a group of people i trust. sometimes theirideas are amazing and sometimes just the act of asking someone questions helps me out a ton. i have pam and she is one of the best exegetes i have ever been around but i’m also hoping to expand the group a little. so if anybody is interested the passage is 1 corinthians 11:17-34.i would love to steal … i mean use your thoughts.

a couple of you did this last time and i was very thankful for your thoughts.

Posted on

the shack

one of my weaknesses is that i typically will refuse to look into something that is getting a ton of hype. for example, i will often refuse to read a modern book when i hear every body and their moma talking about how that book is the greatest book around and should be read by everyone. i know it’s a stupid reason not read something that might actually be good but it’s a weakness of mine. i recognize it and i’m working on it.

of course, i’m still working on it and therefore i have ignored the book “the shack.” apparently it is all the rage within CHRISTian circles now. according to one friend (hi drew) it has even been called the “pilgrim’s progress” of our time (of course, drew feels similar to i on this and he made the great observation that john bunyan didn’t have a marketing machine behind “pilgrim’s progress” while “the shack” has a full court press of marketing telling us how life changing it is). it’s really pretty sad because several people that i know, love, and respect have highly recommended the book to me. one of my friends, who i think the world of, even went so far as to give me a copy of it.

still i’m shallow enough to let me desire to buck the system keep me from reading the book. i have at least put the book in my pile of books that i have committed to be read in the near future. it’s probably about eighth on that list right now.

has anyone else read this book?

Posted on

woohoo!

since tapestry does not formally (i.e. legally) exist yet we don’t have members (it’s kind of hard to have members in something that doesn’t yet exist) but as of today we have our first person joining us on the journey whose last name is terrell. i’ve been meeting people for the past four months, talking and listening with people concerning what they believe the bride of CHRIST (the church) is supposed to be like, and sharing with them what i feel called to do. a couple of weeks ago i asked a few people to pray about joining us on the journey. today the first one said “yes.”

woohoo!

there are a couple of other people who are thinking and praying over things at the moment and a bunch more that i am continuing to talk with. within the next three weeks pam and i are going to start meeting with, eating with, praying with, reading the acts of the apostles with, and discussing with a group of people who will hopefully commit to joining with us on starting the church that we believe GOD has called us to start. we’ll do this on sunday nights for 5-6 weeks and then start taking our next steps.

SIDE NOTE – at present the terrell family is living through its first classified blizzard ever. the wind chill outside is presently -25º and is supposed to reach as low as -45º tomorrow. thankfully i’m inside.

Posted on

i like these days better

some days i get pretty disheartened about how we’re going to start tapestry. some days i spend all day praying and trying to meet someone new who might be the next person that GOD leads my way that will help or join in starting the church. some days i spend all day trying to explain what it is that i believe GOD is leading our group to do only to look at them stare blankly back at me or even worse say something like “you’re kidding, right?” some days i spend all day doing stuff that doesn’t seem to matter at all and i am left sitting in the evening wondering how we’ll even get the church started when i am able to get so little done. some days it’s so cold outside that it’s impossible for me to meet anyone and share what i believe GOD is going to do because everyone is trying to stay home where it’s warm. some days it seems like i’m not cut out to help plant a church and i was wrong in thinking that GOD wanted me to.

of course, today was not one of those days. in fact, today was the exact opposite of one of those days. today was about as good as it could possibly get and if i have four more of these days tapestry will be planted and healthy by saturday. it was a great day.

i like days like “today” a ton better than days like “some days.”

SIDE NOTE – don’t worry mom i’m not depressed thankfully there aren’t very many “some days.” of course, there aren’t a ton of “todays” either. most days are just normal.

Posted on

otherwise my mom will think i'm depressed

luke 14 - jan 24, 2008 #24/366
first, i have to post something (anything) because when i don’t post something every day my mom begins to worry that i am depressed. i’m not sure why she doesn’t think that i might be busy (other than the fact that she doesn’t actually think i do anything – insert smile here because it’s an inside joke with my mom and dad). all i know for sure is that just like she worries about the weather, and calls to give us reports before a storm comes to our area, so she also worries about me falling into depression when i don’t post something on this blog. so there i’ve posted something. of course, none of this really matters since my mother is on a cruise at the moment and won’t see this for another day or two. still it’s the thought that counts.

second, snow blowers are one of the greatest inventions of mankind. 20 minutes ago i used one of my neighbor’s to do our driveway and it was amazing. once snow season is over, and used snow blowers are once again available, i am definitely going to have to get me one of those things. it easily beats using a snow shovel.

third, i’m about to start the “robert terrell winter preaching tour” by preaching at three different spots in the next three weeks. in baton rouge i would pick people’s ears concerning the passage i was dealing with. basically i would ask them to read the passage and then throw out any thoughts they had on the passage. i loved hearing what people everyone would say about the scripture mainly because someone almost always said something that pushed me in a direction i would have never thought of on my own. i know a couple of people in the first group and nobody in any of the other groups and thus i don’t really have anybody within them to bounce ideas off of. i was wondering if some of you would be interested in being my “bouncers?” all you have to do is read the passage along with the scripture immediately around it and send me your thoughts. you can either post them here or email them to me. my email address is my name @gmail.com.

the passage for next week is the parable of the great banquet found in luke 14.

Posted on

signage

i have to say that i can’t stand the word “signage.” i know it’s the term that a lot of buildings use for describing all the signs that you put up so people know where to go and such, but it really sounds stupid to me.

with that out in the open i was wondering if anyone knew the company that is usually at the national youth workers convention producing portable signs and displays? the last nywc i went to was the 2004 “wide open” conference so i am merely assume they are still around. i need to start pricing some displays for the church and i don’t know who can make the necessary stuff.

Posted on

winter wonderland

more snow - #21/366 Jan 21, 2008
my family and i live in a postcard. we’re getting another 5-6″ of snow today & tonight. it’s absolutely gorgeous. when we moved up to central wisconsin from southern louisiana we had a large number of people around here question why we would want to move from a warm area to a land that has such harsh winters. i could see where the snow might get a little old in april but right now it’s amazing. when i walk or run i find myself staring in a amazement at how pretty the area is that GOD has moved us to. a little cold is well worth putting up with in order to live in such a beautiful area.

Posted on

packer depression

so the miracle season ended last night. it was a lot of fun around here while it lasted. the funny thing has been listening to the radio shows around central wisconsin as they talk about the feelings of depression that people are experiencing because of the packers’ loss last night. i heard one guy on the radio say that during his two hour drive home from the game last night he decided that it would be best to lie to his kids and talk about how great the game and season was instead of admitting his depression to his kids and pulling them down.

huh?

i watched the game last night when my kids and wife. while, i do wish the pack could have pulled it out, the evening was still great fun. we shouted at the television, we cheered when the right things happened, and jeered when the right things didn’t happen. it was a great evening.

besides that, the chicago bears sucked so it really was a pretty good football season. 🙂