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The Alpha Conference

Published by Paul at at 7/29/2006

AlphaUSA logo

 
I just spent the last 2 days in PA attending the Alpha Conference hosted by Covenant Fellowship Church.  In short, the Alpha Course is a ten week, no pressure, introduction to the Christian faith designed for people who are curious about Christianity but have lots of questions. 
 
I had heard a little about Alpha here and there and was interested to learn more, so I was excited when I heard about the conference happening nearby.  The conference was awesome and I learned that Alpha is everything and more than I expected.  I definitely think that attending the conference was God ordained.  I feel like this was a missing piece of a puzzle when it comes to the spiritual formation ministry at our church and since I'm now responsible for this area of ministry, we will most surely be implementing the Alpha course.  I think that it will work perfectly with the Spiritual Formation groups that we are also developing. 
 
The conference was also very spiritually refreshing.  There was a lot of emphasis put on the Holy Spirit and how we need Him in order to do this ministry, in fact its His ministry in the first place!  We also spent some time seeking the Holy Spirit for ourselves and that time was much needed.  It was inspiring to listen to all of the stories from the main speaker about his encounters with people that turned into eternal moments simply because he was tuned in to the Spirit!  That's the kind of life I want!
 
So, hopefully the rest of the ministry team will be excited about Alpha as I am and if so we'll hopefully have it ready to go by the new year if not sooner!
 
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Jordan in Indonesia

Published by Paul at at 7/19/2006

My good friend Jordan, whom I have mentioned before, just posted a blog here documenting his latest missionary journey to Indonesia.  The work he does, installing water systems for poor villages, is amazing and his photography work is top-notch.  Go swing by his site and while you're there purchase one of his national geographic style photos that will help him continue to do God's work.
 
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Currently Reading

Published by Paul at at 7/15/2006

How People Grow

Currently I'm reading the book How People Grow by Drs. Henry Cloud & John Townsend.  It's a book that looks at the spiritual (Christian) core of personal growth.  The main premis of the book is that "All growth is spiritual growth".  The authors are both Christian psychologists with what seems like a wealth of personal experience as well as a deep understanding of both theology and psychology. 

So far I'm enjoying the book and am resonating with what it says.  I was a little worried that it would be a bit boring and more on the super-intellectual side, but the authors have found a good balance that makes it a good read as well as very mentally engaging. 

If you're into personal growth and wonder what Christianity has to do with it, then pick this book up and dig in.

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New David Crowder Band CD

Published by Paul at at 7/14/2006

Just listened to the new release from the David Crowder Band, B Collision, the follow-up to A Collision.  Only 7 songs total it is quite a change from A Collision (23 tracks total) in terms of length.  The music also takes a slight turn, leaning more towards a stripped down acoustic feel.  However, it's not your typical "acoustic set" where everything is virtually the same except on acoustic instruments.  DCB continues to be experimental and does so very well even while remaining slightly minimalistic.  While the songs aren't all brand new, I don't get the feeling of, "oh I've heard this before..."  The 2 live songs are probably my least favorite (though I still thoroughly enjoy them) and the new rendition of Beautiful Collision is on top with its haunting slightly out of tune guitar and pluckin' banjo.  So if you're looking for some new tunes go get this one!

 

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4th of July

Published by Paul at at 7/05/2006

We had a pretty good 4th of July this year.  Like last year we had the young adult group from church over for a bbq.  Not quite as many people as last year, but a good size crowd nonetheless.  We barbecued, had a waterballoon toss, pie-eating contest, & dessert contest. 
 
It was crazy hot until it started downpouring, of which it did for probably a good 45 minutes.  Then the power went out.  The people that stuck it out huddled into the garage and hung out.  It was fun.  Once the rain subsided it was about time to watch the fireworks, so we walked around the corner and watched from an elementary school playground.  The fireworks were kinda lame (as usual, but its tradition).
 
So all in all it was a great day, Rachel and I were exhausted by the end though!  Tonight, we'll recuperate by vegging out on the couch.
 
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Ingenius

Published by Paul at at 7/05/2006

 

God bless the inventor of the Puppy Butler.  No longer will poop scooping the yard seem like an endless, backbreaking, dreadful job.  And no longer will I have to get dangerously close to touching Zeke's yard presents.  This is a tool that no dog owner should be without.  Zeke, you have met your match!

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More on the New Site

Published by Paul at at 7/03/2006

I've been working on a new site, faith-journey.com, for about a week now and its coming along pretty well.  This is my first real venture into Wordpress and considering the fact that I don't know a whole lot about computer programming I'm doing pretty good at setting it up.  Thanks to Rich at delaware.net for handling the install though, cuz I know I would have messed that up! 
 
As for the site, its not a personal site really (I'll still blog here), its a part of my new ministry as director of spiritual formation (or whatever we decide to call me) at my church.  I envision it being a resourece and a tool for spiritual formation available not only to our church but to anyone out there in cyberspace desiring to follow Christ.  So, check it out and let me know what you think.
 

 

More on the New Site

Published by Paul at at 7/03/2006

I've been working on a new site, faith-journey.com, for about a week now and its coming along pretty well.  This is my first real venture into Wordpress and considering the fact that I don't know a whole lot about computer programming I'm doing pretty good at setting it up.  Thanks to Rich at delaware.net for handling the install though, cuz I know I would have messed that up! 
 
As for the site, its not a personal site really (I'll still blog here), its a part of my new ministry as director of spiritual formation (or whatever we decide to call me) at my church.  I envision it being a resourece and a tool for spiritual formation available not only to our church but to anyone out there in cyberspace desiring to follow Christ.  So, check it out and let me know what you think.
 

 

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