Thursday, April 26, 2007

Dog owners 'fleeced' in poodle scam

I got this off of BoingBoing and I thought it would cheer your Friday.


David Pescovitz: Thousands of Japanese people have apparently been scammed into buying "poodles" that are actually sheep with fancy haircuts. The scam was uncovered after actress Maiko Kawakami showed a photo of her pet poodle on TV and commented that it "didn't bark and refused to eat dog food," according to a Metro.co.uk article. After being informed that the poodle was a sheep, police lines rang with other rubes telling the same story. From Metro.co.uk:
'We launched an investigation after we were made aware that a company was selling sheep as poodles,' a police spokesman told The Sun. 'Sadly, we think there is more than one company operating in this way. 'The sheep are believed to have been imported from overseas - Britain and Australia.'

Missional and Attractional are not Antonyms

One of the best things that I have learned this week at the Exponential conference is that exponential growth comes when we realize that missional is attractional. If we define missional as living sent, or apostolic in nature, and attractional as putting on a quality church service, then the greatest amount of growth comes when we have both. We have all seen church plants that spend big bucks on gadgets that no one experiences. He has it attractionally and fails missionally. On the other side of the boat we have seen determined missional types who are out there being the church, but never building the church. We cannot forget that the word church literally means called out ... assembly. Even in the definition both sides are required. In the portable church session with Bob Franquiz, he made this point tremendously by stating Jim Collins' and the power of the "And". The best church is one that uses the power of the and. Like a good fisherman can cast his line gently over the reeds and under the limb, into the shade and make a great presentation (missional) AND then have a bait that is realistic enough for the fish to see, smell and taste (attractional). There is no war between missional and attractional. They are companions, partners, who by working together create expodential growth in the church.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Mission Guatemala


Hey All,


I just got this note from Jerry Kinman, our church planting partner in Guatemala.



Hello Joel!

After 8 months in Guatemala, we are praising the Lord for His great blessings. We have one church plant already started and another one in the process. To God be the Glory!

Our first church plant is in a city called Sumpango. The Sumpango church was started mid-February and is averaging 50-60 in attendance. This past weekend there were 11 souls saved - 1 in the Saturday youth service, 1 in the Kids Bible Club, and 9 more in the Sunday services. We are meeting in the patio of a rented house, and space is very tight!

Our second church plant is in Quetzal City. It has a population of 140,000 and no Baptist church. We currently have 2 Kids Bible Clubs that meet every Saturday. About 50 kids attend those 2 clubs, and souls are saved almost every week!

We are currently raising funds for these two projects. I have attached an MS Word document that describes the need of each project. Funds for the Sumpango church are needed in the next few months... May through July, 2007. Funds for the Quetzal church are not needed until this Fall... October through December, 2007. For churches that don't have the capability to give toward a project right now -- we are encouraging them to promise an offering towards the Quetzal work, so that they have sufficient time to raise money.

Jerry KinmanBBFI Missionary to Guatemalawww.teamguatemala.org


Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Blake Misses the Point

Imagine Blake Lewis getting kicked off Idol. After hearing his rendition of "Imagine" I am severely disappointed in his song choice no matter what Randy says. Since when is "imagining that there is no heaven" would give anyone hope. If, as the song goes there is no heaven and no hell, then life is hopeless. I have always hated the popularity of that song, and am sad that it would be added as a song of inspiration. I was pulling for Blake, before he pulled this, now I cannot support him.

I was, however and still am excited about the positive songs that most of the contestants chose. Melinda Doolittle proved again that she will be this year's choice. Also, Jordin Sparks knocked it out of the park!

Idol Goes Inspirational

Have you heard the news? Tonight American Idol will have the top six contestants perform songs of hope and inspiration. U2's Bono will be the special guest coach, and I know it will be the biggest AI yet. I do not know what songs will be chosen, but I am excited to know that on their way to the top Inspirational music beat out country! Finally America gets it. Yeah!

Praising Mantis


I saw this photo on Flickr and thought that this guy finally realized that prayer is more than heads bowed and eyes closed. Prayer includes hands raised with our eyes to heaven. The next time you are tempted to be one dimensional in your prayer remember the praising Mantis.

Monday, April 23, 2007

National New Church Conference Day 1

What a long, but fulfilling day. I spent today volunteering with the guys from reproducing churches as we worked to help FBC Orlando host the National New Church Conference. 1800 Pastors and leaders from all around the world arrived to network, learn and grow. There was a great attitude of anticipation for what is going to be a great week. After helping with vendors and registration, I came alongside Bob Franquiz, a church planter from Miami who was teaching a session on portable churches. I volunteered to help Bob because I have been following what God is doing at Calvary Chapel Miami for a few years now, and I have been reading his blog. He had a great amount of insight and really stretched my thinking on how we can make Cornerstone a better church for the people of Four Corners. Portable does not have to be podunk! Thanks Bob!

National New Church Conference

Today I will be over at FBC Orlando helping out as they host the National New Church Conference. There will be about 1,800 in attendance. There will be workshops and some great teaching. You can look at there line up here. I love being part of a new church and look forward to rubbing shoulders with some of the greatest church planters and pastors that our nation has to offer! I will try to give an update tonight.

Sunday Shout Out


This Sunday's shout out has to go to Gabe Dunlap. After being called out half way through the second service he wrote a song about being emotionally ADD and played it as the offering was being taken. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen in church. My greatest regret was that the guys in the sound booth had already turned off the recorder. So, I am sorry if you missed it, but maybe we can get him to make a recording somehow. Great job Gabe, and all of you who work to make CBC such a great church.