paper work....

Sometimes we get bogged down by all the paper work. It seems like there is a little excitement about something that is going on at work and the buzz is alive and everyone gets excited about it and then the heavy lifting kicks in and tons of paper work starts needing to be filled out and all of the sudden what once was excitement turns into frustration, despair, and frankly "work". What happened to the passion and excitement that once was? What happened to the reason that we fell in love with it in the first place? Did life happen? Did time happen? Or was it a lack of remembrance?

We see this kind of thing happen in work, relationships (marriages), involvement in church, spending time with God, etc.... I wonder if it is a part of every human being's make-up? (And yes even the guys who don't wear make-up)

We find this kind of problem in the Bible all over the place, from the Church in Ephesus in Revelation who lost their first love to all the many times that God's people rebelled and chose a different path than what God was carving out for them.

Have you lost your first love? When as the last time you loved what you were doing right before reading this blog and what you will do right after it? When was the last time you loved waking up on the first day you had to go back to work?

Well, in a way the honeymoon has been over for a while now with The Waters. The excitement is not as glowing from everyone I talk to, but people still say they are excited, and then add a "but" after that statement. And to tell you the truth, even if we all know fully that this was going to be a long term commitment and it would not be easy, it is still bogging down sometimes, and so that is why I constantly am reminding people to make sure that serving God in The Waters is fun!

WARNING AHEAD:

If reading this blog becomes an obligation, or serving God in The Waters ever becomes something you have to do instead of get to do, or if helping with this ministry stops being "fun", then let’s talk.

I (and Jesus for that matter) never said it would be easy, but even the junk times of it can be survived as long as we remember that God is with us and we remember the reason why we were excited in the first place.

We need to remember the anticipation and excitement that it is to serve and give!

Ma, I love you, and this amazing experiment of ministry! It is already transforming lives as you read this and that is exciting...and tons of fun! :)

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Yesterday I met with Bryan (my "coach" for The Waters) I have known Bryan for several years and he is a great friend and accountability partner, and he works with several other wonderful people @ Spiritual Leadership. They are helping several United Methodist Conferences all over the US and coaching not only the Bishops and District Superintendents, but also pastors and congregations as well. Bryan has agreed to come aboard and coach me in leadership’s roles and also come alongside the possible future OG discussion leaders and help us form a core leadership team for The Waters. Yesterday we met and talked about "the paper work". Heh.... even though I have never been the type of person who enjoys paper work or even typing anything. I am actually excited about dog this because what I will be doing is helping me become better organized and focused about who we are becoming and the direction God is leading me to lead others! So this is exciting times to be doing the heavy lifting. They say the hardest part is just starting and it should either start rolling or at the very least move one rock out of the way to prepare for the roll, heh heh.

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The website guys @ Design District have told me they will have several logos up and ready for us to give them our idea of what we like best and once that is done then we ca go from there and get a better idea about The Waters' website! So that will be very exciting. And I will let you all know about that as soon as I know.

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I have been invited to be a part of another blog that is all about the emerging discussion in worship in the United Methodist Church as a whole. And I must tell you...it has been a wonderful way to discuss what we are doing and getting a wonderful Biblical viewpoint of what we are looking at and doing. These are really amazing discussions and everyone is getting excited about what God is doing differently and re-shaping how we worship God! It really does consume a lot of my time thinking about and dreaming about The Waters and its place in universal church's traditions and the Biblical theology of it as well! Of course we thought about these things, but I hope the discussion never stops and we continue to form and be shaped by God's moving among us!

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It is my hope that I can spend more time developing relationships with those who are tribe less. As I do my paper work. (Ma, I wish I had a laptop) It is funny how Tiffany and I were talking about how we really do not like the terms that people have come up with for non-Christ followers. They either build up an "us/them" (i.e. "seeker", pre-Christian, etc...) mentality that really could hurt the possibility of developing a relationship with "them", or they are negative in nature (i.e. "non", "not", "un", etc...). I did like Jim Henderson's phrase, "people Jesus misses most", but that is just too long to say in conversation.

So, I asked Bryan yesterday and he loved what Leonard Sweet calls "non- Christ followers"........."Normal". Ha HA HA....oh man I love that and think it is right on! It not only pokes fun at the lie that Christians are perfect; it also is never looking down at people who are different that Christians. It is a very good term to use in conversation with normal people and can help open up the dialogue of discussion where relationships can form and love, hope, grace, and community can be experienced!

So, therefore, I will intentionally attempt to start using this term "normal" when talking about anyone that is other than "Christian". This is making me desire to read Leonard Sweet's stuff.

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Also, we are going to have our second Organic Gathering made up of those interested in possibly becoming OG Discussion leaders on the 11th! We will have our "party" as breakfast and then start into the 8 week commitment, and then we will invite Bryan to come in and grow us even deeper in community and leaders, and help us form what could possibly be a core team of supporters and lovers of The Waters!

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Well, a lot is going on @ The Waters! Our first OG had its fist of the 8 week gatherings and the discussion is still going from last Friday online! This discussion is exactly what we desired to happen in the lives of those joining the gatherings, so it is very exciting to be a part of The Waters!

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Also, Gary and I were interviewed by the Cinci Enquirer to possibly do a story about Florence UMC and The Waters. And the reporter said that she might stop by our Friday night OG to take some pictures and interview a few of us! It is good and exciting and I hope that the reporter has fun as well! The only thing is that for these to be organic that we really desire for her to not print where we meet, even though several people might recognize the place, of well, it sounds funny to tell a newspaper to not give us free advertising, but for each of these gatherings to be organic and natural when it comes to relationships, it just would not work...but I am sure we can develop some in a quick time, heh....Thanks be!

So until next weeks update...God bless yall, take care, and KUTPs!
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The Book: Vogons. They are one of the most unpleasant races in the galaxy. Not actually evil, but bad-tempered, bureaucratic, officious, and callous. They wouldn't even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the ravenous Bug-Blatter Beast of Traal without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, lost, found again, queried, subjected to public inquiry, lost and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighter.
--The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This is a quote that was talking about a race of people that were the galaxy's government, poking fun at anyone who is in government...but sometimes it is so true of anything that is polity oriented, or sometimes just paper work. ha ha ha.

What-up my OG?

set- 1 word with 50 different meanings!

Isn't it funny how important language is? It ultimately boils down to communication, but I surprise myself all the time, as of late to how important it has become to me. I find myself sitting down and actually thinking about what to call things and how it could be interrupted. And yes, I know from how I speak most people would not have ever thought that I actually thought about what comes out of my mouth, heh...but communication and meaning are so very important to how perception is developed in this world. That is why it takes businesses and movie executives years to come up with a name that they think will best communicate the intended perception of what they are developing.

Well, 2 weeks ago I was sitting with my Thursday Cultural Architects discussion group (btw I just did the whole think about what words I should use, heh) and was sharing with him about the vision for The Waters. And he mentioned to me that there was a woman in or around Seattle, WA that is doing something similar to The Waters and that she does something interesting with her use of words when it comes to describing who they are. When she talks to Christians or church attending people she uses different words to explain what she is doing and being and then to non-Christians she has a different language. My fellow Cultural Architect Aaron then told me that he wondered if I might need to do the same with The Waters. I then started to run down the road of word meanings and how important it was to everyone when perceiving The Waters.

In a perfect world it would be great to come up with words that could be understood and perceived by both Christians and non-Christians alike. And to tel you the truth, I believe that it is a sad state that non-Christians in the world would not understand the words and language of most Christians. I think that is a sad state of affairs that the church has lost so much contact with the world (that it should be developing relationships with) that it has a difficult time talk to the very world that it should be listening to and loving, and communicating with.

So, I invite everyone who reads this blog and knows about the Waters to join the word/meaning discussion. What do you think The Waters is trying to "be"? Do you think that you can explain it to your Christian friends or what about for your non-Christian friends? Would we use different words for explanation in the south than we would in the north, or west and east? Or are you a little like me and believe that there is power in mystery when it comes to words, because mystery causes discussion and with discussion comes relationship?

Something to ponder and I invite all of you to comment your thoughts about it all. Thanks!

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Well, This Friday will be the start of the first 8 week commitment from the first OG (Organic Gathering). We are all very excited about how it will go and hope that the community will continue to grow in relationship and maybe find a few new insights into what this book called The Bible (specifically the writer called John) is saying about the guy called Jesus and his miraculous signs. So needless to say, we might all be turned into wine after tonight (ha ha get it...The Waters into wine, ha ha...Ok sorry I had to say it even if it was a bad pun)

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Also soon I will be meeting with two of the wonderful people who have mentioned that they are interested in opening up their houses to a few parties in the summer, so please be in prayer for them. It is amazing how busy the "church" makes so many people that when we ask them to throw a party that they get stressed about how it will happen and forget to have fun serving God....(what serving God is supposed to be fun? your kidding right? nope...as a matter of fact the one requirement of all of The Waters is that the parties in their planning and implementation must be fun...if it stops being fun...then a reminder will have to be made or the pause button will be pressed, heh heh)

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Lastly please be in prayer for the people who are a part of Florence United Methodist Church who are supporting The Waters. From the praying people to the cooks, life seems to be forcing a lot of people to shove The Waters into the stress pot called life, and the last thing God desires is for a ministry for him to be another stress in people’s life. "Free us for joyful obedience" is what UM's say in communion, and that is exactly what we desire for The Waters to be joyful serving God in all that we are and do. So, please keep us all in your prayers!

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Your love and prayers matter to us and that is why we pray for anyone who reads this blog to be blessed as well, so go live your life today at the very least knowing that we are praying blessings on you, so that you in turn can be blessings to others!

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Donald Sinclair: I can do whatever I want. I'm eccentric. Grrrrrrrr!!!
-Rat Race

I love this movie and that quote is so short, but tons of meaning and "perception". heh.

The first mission project of The Waters.....

We all have said from the very first time we were conceiving The Waters that we desired for lives to be transformed from the inside out. We believe that for this to occur then we must live al parts of our lives Christ-like. So, even through we meet together and share about God and with God and with each other if our actions are not changed then we have not truly allowed God to transform our lives. So, that is why we desire for actually living sacrifice filed lives to occur we must have many opportunities to be the hands and feet of Christ in this world we live in! So, we will encourage every OG (Organic Gathering) to every now and then go out and "do" something for others in this world to put our Christ centered community into action.

Well, in our first OG, Steve works at a MHMR center on the north side of Cinci. They had a Valentine Day dance and Steve and his wife Kim invited all of us to go to the dance! Whither they knew it or not God offered up our first OG mission trip, heh.

We knew that some couples and other people from the OG could not make it...but those of us who could make it ate dinner @ John and Sylvia's home (thank you so much Sylvia and John) and then headed out for one of the best nights of our lives! We had a blast and I must tell you that God was in our midst! There is nothing quite like loving people who in their very nature is love! They are a people that our society tends to shun and ignore because they are different and time consuming to deal with....but this world could learn so much about Godly love if they would just spend some time dancing with them in their lives!

Needless to say, just like any God inspired mission trip, we were blessed more than we blessed them! So much joy and love in one room! It rocked our socks off!

If anyone would like to see some pictures of the dance then you can find them at my personal blog here.

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Well, next weekend the 1st OG will not meet because of the long weekend most of us will be out of town so we will be starting our 8 week commitment the following Friday (the 24th). The core pastoral team is excited to see if all the hard work we have put into developing the Biblical discussions will be effective at bringing able life transformation from the Word and community! So, start your prayer engines now!

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We have also set the 2nd OG breakfast party to be on Saturday morning March 11th. This OG is made up of people who have said that they are interested in being possible OG leaders somewhere down the road. This OG ideally will be the future core leadership team of The Waters network, but for now we will go through the exact same 8 week commitment that the 1st OG will be doing. Just so they get a feel of the OG and will have already gone through he first 8 weeks so if/when they lead their own OG they will have already experienced it and know a little bit about what is happening and help with discussion.

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I had another phone meeting with the web guys and they are doing a great job at keeping me on track. I am the type of guy that loves to talk about creativity and cool design..and while they are that way too...they are also telling me that they need content and it is holding me accountable to make sure that The Waters can truly be represented via our web presence in words on the screen. And me being a vocal guy putting anything on paper that reads well and is speeelled correctly is a challenge....as if any of you who actually read these blogs don't already know that. I truly believe that Paul and I would get along great, because we have no idea what a run on sentence looks like nor do we care, because we are so excited and passionate about what we are talking about that grammar goes out the window....heh heh....oh well thank you all for your patience and care...and for all of you will be proof reading the website stuff, heh....

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I am also continuing my work with the KY UMC Conference NCCD (New Church congregational Development team) As I have told you all before that I am part of an incubator team made up of other pastor who are excited about bringing new churches/ministries into the KY Conference and we are working through our Ministry Action Plans (MAPs) In each MAP it includes a plan for developing anew church/ ministry including things like prayer strategy, core values, mission, vision, etc... all of these will help focus The Waters and help provide content for the website as well as help others to grasp The Waters and invite them to be a part of it!

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Well, that is about all I can think about right now. I appreciate any prayers you send on our behalf, and please know that they are all being answered in God's time and God's way! We are so blessed to be a blessing! Thank you!

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Pumbaa: It's our motto.
Young Simba: What's a motto?
Timon: Nothing. What's a motto with you?
-- The Lion King

funny this is how I feel when it comes to working with a group when they are trying to come up with a mission/vision/core values statement, heh.... What is in a mission Statement? Who are we writing this for? What words should we use? What's a motto with you? heh heh....

Cold weather forces warm community...

I just ran outside this morning and man it was cold...and it looks to be even colder on Thursday morning. And as I ran this morning I noted that the only way that I would have ever come out of my bed early and drive to a track and run in the morning in 27 degree weather would be because I had a community that would meet me there. If John and Brian would not have been there to meet me I would not have gotten out there...I know myself well enough to know that this would be the case...and honestly I think that that is true of a lot of people in this world. When life gets a little cold..Sometimes the best thing in the world is a nice big warm cup of steaming community! That is exactly what we desire for The Waters to be in the lives of people! A Christ centered community that helps when life gets cold and hard, we surround each other in true community and grow warm together and constantly be inviting others into the community gatherings.

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The Waters update is not huge...but we do have a few changes in our immediate future:

1. Roseanna is having a few life difficulties during this part of the year, so she has graciously let me know that she will not be as available to coordinate the parties. So please be praying for her... she has done so much work already for the Waters and we can not ever express our appreciation and love for what she has already done for God and his Waters.) Roseanna if you read this we love you and thank you sooooo much for all your help and you and yours are all in our prayers and love!)

2. I plan on meeting with two of the host home owners sometime soon to finalize a few dates and brainstorm or pick a few party themes...so that is going great!

3. We are hoping that once people experience the fun and ease of the parties that others will start to desire to throw a few more so please be in prayer about that.

4. It is slowly becoming our goal to be able to start the 8 week commitment with each organic gathering in August...and in a perfect world we could have 4-5 OGs meeting on a regular weekly basis sometime around August...because it just seems natural as summer is drawing to a close and lives are starting to settle down that it would make sense for families to set up a weekly OG to be a part of and get it down in their calendars.

5. The OG that is currently meeting will start our 8 week weekly gathering Jan. 24th...so we would love prayer for that amazing time of God's love and grace to see The Waters begin to flow at least in one OG for the time being!!!!

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So, with all that said......we are so blessed to be a part of The Waters and sing praises each day for the blessings God showers upon us!

I have met with the Website guys, and they have already started designing a "logo" and begun the work for the website...we are looking at lots of cool websites for inspiration and here are just a few of them if you would like to play around on them and see how other people have designed a few websites that are functional and cool at the same time:
Interone
8 The Project
Vodafone <--my mom would love this one and to think this is a cell phone site in the UK, heh. Digitally Branded
Jars of Clay
Pixel Gasoline

just to name a few....Please be praying for these guys...because they are very amazing..and they love to pray about us and for The Waters before they start each day...so they need our prayers so they can create a creative and innovative experience for the visitors and regular attendees to The Waters website!

Thank yall for your prayers and please keep the coming....and we could always use prayer for God to lead anyone in Florence UMC to help out with this amazing ministry for God!

KUTPs!!!!!!

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Harry Burns: It is so nice when you can sit with someone and not have to talk.
-- When Harry Met Sally

I bet that is good warm community! Funny when you invite God in the community I believe that this could happen! God bless yall!