Work Day In Joplin
In partnership with three coupon sites– I Heart the Mart, We Use Coupons, and Coupon Mom– we are collecting items shipped by their readers for Joplin relief. If you would like to contribute, check out the list of items at I Heart the Mart’s Joplin Relief Page.
Paul from I Heart the Mart is coming to Springfield to gather up the items for distribution and a work day on Saturday morning, June 18, which is being organized by KOAM TV in Joplin. We are hoping to send a team from the church as well. If you would like to join the crew, please let us know by contacting the church office or commenting below.
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Donations and Packaging
Kids Against Hunger is packaging food tonight and needs volunteers. They are also collecting items and money to help in Joplin. The following is part of an email I received from Karen at KAH.
We continue our work packaging meals and shipping them to countries with the greatest need and that need may be Joplin very soon. I have had several inquiries regarding the victims and recovery of the Joplin Tornado. We will be ready to ship food to them if and when they can use it.
We are accepting donations for Joplin Tornado Victims via checks dropped off during our packaging sessions or mailed to our PO Box 7108, Springfield, MO 65801 – Please write “JOPLIN” in the memo portion of your check.
We are also collecting items that can be used right now by the people trying to recover from the damage of the storms. We are collecting items such as work gloves, paper towels, plastic trash bags, hygiene products, diapers, wipes, and toilet paper. Please drop off items during our packaging sessions.
Check out their website for information on volunteering tonight and times and days to drop off supplies.
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Collections and Service
Ozarks Food Harvest will continue to collect for Joplin today at Bass Pro Shop in Springfield. They are currently discouraging clothing as a donation, but other items are still needed.
For financial donations, collections are being taken at various banks in town and at Hope Community Church this evening from 5pm to 7pm. You can also text Convoy of Hope at 50555 or the Red Cross at 90999 to donate $10 for Joplin relief. (When giving money, please be cautious and only donate to established and reputable organizations. Unfortunately, there are those who try to take advantage of our good will even in such tragic circumstances.)
One of our church members, who works at OTC, sent me the following from OTC as an opportunity to serve here in Springfield this weekend.
Missouri State University is hosting the 2011 Missouri Special Olympics this Wednesday through Friday. One of their area offices located in Joplin was totally destroyed and members of their “Special Olympics Missouri Family” are among the fatalities. Many of their volunteers who were committed to volunteer this week for the Special Olympics are now involved in search and rescue efforts in Joplin and are unable to assist, leaving Special Olympics in need of additional volunteers.
Consider volunteering part of your time over the next three days at the Missouri Special Olympics. Volunteers are needed Thursday from 7am-4pm and Friday 7:30am-1:30pm. Volunteers can check in at the volunteer services tent located in MSU Parking Lot #22 (Grand in between National and Kings). No pre-registration is necessary – just show up at the tent and they will assign you a location.
We are also looking at other avenues for support and service. I’ll continue to update this blog as things develop.
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Donations at OTC
For another option to donate needed items for Joplin, check out the OTC site. One truck has already left or will be leaving shortly. And, the college is still accepting donations at the parking lot at the corner of National Avenue and Chestnut Expressway.
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Stuff a Truck for Joplin
Here’s an opportunity to help send much needed supplies to those suffering in Joplin…
Stuff a Truck for Joplin
Midwest Family Radio stations (Q102, 104.7 The Cave, Star 92.9 & 105.1 BOB fm) need your help loading a Prime Trucking Semi for those in Joplin who lost almost everything in Sunday’s tornado.
We will Stuff the Truck from 7am to 7pm Tuesday in our radio station parking lot in the Food 4 Less shopping center on Battlefield (319 East Battlefield) starting Tuesday till we fill it!
When it’s full, Prime will graciously take it to the Forrest Park Baptist Church in Joplin, a large shelter & distribution spot.
THE ITEMS WE ARE ACCEPTING:
· Diapers
· Wipes
· Clothes
· Hygiene/toiletry
· Non perishable food
· Water – boil order and they need it. Most without electricity to boil even if they have water.
- Hand sanitizer
- Socks & shoes
- Water, water & water
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A Message for the Vineyard
Below is the video I mentioned several weeks ago in one of the sermons. This took place at the Vineyard National Conference in 1999. The speaker is Jack Hayford. I think this message is even more relevant now (for both our church and the Vineyard as a movement) than it was twelve years ago.
I’m tempted to give more context for this, but it may not be needed. So, I’d prefer to see what you think about it first.
Your thoughts?
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Thanks for posting this. I’ve actually been thinking about this since since you mentioned it. I think the points that stick out to me are the ideas of needing to reclaim the birth right of the movement and the constant vulnerability that requires. Good things to consider both individually and as a community.
A Scene from the Past
A friend told me about the following video earlier this week. I have been looking for it for years. In the clip, Peter Jennings interviews John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard movement. It’s from 1995, a season in the Vineyard movement with which I am still not terribly comfortable. However, I think it’s a good reminder of our heritage and the environment from which the Vineyard sprang.
If you have seen pictures of Wimber, he looks different here. This is just a couple of years before he passed away and after he lost a lot of weight. According to Carol Wimber, he was so sick, they didn’t even know if he’d be able to do the interview.
I remember there being a bit more to this interview. If anyone knows where I can access the remainder, please let me know.
How do you think Wimber did in answering Jennings’ questions? Does anything in the video make you uncomfortable or nervous? Anything inspire you? What are your thoughts?
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Do you hate evangelism?
Let’s be honest. There’s a lot of guilt and shame associated with the word “evangelism.” A lot of us just don’t even want to talk about the idea. I’m the Outreach director at our church and I almost always feel like I don’t measure up–like I’m failing at evangelism. What is it about the good news that makes it so hard to share? We know that Jesus is awesome, and we want everybody to become Christians, but evangelism just seems so difficult, awkward, and cumbersome.
There’s an article in this magazine that has really challenged me and at the same time made me feel a lot more free and natural about talking about Jesus to my friends and co-workers. A couple days after I read it I just wandered into this great conversation about Jesus with one of my neighbors. Before I knew it I was “preaching the Gospel,” but it didn’t feel preachy, or forced, and my friend was actually interested in the conversation. It was so refreshing and unusual.
Why does that seem unusual to me!?! That’s a problem! Who will save me from this body of death!?!
Anyway, I think this article does a great job of clarifying what the heart of “evangelism” really is and is not. I would strongly encourage you to read it, and then post your reaction here. Especially if you secretly hate evangelism and feel guilty for feeling that way. Whatever else you’re doing on the internet today is not as good as this article.
Seriously.
You’ll need Adobe Acrobat or some other .pdf reader to view it:
http://www.vineyardusa.org/site/files/cutting-edge/10-Winter-Reaching-the-Unreached.pdf
The article starts on page 7, but I’d encourage you to just start at the beginning and read the whole magazine, especially Jeff Heidkamp’s introduction.
Also, if you’d like to subscribe to Cutting Edge, or read other great articles about church planting and anything related to church planting from past issues, you can do so here:
http://www.vineyardusa.org/site/task-forces/church-planting/cutting-edge-magazine/
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I *do* secretly hate evangelism. Part of my problem is that so much of what I instinctively associate with evangelism is really just salesmanship, which I overtly hate. I hate being sold to, and I hate selling people on things.
I’m not quite over it yet, but it’s encouraging to know that there’s a natural, Spirit-led edition of evangelism. I will read your article, and compare it to the other things I was going to do on the Internet today (like inviting the board gamers to the Ash Wednesday service) and get back to you on whether it is, in fact, better.
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I’m with Jonny, above, about the sales aspect of evangelism. But now that I’m older, and mortality is looming larger on the horizon, I’m more aware that people who die outside of Christ are going to eternal torment. TORMENT. Eternal. I’m dreading the thought that someone in hell would somehow point their finger at me and say, “I knew you for 20 years. Why didn’t you share Jesus with me?” Tony Evans asks the question (paraphrased), “If you had a cure for AIDS and kept it a secret, what would people think of you if they found out? They’d think, “How horrible that he kept it secret!” Well, you do have a cure for eternal sin, and you’re keeping it to yourself!”
Of course, that’s what evangelism is all about. I read Jeff Heidkamp’s article, and agreed with it. But I think he left out the ‘cure’ for evangelism ‘hatred’, and that is having a sort of frightening realization that that relative, that stranger, that neighbor, that person, may go to eternal torment if I don’t throw out a life line, or at least attempt to do so. Our discomfort of sharing Jesus with someone else absolutely pales in comparison with the discomfort we’d feel if someone we knew was suffering in hell and we never bothered to speak to them about eternal Life.
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Marti, what you say is true. Having an eternal perspective on stuff does make the sharing of the Gospel urgent. It is a matter of eternal life and death on a forever-length scale. I really like the way Carl Medearis put it in the article:
“My recent theory is this: The more strongly you believe Jesus is the only way and all people need to come to him, which is the claim of the Bible… the more seriously evangelistic you are.”
At the same time, I’ve never been particularly motivated by the “people are going to hell because I’m quiet” message. Whenever I hear that, I think, “Really? If the only reason that people are going to hell is because I’m not saying something then God isn’t fair and I’m way too powerful.” That is NOT to say that my silence is not a contributing factor, and I will stand before God in judgment for all the things I failed to say. But as I read the gospels, and even the epistles for that matter, I just don’t see fear of hell being the primary motivating factor employed. Maybe I’m missing something? That isn’t to say that your experience of being motivated by the love you have for your friends outside of faith in Christ isn’t inspiring or convicting, even as I type this and think about what life IS like for my friends and family who don’t know Christ as Lord and Savior, let alone what judgment will be like for them, I get motivated to pray and look for opportunities to speak about Christ. I just have found that fear is not a good motivator for me, and I wonder if that is the point that Jesus was making, even in Matthew 10. The point Jesus seems to make over and over again is to not have fear or to take ourselves too seriously because He’s the One really doing the heavy lifting. At the same time, I’ve used that kind of thinking as an excuse to do nothing in the past, which probably just means that I don’t take Him seriously enough.
Bible Reading Through The Next Year
Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. It looks like we may actually have a white Christmas this year, so please be careful if you’re traveling.
We’re also getting close to the new year. Matthew, one of our church members, asked me to share a resource with you. If you have been considering any resolutions for the new year, and if reading the Bible more consistently is somewhere on your list of things to do, The Daily Audio Bible could be a big help. Check out their site and, if you’re interested, start receiving their podcasts. There’s even a video promoting the podcast that you can check out.
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Upon the heart of crimson sky reaches the soul of time in a moment yet undefined. The stars were burning with that midnight oil and the hearts of saints danced in delight the melody still rings true solemn and sweet sonnet yet tradgic through hearts of time. The day’s dawn brought reality that poured true invoking thy lord with a pure heart and songs of joy solemn sweet and filled with love. Reaching through this snow covered dream I reach unto thy fountain of light thy bubbling brook of solemn love thy creak of unconditional kindness thy love is like an angel’s dream forever crying dedicated only to the lord filled with light constantly in prayer for a pearl grinded into a white rose like a diamond in the rough through a sea of distress I pray you are always bless and rised above the knowledge of thy glorious lord to the the glory of the promised heaven. Bless you all saints
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Praying Through Advent
Check out this great site, Praying Advent. It has articles on the season along with daily meditations and prayers. The site is run by Creighton University, a Catholic, Jesuit college, so there will be some difference in theology. Still I think it can help us embrace this season, especially those like me who are new to following the church year.
Today, if you have time, read the article on serving during advent. And don’t forget to check out the service opportunities we have listed in the church lobby.
Please join with me in praying the opening prayer from today’s reading…
All-powerful God,
increase our strength of will for doing good
that Christ may find an eager welcome
at his coming
and call us to his side in the
kingdom of heaven,
where he lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
#1 by Matthew on June 13th, 2011
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From what time to what time?
#2 by Tim Stagner on June 13th, 2011
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We’re still waiting on a time and other details from the TV station. When I know them, which will hopefully be soon, I’ll post them here.
#3 by joshua.goeke on June 20th, 2011
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how did it go?
#4 by Tim Stagner on June 21st, 2011
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I wasn’t able to go. But from what I heard, it went really well. A couple people stayed and kept working longer than planned. They didn’t get back into Springfield until almost 10pm. The need there is still so overwhelming that there is no lack for things to do. I think we need to try send another group down soon.