...building on the STONE...

We're on Twitter!

2009-05-19T10:26:00.004-04:00

www.Twitter.com/CBCSpringfield

For the latest announcements...

www.Twitter.com/CBCSpringfield

For encouragement from the Scriptures...

www.Twitter.com/CBCSpringfield

For thoughts from the pastors...

www.Twitter.com/CBCSpringfield

For schedule updates and reminders...

www.Twitter.com/CBCSpringfield

For those outside our church to find out what we're about...

www.Twitter.com/CBCSpringfield

And who knows, maybe we can get Pastor Sam to write if it's 140 characters or less :) Go ahead and update your bookmarks...instead of this site, you can find us now at:

www.Twitter.com/CBCSpringfield

Busy in May!

2009-05-14T09:18:00.002-04:00

What's new in the worship pastor's office?

Well, the first weekend of May was Cedarville University's graduation ceremonies, and we made the "extremely long" 25-minute trek down Rt. 72 to see my brother Tom & his fiancee Allie get their diplomas. It was nice to have a bunch of family members in town (who made treks much longer than 25 minutes, by the way :), and we enjoyed a great weekend of just spending time together (and eating out a lot!)

Speaking of family, my mother-in-law came in to the office one day last week and helped me begin a massive cleaning project. (Side note: why does it seem like my office ALWAYS is in need of a "massive cleaning project"?) Anyway, we succeeded in rediscovering the color of the carpet in my office, and most of the piles have been put in their proper places.

Key word being "most".

It really is nice to be able to walk from the door to my desk without turning sideways to crawl around a drum set, stepping over a snow machine, or whatever other obstacles magically appear! :)

Last night was the final choir rehearsal for 2008-09. I told the choir I've really enjoyed this past year, probably more than any year so far. We had great numbers throughout, and I could just tell each week that they were really intent on learning more about how to worship and sing for God's glory!

Hopefully when we start up in the fall, it can be even better!

After much virtual wrestling and schedule-organizing, I was finally able to lock in reservations to attend a conference this summer, and I'm extremely excited about it. I will be traveling to Kansas City for the National Worship Leader Conference from July 20-24. I attended the same event two years ago in Austin, and really enjoyed what I learned about directing a worship choir, as well as leading worship in general. Looking forward to a great experience in Kansas! Or Missouri! Or whatever state the event's actually in :)

I know what state I'm in at the moment...

...the state of confusion! ;)

On the reading front, I'm halfway through "Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be)". It's a very interesting read by two different people, a Michigan pastor and a sportswriter who attends his church. Learning a lot about the beliefs and tendencies of the emergent church, as well as how they relate to Scripture.

Other books on the docket include "Beyond the First Visit", "The Worshiping Artist", and "The Most Loving Place in Town". Check in with me soon to see what I've learned!

Have a wonderful week!

Tim

April showers...

2009-04-30T10:54:00.002-04:00

As we reach the last day of April, it doesn't look like the weather can decide if it wants to rain or not...is there such a thing as halfway April showers? :)

This has been a busy month for me, both in the office and at home(s). That's right, we're all moved from 5230 Brookshire Lane to 2330 Leon Lane...come see us! Still have a few boxes to unpack, but we're making real progress!

There's no way we could have pulled it off without all the help from our church family, both by actually helping on moving day, as well as all the do-it-yourself projects that got accomplished in the past two months. Anyone who knows me knows that "do-it-yourself" is an oxymoron for someone with my less-than-handy abilities! :)

The choir had a great time Saturday night singing the national anthem at Crew Stadium...we've got a couple pictures up on the church website, so check those out when you get a chance. The announced crowd for the game was over 16,000! The Crew played pretty well, but ended up giving up a two-goal lead late and finished with a 2-2 tie.

Speaking of choir, we had a great time in our rehearsal last night playing the "M&M game". I let the choir members take anywhere between 1-5 pieces of candy from the bowl I passed around, but before they ate them, they had to share a personal fact for each piece.

Every red M&M was a restaurant they really liked.
Each orange M&M was a favorite memory from the choir year.
Yellow M&Ms were stories of embarrassing moments.
For green M&Ms, we heard about favorite vacation spots/destinations.
Blue represented a fear or quirk about the person.
Brown M&Ms were favorite movies or TV shows.

We really enjoyed getting to know each other better...it was nice to have a little extra time to have fun in rehearsal after the craziness of getting ready for Spring Celebration, Easter, and the Crew game all in the space of three weeks. I really appreciate the group and everything they've done this year - maybe you'll join us in the fall?

In the meantime, gotta go...there's leftovers to eat!

Tim

What a great concert!

2009-04-13T10:38:00.002-04:00

I'm still here!

Yes, I know it's been a while since I've posted, but life's been pretty crazy. On the personal front, Molly and I are getting ready to move into our new house in a week and a half...and it seems like we've spent every spare minute working on projects there.

If you want to help on moving day, we'll be working Thursday, April 23rd from 3 pm on. And yes, free pizza is involved!

On the work front, we just finished the busiest two-week period of the choir year that doesn't occur in December. Spring Celebration concert on April 5th, and Easter Sunday seven days later. We had 27 Worship Choir members sing with the Ball Brothers, and I think (hope) they enjoyed every minute of it! The choir sang one song by themselves, then joined with the quartet for two more. It was a great night of music and worship...if you would like to check out a couple of the highlights, you can watch a video clip of the quartet here.

Easter was also a great day of music at Cornerstone. Our numbers in the choirloft were down a little bit because of members being out of town to celebrate the holiday with their families, but we still had a wonderful worship service. The choir sang a new anthem called "Alive, Forever, Amen" and also did a neat song entitled "Yahweh" that walks through the timeline of Jesus' life on earth...from his birth in Bethlehem all the way to his resurrection.

We finish off the April "trifecta" with our national anthem performance at Crew Stadium on April 25th for a Major League Soccer game. The game will be broadcast nationally on Fox Soccer Channel - should be a fun night!

Well, that's what's new with me! What's new with you? Have a worship song you'd like us to use in a morning service? Any thoughts on the choir - or when you're going to become the newest member? I'd love to hear from you - drop me an e-mail anytime at pastortimcary@yahoo.com.

Have a great week!

Tim

Time for basketball...and yes, I'm excited!

2009-03-09T11:44:00.003-04:00

I am really looking forward to the upcoming weekend, as I will be in Indianapolis from March 12-15 for the Big Ten basketball tournament. I was able to obtain a media credential, and I will be writing articles for Bleacher Report (www.BleacherReport.com and search Tim Cary), as well as possibly syndicating some of my columns to CBSSports.com.

At this point, sportswriting is just one of my many hobbies, but this is a neat chance to do it on a bigger stage! If you get a chance, check out the college basketball page on CBSSports.com this weekend and see if you can find one of my articles!

Projects at the new house are coming along okay - thanks to all of you who have asked how things are going. We are planning to move sometime in April, but still have some big (and unfortunately expensive) tasks to complete between now and then. It'll all get done, right?

On the "work" front, I am working right now to get posters printed for our Spring Celebration concert, which is only a month away, believe it or not! Be thinking of churches, Christian ministries, radio stations, etc. that you can spread the word to...our choir is really looking forward to singing with the Ball Brothers, and I know you'll enjoy a great evening of music on April 5!

Have a blessed week!

Tim

So this is what it means to be a homeowner?

2009-02-23T11:46:00.003-05:00

Hi from the worship pastor's office! Since last I posted, Molly and I have officially become homeowners, and now we're well underway with the millions of little and big projects that seem to be involved with that! As most of you know, I'm ~~pretty~~ totally clueless when it comes to "handy" stuff, so I'm very thankful for all the people that have volunteered to help in different ways...and have put up with helpless little me standing there watching over their shoulder!

Scott Stephens told me Sunday that we should have a "painting party" at the new place...because, according to him, "it's just no fun to paint by yourself". What do you think? We'll provide the food, and the whole church can come and grab the rollers and brushes?! Sounds like a plan to me - I'll have to keep that in mind :)

Our basketball season is almost over...we're getting ready for our postseason tournament now. It will be nice to have a few extra hours in each day (but I'm sure we'll be able to fill them at the house!)

On the music front, I'm excited about our Spring Celebration concert coming up on April 5 with the Ball Brothers. Everyone seemed to really enjoy their music when they visited Cornerstone a couple years ago, and now all four brothers sing, so it's not just a trio anymore! The choir will be working hard over the next month and a half to prepare for their part in this special concert...I hope you'll be able to come!

Have a wonderful week - thanks for reading!

Tim

It's February...

2009-02-10T10:19:00.003-05:00

...and here's what's going on in Tim's life (RANDOM ACROSTIC VERSION)!

Finally the snow is gone! Thank goodness!

Excitedly looking forward to closing on the new house this afternoon...

Big Ten Tournament? I'm hoping to get a media pass to cover the basketball event in Indianapolis (March 12-15) as a sportswriter...

Remembering Sam and the others in prayer as they attend the Biblical Counseling conference in Lafayette this week...

Uncertain what worship event/conference to attend during the next fiscal year...much research needed...

Announcing that you can come to the Crew soccer game with us in Columbus on April 25th...tickets are on sale the next two Sundays for the discounted group rate: $14 each

Really thankful for what God has been doing in my life and the life of others over the past couple weeks! He is constantly working, and knowing that He can specifically use me, despite all my shortcomings, is an amazing thing!

Yes! Our basketball team has won four of the last five games!

Tim

CBC closed tonight!

2009-01-28T11:29:00.001-05:00

Due to the weather (and the Level 2 snow emergency in Clark County), Prayer AXIS and Worship Choir rehearsal are canceled tonight (Wednesday, January 28). Choir will still rehearse at 9 am Sunday.

Two things I learned about the Bible today...

2009-01-26T13:14:00.003-05:00

I think it's important to always be studying and learning more about the Bible...here are two random things that I found today...if I knew them before, I didn't remember.

#1. Joseph appears to have been quite the tattletale.
Gen. 37:2

#2. The early Christians were described as "turning the world upside-down".
Acts 17:6

What have you found in your Bible study lately? Send me an e-mail or Facebook message...I'd love to hear about it!

Tim

Church activities canceled tonight!

2009-01-25T15:10:00.002-05:00

Due to the weather, Cornerstone will be closed tonight (Sunday), January 25.

Wow, it's been a while!

2009-01-19T10:46:00.002-05:00

I'm still here...still planning to write on the blog...that hasn't changed...but sometimes...it takes a while before I remember to do that!

Part of the reason it's taken forever to get a new blog from me is how much stuff has been happening in our lives. For starters, we're deep into basketball season. In case you don't know, Molly and I coach girls basketball at Northwestern High School, so the winter months are a little crazier than the rest of the year! Our team hasn't won as many games as we would have hoped, but we still have eight games left this season, so we're hoping our record improves over the next few weeks.

We enjoyed spending a few days in Michigan over Christmas break with my family. It's nice to get to be at "home" for a little longer than normal...usually between Molly working Monday-Friday and me having to be here on Sundays, there's not many chances to spend a three-day stretch in "that state up north".

Our most exciting recent news is that we are buying our first house! I won the house at an auction, which was a crazy experience, to say the least. We are supposed to close by February 12, and will be living in the Northwestern school district at 2330 Leon Lane. Once we close, we'll need to decide what projects we want to do before "moving day", whenever that is. We've alternated being elated and terrified and everything in between about the "homeowning experience"...it's great to know that God is in control, though.

We actually had bid on one other house through the HUD program, and our bid ended up being exactly one dollar lower than the winning price. The HUD house had a lot more work that needed to be done, so it's neat to think that even though we were disappointed we didn't get that one, God led us to a much nicer home as a result!

In my spare time (hah!), I'm occasionally writing live blogs for Cedarville's athletics website. If you check out http://yellowjackets.cedarville.edu during some of the home basketball games, you can participate in a live blog where I provide computer analysis, answer questions, run polls, respond to comments, and much more. The next one is this Saturday night, January 24.

I've really appreciated Pastor Sam's sermon series on the Sabbath. As he mentioned Sunday, keeping the Sabbath is often the "forgotten" commandment. I hope each of you have spent some time thinking about how you can change the way you spend the Lord's Day each week to be more honoring and obedient to Him...I know I have. Maybe for some of you, it might mean trying our adult small groups on Sunday night. I'm really excited about the formation of these new mixed-age small groups that will run through 2009. If you haven't come to small groups in a while, or maybe have never checked them out...why not start Sunday? We'd love to have you!

Have an awesome week! Thanks for reading!

Pastor Tim

We made it!

2008-12-18T10:12:00.003-05:00

I have to start by saying a huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped pull off this year's Christmas musical, A Night of Wonder. There were so many people involved I couldn't even begin to list them all, or I'd certainly forget somebody.

The choir, cast, and crew did a phenomenal job in both performances, and many of our specific prayers were answered: voices held out, my wrists didn't hurt, we remembered our cues and didn't distract from the message, etc.

I really don't have a lot else to say...I'm just extremely thankful and grateful, and I hope you'll continue to join me in praying that God will use the message about the "true meaning of Christmas" in people's lives over the next few days and weeks!

Merry Christmas!

Tim

P.S. If you didn't get to see the show or want to share this with your friends, here's the opening video from the program! Enjoy!

What is it?

2008-12-02T12:26:00.002-05:00

Now that we're in the final two weeks before the big Christmas show...and since I have a one-track mind :) ....I thought I'd give you a little sneak peek at what exactly you can expect from "A Night of Wonder".

Random side note...the title of this post made me think of Old Testament manna...look up Exodus 16:15 if that doesn't make any sense to you. Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post...

For starters, ANOW is not the same type of program we have done for the past four winters. Every other show we've done since I've been here has had a main story/drama interwoven throughout the songs. ANOW is more of a Christmas variety show with songs and stand-alone skits...different settings, different characters.

Clear as mud so far?

Also, ANOW is more of a piano show than anything else we've done. Instead of me sitting on the front pew waving my arms, I'm actually going to be the host of the program, mixing in some piano numbers with the choir songs, the drama, and everything else. In that sense, ANOW is more like a cross between our normal Christmas musical and June's Summer Spectacular.

Another exciting difference is that this year's program has more familiar Christmas music...where a full-length drama usually has brand-new songs that move the story along, this show should have a lot more music your friends and family will recognize and be able to sing along with.

Still with me?

We're hoping the mix of styles, sounds, and recognizable songs will provide something every attender can enjoy. Lots of laughter too...can't forget that! In fact, during the presentation, you'll get to peek in on our marathon dress rehearsal the night before...the choir gets a little bit out of control!

In keeping with the whole "wonder" theme, we haven't been very forthcoming with inside details on the show until now, but hopefully this sneak peek will give you just enough idea what the program is to get you excited...and help you invite as many people as possible in the next week and a half!

A week and a half...oh my goodness. Gotta go.

Bye!

Pastor Tim

What about YOU?

2008-11-12T09:53:00.004-05:00

In a January 2008 survey, we asked the CBC family to list things that they saw as strengths and weaknesses of our church, as well as potential changes they would suggest in the future.

One of the common themes that we saw over and over again in the responses was a significant desire for more outreach, community service, and evangelism opportunities. As pastors and deacons, we heard your suggestions, took them to heart, and have spent this past year trying to develop intentional ways for you to make a difference in our community (outside the walls of CBC).

A lot of thought and time went into trying to improve and create other outreaches (FFF, FPU, etc.), while pointing to our annual Christmas program and brainstorming ways to improve and restructure it so that you have as many quality chances as possible to reach out to those in your sphere of influence.

Promote While They Vote was a result of that brainstorming. And now that the calendar has moved past the election, we have dozens of ways you can get involved in the musical, with the outreach and community service you asked for and helped suggest.

we need YOU to fill out a most wanted list card...it's not too late.
we need YOU to work one night in the nursery.
we need YOU to pass out posters and flyers.
we need YOU to sponsor a lunch at Mic's for a stranger from our community.
we need YOU to sign up to help with craft projects and building projects.
we need YOU to work as an usher or waiter or video camera operator.
we need YOU to make plans for an intentional follow-up dinner with your Most Wanted friends on Saturday night.
we need YOU to send an e-mail or Facebook invitation or whatever to the friends in your address book.
we need YOU to pray.

It was your surveys...now it's your opportunities. We heard what YOU asked for...now we need YOU to get involved.

Don't wait an extra week to see who signs up for that spot you've been burdened with.

we need YOU.

Thanks!
Pastor Tim

Praise the Lord!

2008-11-07T10:44:00.002-05:00

What a great few days here at Cornerstone! I've really appreciated and enjoyed seeing the way God has worked in the building, and I wanted to make sure I shared it all with you!

TUESDAY was Promote While They Vote. We had two or three people manning a table in the hallway from the time the polls opened at 6:30 am to after they closed at 7:30 pm. What a spread we had too! Donuts, granola bars, coffee, water, pop...and that was just breakfast! As the day went on, we brought out the candy canes, Christmas cookies, sandwiches, veggies, chips, and who knows what else. It was really neat to see the reaction of those who came...they were usually confused at why we would offer something for free. That brought a great opportunity to share about the Christmas musical, and we handed out dozens and dozens of tickets as a result! Please pray that God would bring them back to our building in five weeks or so!

WEDNESDAY was Prayer AXIS. We had a record turnout (since we started this new format), and it was thrilling to have to go set up more chairs to expand our circle. Praise the Lord for a church that recognizes the importance of spending time in prayer together!

THURSDAY was the kickoff to our advertising campaign for Christmas...and the phones have been ringing basically off the hook. By the time I walked into the office that morning, we had taken three reservations already, and it's just continued from there! Praise God for the amazing response so far...it's really blown my mind!

It's easy to get bogged down in the stresses of the day, the disappointments of the week, or the frustrations of the moment. Never forget to stop and praise God...He's always working!

God is good...all the time.

And all the time...God is good!

Pastor Tim

Deep breath --it'll all get done, right?

2008-10-30T09:31:00.002-04:00

Life is starting to get crazier with each passing week, and as I told Molly yesterday, the good news is it will all calm down.

In March.

Once the musical is over, things slow down a little, but basketball season takes our lives to a different pace for a few months, and it takes some time for us to adjust, I think.

Since I haven't figured out a way to move Christmas or basketball season away from December, they still both come at the same time every year.

Oh well.

The good news is that the musical will be done in six weeks or so.

The bad news is that means the musical will be here in only six weeks or so.

Yikes.

So on a happier/calmer note...what's going on at CBC lately?

Glad you asked :) We're really excited about "Promote While They Vote" on Tuesday...a neat chance for us to get involved in the lives of those in our community...we'll be handing out free snacks and drinks to those who visit the building for the U.S. election, as well as tickets and invitations to "A Night of Wonder".

Be praying - it's not every day we get a few hundred people with no connection to our church that wander in the front door.

I'm excited.

And slightly busy, of course :)

Have an awesome week!

Tim

My little hobby...

2008-10-13T14:08:00.002-04:00

This won't come as much of a shock to anyone that knows me, but I enjoy watching sports in my spare time.

A lot.

I also like to think I know more about basketball and football than the average fan...I believe it's called education by television osmosis.

Or something like that.

Anyway, for the past year, I have been writing about sports occasionally on a website called BleacherReport.com. Not really on any specific schedule most of the time...the site just gives me a place to rant when my team is awful...or to express my opinions about why college football needs a playoff to someone besides my wife (she gets a little bit tired of that eventually, for some reason :) That kind of thing.

This fall, I started writing a weekly column on BleacherReport called "Carrying On About College Football". Yes, carrying. Bad pun, I know. Amazingly enough, some people have read the articles...and even pretended to like them. As a result, I've been interviewed about college football on two different radio shows...which was really neat.

This week, though, my spare-time hobby takes another step. On Saturday, I will be writing from the press box at Papa John's Stadium in Kentucky for the Louisville/Middle Tennessee State game. I've always wanted to be in the press box at a major sporting event....and this will be the first time!

To top it all off, the following week, I'll be writing from high atop Ross-Ade Stadium at Purdue. For a long-time Boilermaker fan, that's about as good as it gets!

Well, as good as "unpaid writing" gets :)

Have an awesome week!

Tim

Florida, here I come!

2008-09-25T10:36:00.002-04:00

Yes, it's true...Molly and I are headed to Florida tomorrow for a weekend getaway...if I had any real weather-related planning skills, we would be taking this trip in the middle of January, not late September.

But I don't.

-Sigh-

Actually, when I was growing up, my family went to Florida EVERY year for Christmas. My grandparents lived in Sebring...and my other grandparents wintered there, just a couple blocks away. It was always nice to see family...and get out of the snow for a week! I remember missing only two years all the way up through graduating from Cedarville.

However, now that Molly and I coach high school basketball, leaving the state in the middle of the season isn't really an option, so we've had to be creative with our scheduling trips to Grandma's house. About a year and a half ago, we went to Florida for spring break. Now, it's a quick weekend trip. We'll be at Grandma's for two nights...and I can taste the homemade cinnamon rolls already.

In the interest of full disclosure...we will also be attending the Packers/Buccaneers NFL game on Sunday afternoon.

But you probably guessed that already :)

This has been an interesting week so far...the schedule has been a little different with playing for Bob McKinney's funeral on Tuesday and then hosting the Learning to Praise worship seminar on Wednesday. I was really pleased with the great turnout for the seminar; I'm always challenged by what Jim Cato has to say about worship, and I hope our church benefits greatly from the instruction we heard.

Now I've got a day and a half left to try and get as much Christmas work done as I can. I'm so behind...I'm so behind...I'm so behind...

Oh well. :)

Enjoy the weekend!

Tim

8 GRAND AND CLIMBING...

2008-09-17T09:18:00.003-04:00

Our pastors' blog has passed the 8,000 visitor mark! Thanks for reading and checking in to see what's going on in our lives. As Sam alluded to in his last post, now that the transition phase has calmed down slightly, both he and I will be making our best effort to get new content up at least once a week.

Feel free to shoot us an e-mail if there's anything specific you'd like us to write about or if you have any other suggestions for the blog. Talk to you soon...

Tim

What does it really mean to date your wife?

2008-09-09T15:13:00.003-04:00

Hello from the long-lost blogger!

Now that I've been "on the job" for a couple weeks as senior pastor, life is almost calm enough for me to fulfill Tim's weekly blog demand...I mean request. He keeps saying that you really want to hear from me, and since I don't want to accuse him of lying, I decided it was time for me to write.

And it's a good thing, because I have an important clarification to make.

In my first sermon as senior pastor, we looked at Ephesians 5:15-16 and talked about what it means to be intentional. One of the illustrations I gave for how men could intentionally lead their homes in a godly way: taking your wife out on a date.

However, in the past few weeks, I've had discussions with certain men in the congregation (who shall remain nameless) and I feel that it is important to clarify what really qualifies as dating your wife (at least in this pastor's humble opinion).

#1 Double dates don't count.
The purpose of dating your wife is to show HER love, do something SHE likes, enjoy conversation with HER, and reconnect one-on-one. If you have kids along (as we discussed in the message), these things are hard to do. If you are with another couple, you are most likely enjoying conversation with THEM and reconnecting with THEM, not focusing solely on your wife. Obviously, this doesn't mean double dates are bad...they just don't count as dating your wife (in the intentional way we are striving for).

#2 Dates require thought and planning.
When you and your spouse look at each other in that exhausted way and say "what do you want to eat tonight? I don't know...let's just go out": that is not the kind of connection and result we are talking about. Plan ahead -- pick her favorite restaurant -- her favorite activity -- make her feel special...and remember, the purpose is to become more like the leader God wants you to be in your home.

With those clarifications out of the way, it's time for you (men) to take action! I'm looking forward to hearing stories about the dates you are planning...the love you are showing...and the efforts you are making to serve your Savior and your wife.

Special note: if you don't know what you're going to talk about on this upcoming date, please see me...I am prepared with a copy of "Fifty Questions You Can Ask Your Spouse"...seriously, anything I can do to help you grow as a godly husband and leader, just let me know: I'd be glad to talk to you.

Happy dating!

Sam

See You In September!

2008-09-08T14:55:00.002-04:00

What a great day we had yesterday at the Fall Family Festival! The sun shone, the water balloons and cornhole bags flew, the smiles abounded, and the teaching about God's creation was wonderful. Thank you SO much to everyone who donated their time to make FFF a success!

This great week keeps on rolling with both ladies' Bible studies getting underway (which I have nothing to do with, due to my gender) as well as the first official Prayer AXIS and Worship Choir rehearsal on Wednesday (which I do have a lot to do with!)

I really really really really really hope you'll join us on Wednesdays -- Sam and I are so excited about the new Prayer AXIS format, and we look forward to obeying the Biblical command to pray on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests always for all the saints!

Speaking of Biblical commands, here's a trivia question for you. What do the first verses of Psalm 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150 have in common?

Maybe you should go check.

I'll wait.

Really, I will.

Okay, here's the answer: Each of the above-mentioned verses starts with a command to "Praise the LORD." We're commanded over and over again throughout Scripture to praise the Lord...and that's why I'm so excited about the free worship seminar we're hosting called LEARNING TO PRAISE. If praise is what we're supposed to do, then I think learning to praise is a very important topic!

Learning to Praise is scheduled for Wednesday night, September 24th at 6 pm; we'll replace Prayer AXIS and choir for that one night with an informal coffeehouse seminar led by Jim Cato, director of Cedarville University's HeartSong touring teams. Jim will be teaching about "The Songs of Worship" and "The Postures of Worship". Childcare is provided, and the whole church is encouraged (I won't quite say commanded :) to attend!

What a great month! I can't wait!

See you in September!

Tim

Should you visit "The Shack"?

2008-08-28T13:36:00.002-04:00

It's not everyday that the #1 book on the New York Times best-seller list is about a man that meets with God. Lately, though, "The Shack", a work of fiction by William P. Young, has been a fixture near the top of every such list. Maybe you've never heard of The Shack. Maybe you've been curious because all your friends are talking about it. Maybe you've already read it.

I did.

I knew this was a book I wanted to read when I heard well-known Christians giving very different opinions on it. Michael W. Smith says it will "leave you craving for the presence of God." Eugene Peterson is quoted as saying "The Shack has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his". On the flip side, Al Mohler says the book "includes undiluted heresy...and falls far short of Biblical Christianity". Tim Challies wrote a review that said the book "may be an engaging read, but it is one that contains far too much error."

So what's the big deal about "The Shack"?

Here's my two cents...no spoilers included. I think the book succeeds in what must be one of the author's main goals: it helps the reader think outside the box and challenges his/her preconceived notions of God. I found myself re-thinking some images I had in my mind of what God is like and why He does what He does. This can be a valuable exercise, because a finite mind can never fully understand the majesty and wonder of an infinite God.

However, I also think the book fails in that it does not always present God the same way the Scriptures do. Thinking outside the box about God is a good thing...thinking outside the Bible about God is not. Issues that the Bible deals with clearly (such as the authority and holiness of God) come to mind as areas that The Shack shortchanged, in my opinion.

I think it's important for Christians to know what is in "The Shack" so they can intelligently dialogue with others who have read it. I thought the same thing about The Da Vinci Code. (Please don't draw too many comparisons there- I only bring it up to make the point that unbelievers can/will come away from this book, as with Dan Brown's record-setting novel, with an understanding of God...and I don't believe it to be a completely accurate portrayal). However, as an avid reader of fiction, I enjoyed the storytelling in both books.

To sum it up then, should you read "The Shack"? As a Christian who wants to know what the world is thinking about God, I think you should. As a new Christian or unbeliever who is not firmly grounded in your faith, I would suggest that you not.

If you are really curious about the book and looking for more information, I found these two sites to be very helpful. Tim Challies, a conservative blogger, identified some theological issues in his review here. Wayne Jacobsen, one of the men who collaborated on the book manuscript, defends his work here.

Ultimately, the reader's discernment (and willingness to test what he/she reads against the Scripture) is critical. One final point I would make: don't fall into the trap of assuming this book isn't about theology. By definition, theology is "the study of God and of God's relation to the world". A book that is making people feel closer to God or challenging what they think about God is a theology book -- you don't have to agree with everything in the book to read it (in my opinion), but neither should you turn your brain off and say:

"It's more important to enjoy a book that makes me feel close to God than to get worked up over every little point of doctrine." (that's my shorthand summary of a lot of reviews and comments I've heard, for what it's worth).

Tim

PRAYER AXIS

2008-08-21T10:05:00.003-04:00

Let me start by saying how excited I am about what I'm going to share with you. First of all, you may have heard there's this new senior pastor-type guy floating around the building now. Yeah, Sam something-or-other...that's him.

ANYWAY, the senior pastor-guy and I have spent a lot of time over the past few weeks brainstorming a zillion different things...and one of those brainstorms is coming to fruition on September 10th.

And I want you to join us! Here goes...

Are you ready?

Okay, this is really it:

An axis is defined as something an object is centered upon or rotates around. In the same way, our church should be built upon and revolve around prayer. For this reason, you are invited to join Pastor Sam and Pastor Tim during a group time of focused prayer on Wednesday nights. Ephesians 6:18 tells us to "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests...and always keep on praying for all the saints." Since we are commanded to pray with all kinds of prayers and requests, we have divided our "Prayer Axis" points into the following four segments. If you are a worship choir member or have to work late and can't attend all four sessions, please come for as many as you can!

ADORATION 6:00-6:15 pm
During this time, we will read a passage from the Word, respond in prayer, and praise the Lord for Who He is.

XPRESSION 6:15-6:30 pm
This is the time where we will take turns sharing with each other the burdens, concerns, and requests that are on our hearts.

INTERCESSION 6:30-6:45 pm
In this segment, we will divide into smaller groups and spend time lifting each other's
requests to the Lord.

SPOTLIGHT 6:45-7:00 pm
Those who are not in worship choir will close the night by specifically lifting up selected government officials, missionaries, church leaders, and ministry programs.

Our new Wednesday night schedule will feature these AXIS segments every fifteen minutes from 6:00-7:00 pm, with worship choir rehearsal slightly overlapping. That's right, no more 7:07 choir rehearsal! Choir will now begin at 6:45 pm and finish at 8:00. Hopefully, EVERY adult in the church will consider this bookend evening of prayer and worship:

6:00 Adoration
6:15 Xpression
6:30 Intercession
6:45 Worship Choir begins
6:45 Spotlight (for those not in choir)
7:00 AXIS ends
8:00 Worship Choir ends

This "new and improved" schedule starts on September 10th with the first PRAYER AXIS and the first worship choir rehearsal. Please consider joining us for both!

Tim

August Activities

2008-08-19T11:47:00.002-04:00

Yes, I know...it's been a couple weeks since I posted...here's a roundup of what I've been up to:

Molly and I spent three days in Michigan camping with my family...which means I get my fill of great food and euchre! We were staying in South Haven, and they have (according to my mother) one of the best ice cream places in the world.

It was tasty :)

After a whirlwind day at home, we left again, this time for vacation with Molly's family in Hilton Head. The house we stayed at is the same one we were in for a week last summer, and it's BEAUTIFUL. Walking distance from the beach (which Molly loved), two HD televisions (which I loved), 49 bedrooms (or so it seemed), an elevator....the list goes on...

We spent a lot of our down time watching the Olympics...everyone had their favorite events, but I especially enjoyed keeping track of Michael Phelps and the USA men's basketball team.

We took turns sharing family devotions while we were there, and on my night, I talked about how much training and preparation it takes for an Olympic athlete to be able to compete. They don't just show up the day of the event and swim...training is a priority for their entire lives.

And then I asked myself...and the family...and now you blog readers...have you ever stopped to think if you make the Christian life a priority? A priority like swimming is for Michael Phelps? Like basketball is for Kobe Bryant? I showed the family one of Michael Phelps' sample training schedules...every tiny aspect of his sport is focused on and worked on. Do we put the same thought and time and preparation into growing the way Christ would want us to?

Paul compared living for Jesus over and over again to an athletic contest, just like the Olympics. Look at this passage from II Timothy 4: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day..."

How about this example in I Corinthians 9? "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly....I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

Don't be one of those Christians that shows up at church on Sunday because they know they're supposed to...and then live however they want the rest of the week without giving God a second thought. Set time aside for studying God's Word...for memorizing it...for fellowship with other believers...for regular prayer...run the race!

Hebrews 12: 1-2 "...Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..."

Tim

Final Missions Trip Update

2008-08-01T15:00:00.003-04:00

The team arrived safely back in Springfield around 3:30 pm this afternoon. Thank you for your prayers during this week of ministry!

Continue to pray for Fellowship youth pastor Jeremy Hudson's father-in-law, Joe Nourse. Joe cut his finger off with a saw today, and is having surgery in Columbus to try and re-attach the finger. Jeremy just got back into town with the teens and is heading to be with his family soon. Thank you for lifting them up in prayer.

Wrapping up in the Windy City

2008-07-31T14:11:00.002-04:00

Pastor Sam called in today to update everyone on how the missions trip is going:

The team is preparing for the last day of Kids Club this afternoon. Pray specifically for this time, as it is the most evangelistically-focused lesson of the week. There have been 30-40 children every day, and today they will hear about the righteousness of God and how it compares with our human lack of righteousness.

They'll be playing with water balloons too :)

As we mentioned before, the kids club has met each afternoon...the team has managed to keep busy in the mornings as well:

Tuesday morning, they went around local neighborhoods passing out material as well as helping to pick up trash. Yesterday morning, they stuffed 100 back-to-school bags that the church there will use for part of a big outreach on Sunday (after our team has returned home).

Pray for a lady named Belinda that Sam had the chance to have a good conversation with during the trash removal/canvassing project. He said he was able to invite her to some of the church events and pray with her; pray that the Lord uses this divine appointment in her life.

One funny story: the teens have started calling Sam and Jeremy (Jeremy Hudson is the Fellowship youth leader) "Bob" and "Larry". I guess when Sam was bent over working on something one day (in the bright red team t-shirt), he looked like Bob the Tomato from VeggieTales. And since Jeremy is tall (like Larry the Cucumber)...the names have stuck.

"Senior Pastor Bob" anyone? :)

The team is planning to head out tomorrow morning (Friday) and hopefully return to Springfield by late Friday afternoon/early evening. Pray for traveling safety, and we'll try and update this blog one more time when we hear the team has arrived safely in Ohio.

It's Tuesday in Chicago...

2008-07-29T10:01:00.002-04:00

...okay, so it's Tuesday here too. :) But anyway, here's the latest update from our missions team in Illinois:

The group enjoyed worshipping on Sunday at the church where they're staying. Pastor Sam said the diversity of the group made for a very dynamic worship experience, and it sounds like that's been one of the highlights so far.

Monday morning was spent canvassing the neighborhood passing out flyers for a Saturday carnival in the park. Even though the group will have headed back to Ohio before this event, they're helping to invite people to the outreach.

Yesterday afternoon was the first day of kids club. The children show up around 1:00 pm and leave just after 3. This club will run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and the teens help run everything: teaching Bible lessons, playing games, and working on crafts. There were about 30 kids that attended yesterday.

It sounds like this schedule (canvassing in the morning, club in the afternoon) will be pretty typical for the next few days. The evenings are a good time for everyone to catch their breath and discuss together what they've learned, how things are going, what God has been doing, etc.

Specific prayer requests: Pastor Sam asked that we always pray for safety and unity. He shared a praise, as the groups from Cornerstone and Fellowship seem to have gotten along well and are working great together, and he prays that unity will continue.

Pray also that the team will be able to develop good relationships with the kids they're ministering to...that the lessons and truths they share from God's Word will accomplish the Lord's work and change lives for His glory!

Check back for another update in the next couple days! Thanks for faithfully supporting this missions outreach of CBC in your prayers!

The team is in Chicago!

2008-07-27T08:23:00.003-04:00

Pastor Sam and the teens arrived safely in the Windy City late Friday afternoon (no thanks to the GPS system in the other van, it sounds like).

There are 14 people (12 teens and 2 leaders) traveling all together, from Fellowship Christian Church as well as CBC. The Cornerstone portion of the group is: Michelle Cave, Kristen Heintz, Sarah Stephens, Jenny West, and Pastor Sam.

Anyway, Friday night was spent buying groceries, getting settled, and enjoying dinner at a local Mexican restaurant.

The church that the team is staying at is a good-size church (over 1,000). Everyone is being housed in the church's outreach building, a brownstone building next door to the actual church.

Saturday was the team's scheduled free day. They went downtown, did some shopping and sightseeing, and had dinner at the world-famous Navy Pier.

Today (Sunday), the team will be attending the early worship service and a youth group Sunday School. The church actually has two main church buildings, one on each side of town, so this afternoon, they will head across town to attend youth group at the other church.

Pastor Sam said from what he has been told, the church is very international, with people from every culture and race imaginable. He's looking forward to a "small taste of heaven on earth", with people from every tribe and tongue worshipping together in the Lord's house today.

The team's ministry will start in earnest Monday morning as they pass out invitations and tracts at bus stops in Chicago before beginning their Kids Club/VBS program.

Continue in prayer for this trip, that the Lord will use it in a great way! Check back in the next couple days for another update from Chicago...

Missions Trip Updates!

2008-07-24T12:45:00.002-04:00

News flash: Pastor Sam will be calling in with regular updates from the teens' missions trip to Chicago, Illinois! His reports will be posted here on the pastors' blog, so check back regularly throughout the next week to learn specifically how God is using our teens to minister for Him! Be praying for the group as they leave Springfield tomorrow (Friday the 25th).

NEW SENIOR PASTOR!

2008-07-24T10:39:00.002-04:00

This excerpt is taken from an e-mail that Deacon Chairman Paul Gathany sent out to the CBC family today:

"The Pulpit Committee/Deacon Board is pleased to announce that Sam Bryant has accepted the call to be the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church. He will assume the pulpit duties on August 24."

Let's be praying for our church during this exciting time, as well as for Sam, Megan, James, and Lucas as their family transitions to a new role at Cornerstone!

Back from Nashville

2008-07-21T12:40:00.002-04:00

I had a great time last week at Christ Church in Nashville, attending their 10th annual Music and Worship Conference. For those of you that remember our worship choir singing anthems like "Sound of the Round" or "End of the Beginning", you know the great quality of music that comes out of Christ Church.

My favorite part of the conference was participating in the mass choir. When we first arrived on Wednesday night, all of the conference attenders participated in a choir rehearsal. Members of the Christ Church Choir helped teach us three different songs that we then performed in the final concert on Friday night. Hearing hundreds and hundreds of voices singing their hearts out to the Lord is awesome!

I was very excited to run into two friends I went to college with at the conference, so it was neat to hang out with people I knew and to catch up on how the Lord is using them!

Other highlights (outside of getting to see an incredible choir sing a bunch of times) included hearing great musicians like Bill Gaither, Avalon, and the Voices of Lee. There was a group from Norway that I had never heard before called Voice of Joy - they were great too!

What else happened in Nashville?

Well, I went to breakout sessions like "The Five Mistakes a Choir Director Makes", "The Spotlight of Leadership", and "Choral Singing Technique."

I got to pick up tips and pointers from Landy Gardner, who has led the choir there for thirty-two years.

I also sat in on a "Fine Arts Sampler", watching what goes on in Christ Church's drama department.

And of course, I loved watching the choir's piano player/arranger/music director/orchestrator...maybe I'll be able to play like that when/if I grow up ;)

It's great to come home to Ohio energized and with fresh ideas...please pray for me as I try to put them to use with our Worship Choir in 08-09...and please consider joining us in September to see firsthand what I've learned! We'd love to have you as the newest CBC choir member!

Tim

Summer Cleaning

2008-07-07T13:27:00.002-04:00

One of the main things on my to-do list after the Summer Spectacular was to re-organize and clean my office. When your workspace doubles as a backstage area for a music production, anything that's in the way gets piled anywhere else it can possibly go.

This is a very good idea until the day after the show.

Then it is a very bad idea -- because I can't find anything anywhere.

Sooo....now that over a week has passed, I've decided it really is finally time to buckle down and start picking up the pieces...I mean piles.

That's the nice thing about summer...with worship choir not having rehearsals for a few months, things are a little calmer and I have time to do things like organize. Of course, organizing isn't really all that fun -- I like being busy and having lots to do...do I sound like I'm rambling or stalling?

Maybe I am stalling.

:)

I thought I'd give you a quick update on my summer plans -- I am headed to Nashville next week for a music conference. I'm really looking forward to it....I try and go to a conference about once a year and get some fresh, new ideas. One of the great things about life (and a job in music like mine) is that we can always be learning...conferences are a great way to do that!

Other upcoming events include the quarter-century anniversary of my birth, a few days camping with the Carys in Michigan, and vacation with the Earleys to Hilton Head.

Enjoy summer! I will!

Tim

It's over...

2008-07-02T09:44:00.002-04:00

A few random thoughts from the desk of the worship pastor:

June is over...which means July is here and I'm trying to think ahead and plan for fall and Christmas at the same time! Whoever said summer should be..."relaxing"? :)

The Summer Spectacular is also over...which means I'm not nearly as stressed as I was last week! Thanks to each of you who attended and/or gave -- I really appreciate how the people of CBC got involved in this great cause. I've got an update and some pictures up at www.TimCary.com.

We ate at TGI Friday's twice yesterday...for the Dabrowski Benefit. It's nice for a day to stuff yourself with great food and not feel too guilty ;) "Gluttony for charity" or something?

We also had a great time last night hanging out at a friend's house. I got some good ping-pong work in (it's always more fun to play when Pastor Sam's not around because then I have a fighting chance ;)

I'm kidding, Sam :)

Anyway, when I'm playing ping-pong, I sweat more than you could even imagine. It's true. My mom (the best ping-pong player in our family) always used to laugh at me because I'd be running from one side of the table to the other, diving on the floor or the couch, red-faced, huffing and puffing...whatever it took to hit the ball...

...and she'd be standing perfectly still making me run and enjoying it.

Maybe that's why I don't play ping-pong very often anymore!

Speaking of Pastor Sam, I'm excited that he will be the senior pastor candidate here at CBC. Please be praying during these next few weeks especially for Sam and Megan...and also for Cornerstone.

God bless!

Tim

Vacation and Vegas

2008-06-24T11:43:00.002-04:00

I like title alliteration...has anyone noticed yet? :)

Molly and I spent last week in St. George, Utah (about 100 miles from Las Vegas) for a vacation/family reunion with my mom's side of our family. There were 17 of us total and we had a wonderful time. Here are some of the things I really enjoyed about our trip, in no particular order:

1. Spending time with and getting to know my family better (okay, so maybe there is some order to this list :) Especially my cousin Daniel's three kids (two of which I had never met): Autumn, Alex, and Ava.

2. The red rock scenery (now, I don't enjoy this quite as much as my mother does...but I still liked it. Liking it and wanting to hike it are different levels of enjoyment in my opinion... :)

3. Meeting Pete Rose and getting his autograph.

4. Driving past the golf course where most of High School Musical 2 was filmed.

5. Watching from the ESPN gallery for part of the World Series of Poker. (Notice I said "watching"...not "playing". Don't start any rumors!)

6. Seeing the amazing hotels of Las Vegas up close and personal for the first time.

7. Playing lots of cards (Euchre and Rook) with my family. I always won.

Okay, I'm kidding. I didn't always win. But just in case some of my family's reading this, I thought I'd carry my competitive streak over a few days :)

Things I didn't like about our trip:
RED-EYE FLIGHTS. ENOUGH SAID.

:)

Anyway, I'm back now and keeping busy with three projects:

1. Getting Sunday's service ready.

2. Leading music for a Cedarville girls basketball camp Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

3. Tim Cary's Summer Spectacular.
Yes, it's this weekend!

See you Saturday and Sunday, I hope!

Tim

Sportsmanship, Sharing, Struggles, and Successes

2008-06-12T10:58:00.003-04:00

I think the four words in the title sum up a lot of our experience at Cedarville's basketball team camp this week. Molly and I, along with the JV and Junior High coaches from Northwestern, took twenty girls (between 8th-12th grades) to Cedarville University to play basketball against other schools. In the process, we:

...watched our girls compete in over twenty games (both JV and varsity)

...didn't sleep all that much (Molly)

...lost most of a voice (Tim)

...ate pizza in the cafeteria a lot (Tim)

...had to keep control of high school girls in a college dorm for two nights (Molly)

...learned a lot about coaching, relationships, and basketball (Both of us)

Anyway, it was a neat time to be able to get to know our girls better and hopefully build into their lives. Molly really enjoyed the time she and the other coaches (minus me, since I was obviously not in their dorm) spent with the girls late at night (11 pm meetings anyone?). They talked about what it means to be good sports, using a positive and negative example from the last few months' news. They also had a question-and-answer time where the girls could ask anonymous questions about anything they wanted and have them answered by the coaches: "Who was your hero? If you could go back and change one thing in your life, what would it be?" etc.

Oh yeah, our teams won some games too.

Anyway, I hope our girls are better hoops players from going to camp at Cedarville. And I hope they learned about more than just basketball.

I know we did.

Tim

New Book

2008-06-11T15:41:00.002-04:00

I started reading a new book this week called "Respectable Sins: confronting the sins we tolerate" by Jerry Bridges. I have enjoyed this book so far. I have read four chapters, and I am looking forward to reading more of it. Here are a couple of quotes that I thought were really good.

"The truth is, there is never a day in our lives when we are so 'good' we don't need the gospel."

In this book Bridges defines the gospel as
being two folded. "Christ, in His work for us and in us, saves us not only from the penalty of sin but also from its dominion or reigning power in our lives."

So the gospel is not only effective to save us from the consequences of sin, but also from sin's power that daily controls our lives. Therefore, it is vital (as Bridges and others have said) that we "preach the gospel to ourselves daily." We must always remember that the gospel is not only God's prescription for salvation, but also God's prescription for daily living out godliness. The gospel is God's message to provoke us to become who we already are in Christ.

Today's Reading

2008-06-05T10:53:00.001-04:00

Here's what I read today in "A Gospel Primer for Christians" by Milton Vincent:

The gospel encourages me to rest in my righteous standing with God, a standing which Christ Himself has accomplished and always maintains for me. I never have to do a moment's labor to gain or maintain my justified status before God! Freed from the burden of such a task, I now can put my energies into enjoying God, pursuing holiness, and ministering God's amazing grace to others. The gospel also reminds me that my righteous standing with God always holds firm regardless of my performance, because my standing is based solely on the work of Jesus and not mine. On my worst days of sin and failure, the gospel encourages me with God's unrelenting grace toward me. On my best day of victory and usefulness, the gospel keeps me relating to God solely on the basis of Jesus' righteousness and not mine.

Storms

2008-06-04T09:41:00.003-04:00

Warning, this is my random post of the week. :)

I'm watching Channel 7 last night during all the tornado/thunderstorm warnings, and the lady who was talking said something like this:

"If you're outside trying to watch the storms, you probably don't want to be doing that. You really need to be inside in a safe place right now."

I didn't have much of a problem with her giving this little speech...I mean, obviously, there are less-than intelligent people in the world, but taking time to tell them to seek safety is fine. They should know better, but anyway...

Then she followed up with the next sentence:

"Besides, the rain is coming down so hard you can't really see much anyway."

At that point, I lost it and started laughing. So basically, the only real reason to not stand outside in the middle of a tornado warning is because you won't see anything anyway? Not because the storm is dangerous? "Please don't put yourself in a dangerous situation...unless the view is great, then never mind." Which is more important, taking shelter or taking pictures?

Okay, I'm done.

Just another example of "dumbing down" television, I guess...

June is here!

2008-06-02T10:32:00.002-04:00

It finally feels like summer outside...and on the calendar too! Must be June!

The month got off to a great start last night with the Triple-C program. It's always so neat to hear the children recite their verses and everything else they've memorized and worked on! Special thanks to the Hewitts and all the dedicated teachers for their hard work!

As I've probably noted on here before, June means basketball for Molly and I. Outside of the actual season, the only time we're allowed to coach our players is a limited number of days in June and July. Practices, team camps, and summer league are right around the corner!

My other big project, the Summer Spectacular, is coming along nicely. We've already had some donations starting to come in by mail, the music and multimedia is slowly progressing, and I can't believe it's less than four weeks away! Do you have any friends that would love a free night of music? Bring them along! (Sure beats spending $50 to see this kind of show in Branson, Missouri, right? :)

Back to our day at church yesterday: I thought "Mister Ed" gave a great sermon from Psalm 1. It reminded me of a song we taught a few weeks ago during the morning service. I'll leave you with these lyrics as we begin a new work week:

"I will delight in the law of the Lord,
I will meditate day and night.
Then like a tree firmly planted,
I'll be grounded in Your Word!

Blessed is the one who follows
the way of the Lord!"
ccli 184080

Delight in His Word this week!
Tim

One concert down...next one on its way!

2008-05-21T11:44:00.002-04:00

Thanks to all of you that were able to come to this year's Spring Celebration concert on Sunday :) We had a great time with pianist Roy Webb, and I appreciated the great turnout of CBC people for a wonderful night of music :) Special thanks also to the Worship Choir members for all their work...I got a lot of awesome comments about how great the choir sounded!

Life in the worship pastor's office calms down considerably now. Choir's done for the summer...the concert's over with...it's not QUITE time to stress about Christmas yet...so you'd think it should be easy to sit down and JUST work on the worship service.

Not so much...it's Wednesday now and I still don't have a lot of ideas...I think my creativity is slightly zapped or something!

On the personal side of things, Molly and I have had a great week so far. We had an open gym for basketball on Monday...it's always nice to get out and run up and down the floor a little bit. Then last night, a bunch of Molly's friends from her Cedarville basketball team came over...we grilled burgers, shot hoops, watched American Idol, played euchre, and laughed a lot!

A lot of my free time lately consists of watching the Red Wings and Lakers try and win championships...(when they both play on the same night, it's a bit of a struggle :)...and working on my big summer piano show. For those of you who don't know much about "Tim Cary's Summer Spectacular", here goes:

I'm putting together a program (translation: piano extravaganza) that will be held on Saturday, June 28th here at the church to raise money for the family of one of our Northwestern basketball players. Her mom was in a serious car accident in January and is in the midst of a long and difficult recovery. I could really use your help inviting people to the program and also getting the word out to friends, family, and local businesses that would be interested in contributing to this worthy cause.

The program should be a ton of fun -- I'm scheming up some hilarious videos...some songs from High School Musical...a great patriotic tribute...a zillion TV themes...maybe even a little upside-down piano playing. Best part -- it's free! So anyone you know that likes piano music or free entertainment...invite them!

You can print out flyers and get all the information at my personal website: www.TimCary.com. If you can give even a little bit to help the Dabrowski family, that would be awesome too!

Hope you're having a wonderful week! See you Sunday!

Tim

A Little Tune-Up

2008-05-15T10:01:00.002-04:00

Guess where I am and what I'm doing right now?

No, you can't say typing on the computer, that's cheating. Be more specific.

Guess again.

Are you one of those people that just skimmed halfway down the post to find the answer? Shame on you!

ANYWAY...I am currently sitting in my office, way too close to the piano in the sanctuary...and listening to the incredibly painful sounds of a piano tuning. Big concert this week, you know.

Have you ever listened to a piano getting tuned?

Don't. (if you can at all help it.)

Since my mom was a piano teacher, I grew up listening to these "joyful noises" over and over, and I've never quite outgrown them.

Basically, the piano tuner plays two notes that are supposed to match up into a nice unison...and don't. Then he uses his wrench to tweak one...and plays them again. And again. And again. And again and again and ag...oh, he's finally done! WITH THAT NOTE. He moves up one pitch and starts it all over...and my sanity slips away slowly...

Nah, it's really not that bad. Our piano tuner does a good job...and it's important work. The end result (after 45 minutes of constant cringing during the process) is several months of a beautiful sound from a beautiful instrument. Until it starts to slip out of tune again...then we repeat the cycle.

The worst kind of piano to tune is one that hasn't been played or tuned for a long time. It's a much more difficult endeavor to get that kind of piano to make a beautiful sound...believe me, I've been around a few in my time. Played quite a few in concerts, but that's another story altogether :)

What I'm getting at is the more regularly a piano is tuned and played, the more useful it stays.

And so it is with the Christian life. If you live out of tune Monday-Saturday and just trust Sunday will be the little "adjustment" you need to get back on track, the end result can be painful, difficult, and the six days in between basically ugly. Isn't it better to learn from our piano illustration and devote time during the week to the study of God's Word, communication with Him, and a lifestyle that pleases your Savior? We all need a Sunday tune-up (Hebrews 10:24-25), but please don't let yourself slide out of tune Monday morning. Live a blatantly Christian life. It's music to God's ears.

Tim

Powerful Truth

2008-05-14T09:03:00.001-04:00

As I have said before, we are reading a book in staff meeting called "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands". What I love about this book is that it speaks directly to the heart of why I do what I do. I enjoy reading books that speak the truth and challenge me in my walk with the Lord. Here is a part of the book that I thought was really powerful:

"The Redeemer lived, died, and rose again so that we would no longer live for ourselves but for him and his glory. (2 Cor. 5:14-15)"

"It is the drama that lies behind every sad earthly drama. Sin has made us glory robbers. We do not suffer well, because suffering interferes with our glory. We do not find relationships easy, because others compete with us for glory. We do not serve well, because in our quest for glory, we want to be served. But the story of Scripture is the story of the Lord's glory. It calls me to an agenda that is bigger than myself. It offers me something truly worth living for. The Redeemer has come so that glory thieves would joyfully live for the glory of Another. There is no deeper personal joy and satisfaction than to live committed to his glory."

I must remind myself daily that my highest joy and greatest satisfaction is found in humble obedience to the Creator, not in the things of the creation.

Sam

Staff Meeting Wisdom

2008-05-08T09:58:00.002-04:00

Tuesday morning was our weekly staff meeting, which consists of Tim Cary (Worship Pastor), me (Utility Pastor aka I do a little bit of everything), and Paul Gathany (Deacon Board Chairman). We had a great meeting this week and I was reminded of some great truths from our devotions. We are reading Paul Tripp's book "Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands" for devotions. This book is a must read. The following is several random quotes from chapter one that I thought were really great. Enjoy!

"God's redemptive solution would not come by political revolution or physical war. The primary battle would be fought and won in human hearts. In our self-absorbed culture, we need to see the grandeur of this kingdom. We cannot shrink it to the size of our needs and desires. It takes us far beyond our personal situations and relationships. The King came not to make our agenda possible, but to draw us into something more amazing, glorious, and wonderful than we could ever imagine."

"How cruel it would be to call sin-paralyzed people to repent without giving them the power to do so! This is where the message gets most exciting. Jesus is saying, 'Because I have come, lasting heart change can take place.' Yes, the world is terribly broken, but the King has come, bringing the power and glory of his kingdom with him!"

"In all of this, God's ultimate goal is his own glory. Christ came to restore people to the purpose they were made for: to live every aspect of their lives in worshipful, obedient submission to him. He accomplishes this by breathing life into dead hearts so that we grasp our need for him."

"As human beings, we cannot walk through life on our own. We need rescue, healing, and forgiveness. In short, we need God. We need the good news of the King who has come, making lasting change possible. This alone is our personal hope and the basis of our ministry to others. The good news of the kingdom is not freedom from hardship, suffering, and loss. It is the news of a Redeemer who has come to rescue me from myself. His rescue produces change that fundamentally alters my response to these inescapable realities. The Redeemer turns rebels into disciples, fools into humble listeners. He makes cripples walk again. In him we can face life and respond with faith, love and hope. And as he changes us, he allows us to be part of what he is doing in the lives of others. As you respond to the Redeemer's work in your life, you can learn to be an instrument in his hands."

May day...May day...

2008-05-06T13:08:00.002-04:00

Please don't be alarmed by the title of this post...I just thought I'd write about what's going on my life right now...and since it's a beautiful "MAY DAY" outside, I decided that was as good a title as any :)

So what's going on with Pastor Tim? Here's a sneak peek:

--I'm planning for and organizing the last two weeks of choir for the 07-08 year...and already daydreaming about 08-09.

--I'm looking around at my office and realizing sadly that it couldn't stay clean and organized forever :) Chris Hatton, our new janitor, will quickly figure out like the McKinneys did that my office floor is only empty enough to be vacuumed a couple times a year!

--I'm excited to go to Cincinnati and watch my Cubs play baseball tonight! In between keeping track of the Cubs...as well as the Lakers & Red Wings in the playoffs...that occupies a good chunk of my free time in May!

--I'm really looking forward to a short trip to Michigan this weekend...Molly and I will be able to spend time with my parents and see a lot of my family members, so that's a real treat.

--Northwestern basketball seems to occupy our schedule year-round. Even now in May, six months before our team plays a game, we're having open gym a couple times a week
and getting ready for summer practices, camps, and leagues.

--Last, but certainly, not least, I'm hard at work in my occasional bits of free time preparing a piano extravaganza. I'm calling it "Tim Cary's Summer Spectacular", and it will be held at CBC on Saturday, June 28. For those of you who want to hear me play patriotic music, television themes, and a bunch of other "fun music" on the piano, I hope you're able to come. For the rest of you, I hope you'll come too :) It's for a great cause, and you can find all the details you'd ever want here.

That's the scoop on how I've been spending my May days...hope yours are going splendidly!

Until next time,

Tim

Something I'm Reading

2008-04-29T14:35:00.002-04:00

I have recently started reading a book called "A Gospel Primer for Christians" by Milton Vincent. It is a devotional reading of sorts. The premise of the book is that the Gospel should be taught to believers just as much as it should be to unbelievers. So after the introduction it is broken down into small sections designed to be read each day to focus your thoughts on the good news of Jesus Christ.

Something I never realized is that the Gospel is the only thing in Scripture that is referred to as 'the power of God.' So here is today's reading:

"A Cure for Distrust: Every time I deliberately disobey a command of God, it is because I am in that moment doubtful as to God's true intentions in giving me that command. Does He really have my best interests at heart? Or is He withholding something from me that I would be better off having? Such questions, whether consciously asked or not, lie underneath every act of disobedience. However, the gospel changes my view of God's commandments, in that it helps me to see the heart of the Person from whom those commandments come. When I begin my train of thought with the gospel, I realize that if God loved me enough to sacrifice His Son's life for me, then He must be guided by that same love when He speaks His commandments to me.

Viewing God's commands and prohibitions in this light, I can see them for what they really are: friendly signposts from a heavenly Father who is seeking to love me through each directive, so that I might experience His very fullness forever."

Fortune Cookie Wisdom

2008-04-29T09:46:00.002-04:00

Tim was kind enough to e-mail me a copy of an article he read last week entitled "6 Reasons Every Pastor Should Blog". I think he was gently hinting at something -- so maybe you'll begin to hear from me a little bit more on this site! :)

One interesting fact that you may not know about me is that I am a collector of fortune cookie wisdom. My wife Megan almost always opens the best ones.

While most of them are really stupid, there are some that are really good. Here are the two most recent pieces of wisdom.

"Your heart will always make itself known through your words." I think they stole that one frrm the Bible (Matthew 12:34). The other one says, "Many a false step is made by standing still." The only Biblical connection I can make of this is that we are called to walk by faith and trust our Lord for wisdom and direction when the next steps seem unclear.

Sam

Cool stuff on the Internet!

2008-04-21T12:58:00.003-04:00

Happy Monday to all the readers out there in cyberspace! I wanted to take just a minute to plug our upcoming Spring Celebration concert with pianist Roy Webb. The concert is Sunday night, May 18, at 6:00 pm, and I think you'll really enjoy hearing Roy play. The music that night should be a mix of many different styles, so there will be something for everyone! Please be telling your friends too -- especially if they like piano music! You can even print a flyer right from our website. Or...you can check out sound files from Roy's CD by following that same link.

As we have in several past Spring Celebration concerts, the Worship Choir will be participating in the program as well. Singing with guest artists is such a neat opportunity for our choir, and I hope you can be there for this great night of music!

Since I brought up the resources available at www.CornerstoneConcerts.com, let me take a couple minutes to pass on some other great links you may not know about.

For example, did you know Mark Jones has a blog from Ireland? How about Kerry Anderson in Brazil? And most recently, Johnathon Bowers has begun writing from that far-off land of...Minnesota.

Make sure you check all those blogs out! And thanks for reading this one!

Tim

Idols shout to the Lord?

2008-04-17T09:43:00.002-04:00

Almost every Wednesday during worship choir rehearsal, we take a break from singing to "Breathe, Refresh, And Intensely Listen"- our "BRAIL Time", if you will. I try and find a video or audio clip for the choir that lends itself to discussion afterwards. We'll watch different worship leaders, listen to different sounds and songs, and just evaluate what we see/hear...the good, bad, and ugly....all because we're trying to learn, improve, and get better.

Last night, I played a clip that half of the choir (and probably half of you) had seen already: the American Idols performing Darlene Zschech's worship song, Shout to the Lord, on the April 10 episode. I thought seeing a praise song to Jesus on secular television, sung by people who may or may not know the Jesus they're singing about, could yield some strong opinions from my choir members.

I was right.

Not only that, but in researching more about Idol, I found that the AI singers actually performed the song twice. Once with the word "Jesus" replaced...and then the next night with the "correct" lyrics.

The whole situation has led to a lot of controversy (which Idol is no stranger to, by the way)...Christians upset that the word Jesus wasn't used the first time...non-Christians upset at their favorite television show proselytizing...you name it, somebody's complained about it.

And the whole thing made me stop and ask myself, "What do I think about this?" When one of our most loved worship songs makes it to one of our nation's most-loved TV shows...is that a good thing?

I admit to going through the range of emotions and reactions as I watched the show live last week. Here's a short, stream-of-consciousness version:

"Wow, that's Shout to the Lord...that's cool that's on American Idol...but it's kinda weird too...I doubt all those people are Christians...they really look like they're worshipping...hmm...it's really easy to appear you're worshipping...why would Idol put this song on...that sounds really good..."

End stream of consciousness. :)

Anyway, as I was preparing to show the clip in choir rehearsal, I found an article online by Josh Harris, a well-known pastor and author (I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Stop Dating the Church). He had written an initial blog post about the AI/Shout to the Lord story, and then when it received such a huge reaction, followed it up with some closing thoughts. As I read Josh's point of view, I decided he did a great job of summing up the different reactions to this interesting song choice, and explaining what a logical Christian reaction should be. Check out the article on his site here.

"My Jesus, my Savior,
Lord, there is none like You."

Let those words ring in your heart and life this week - and maybe start praying for a chance to share with one of Idol's 30-million viewers what they really mean.

Just keepin' it real, dawg. ;)

Tim

Spring break!

2008-04-03T09:28:00.002-04:00

Molly and I spent all of last week in Texas during her spring break...and it was wonderful! On Monday the 24th, we flew into Houston and headed immediately to Galveston, a beach town on the Gulf about 45 miles away.

We were in Galveston four nights -- I told Molly that was "her" half of the vacation. We stayed in a hotel right across the street from the Gulf of Mexico, hung out by the pool, walked on the beach, ate too much, and all that fun stuff :) Very relaxing...

By Friday, it was time to relocate to downtown Houston...we spent the last three nights of our trip there and went to the Galleria (one of the country's biggest malls), three NCAA basketball tournament games, a baseball game, my uncle and aunt's house, and a church service at Lakewood (one of the country's biggest churches). Very busy...

And guess whose half of the vacation that was? :)

It really isn't fair to divide vacation in halves, I've decided...especially because Molly was a good enough sport to come to an NBA game with me...during the first part of the trip...and on our wedding anniversary :)

But we ate a candlelight dinner downtown at a really nice Italian restaurant, so I'm calling it the perfect celebration evening! (It doesn't matter that we completely lucked into this restaurant and it was the only dining option around, does it? :)

All joking aside, we really did have a great trip. It's nice every now and again to get away from the daily grind and spend time together without a set schedule. Thanks to those of you who asked how everything went...and now I'm looking forward to getting back up on stage Sunday and worshipping with all of you!

Our God is awesome!
Tim

Pray without ceasing!

2008-03-20T09:15:00.002-04:00

I have been really challenged in my own life lately that I need to spend more and better time in prayer. I don't think I'm the only person who is so quick to say "I'll pray for you", and then it can slip my mind as the days and weeks move on.

Each person I know has issues big and small in their lives: family needs, job concerns, health problems, you name it. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to be faithful to lift these requests to the Father.

I'm the kind of person that needs a good organization system...so I'm in the midst of developing a prayer list/calendar that will help me keep track of all the things I should be praying for.

If you have something specific you'd like me to be praying for you about, please e-mail me. The only "catch": you have to keep me updated on how God is working in your life in that situation :)

Steven Curtis Chapman wrote this song many years ago (wow, that makes me feel old)... here's the words that will be ringing in my mind today...

Tim

LET US PRAY

Let us pray, let us pray,
everywhere in every way
Every moment of the day,
it is the right time.
For the Father above,
He is listening with love
And He wants to answer us,
so let us pray.
(CCLI 184080)

CBC is closed today (3/9/08!)

2008-03-09T06:32:00.001-04:00

Due to a level 3 snow emergency in Clark County, Cornerstone is closed today, March 9. All services for the day are canceled.

March = College Basketball = Vacation

2008-03-06T13:28:00.002-05:00

This is not a news flash for most of you, but I'm a huge sports fan. Especially college basketball. Especially in March.

(If this WAS a news flash to you, please complete the following steps:

1. Read the March 2007 entries on this blog.

2. Make my acquaintance :) Just kidding...but I don't do too well hiding that I'm a sports nut :)

Anyway, March is the month college basketball tournaments happen. Between cheering for Cedarville in the NAIA national tournament (I'll be keeping track of the action in Missouri from many miles away...and occasionally calling my sister for updates, since she's making the trek to Branson to watch the games in person) and following Purdue's action in the Big Ten and NCAA, things can be a little crazy and confusing.

Let me illustrate for you. On a perfectly calm Tuesday evening, my wife is grading papers on the couch while I am anxiously awaiting the outcome of two basketball games at the same time. I'm staring at Purdue on my muted big-screen TV...and listening to Cedarville's play-by-play on the phone. This occasionally causes me to yell something along the lines of "COME ON! PLAY DEFENSE!" (in Christian love, of course).

This, in turn, makes my wife's head snap up to look at the TV...which is on a commercial because I'm actually yelling at what I'm hearing, not what I'm watching. She shakes her head in confusion, pats me on the arm, and returns to her work with manipulated variables and whatever else she's teaching.

Thus the term "March madness".

This particular March has me more excited than most...because I will be attending parts of two tournaments I've never gone to before. My parents, Molly, and I will be in Indianapolis for the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Big Ten tournament next weekend. (Go Purdue!)

Then...as if we hadn't seen enough basketball, Molly and I will be spending spring break later this month in Houston, Texas. This will be a wonderful vacation of rest, relaxation, beach time, no stress, and...oh yeah, an NCAA regional :)

I may not be thrilled that it's still snowing here in March...but at least there's lots of hoops. I will return to my regularly scheduled sane self in approximately four weeks.

(If you doubted my sanity to begin with...please keep it to yourself :)

Thanks...bye for now!
Tim

Isn't spring here yet?

2008-02-19T10:20:00.002-05:00

I realize most of you feel February 19 is too early to be wishing for spring, but I'm looking out my office window and seeing yet another fresh dumping of snow...and I'm ready for temperatures to jump 40 degrees or so :) Of course, I've never been the biggest fan of winter to begin with...so I'm slightly biased...and whatever tolerance I had for the white stuff probably vanished during the great Christmas musical blizzard of 2007. :)

Anyway, moving on to other random thoughts from my life:

Basketball season has finally concluded. This brings a mixed set of emotions, but also a much more relaxed schedule for the Cary family, so that part is definitely nice.

I did not have to serve on a jury.

Purdue is in first place in the Big Ten...this makes watching basketball games much more enjoyable lately!

I'm excited for the worship choir's upcoming concert at Grand Court...and I really need to figure out what we're going to sing :)

I've never popped a string on a piano before...at least not until Sunday!

I'm reading through Proverbs in my Bible right now...one of my books on counseling talked over and over about how practical, useful, and important Proverbs can be in many areas of life, so I decided it was time for me to revisit it.

Please keep praying for our church...we serve a great God!

Have an awesome week!
Tim

What a wacky week...

2008-01-30T13:36:00.000-05:00

It doesn't take much to mess up my schedule...and at this point, it's a lot messed up!

Problem #1: FLU. I woke up with a fever on Wednesday morning (a week ago) and spent the entire day on the couch. Thank goodness the chills and aches only lasted for a little over a day, but the stuffy nose, sneezing, etc. is just now going away a week later. It's hard to get motivated to be productive when you feel awful! So...that messed up my schedule.

Problem #2 JURY DUTY. I'm on call this week and next week for jury duty downtown...which means I get to dial in every night and find out if I need to show up or not. It's hard to plan for a work week and basketball practices when I don't know each day if I'll be spending hours fulfilling my civic obligations or not! So far, Tuesday was the only day I had to go in, and I basically sat in a room and read my book for an hour and a half...then they decided they didn't need us that day after all. Oh well.

Other than all the wackiness, things are actually going okay. I'm glad to be on the upswing health-wise...and praying that my wife doesn't come down with what I had! My parents will be in town to visit this weekend, so I'm looking forward to that. I can still see my office floor (so much for those of you who guaranteed that would change in the first week after its makeover! ;)

I'm going to leave you today with the words of a great hymn that we'll be singing in Sunday's service...I've enjoyed having this tune running through my head for the last few days. What a great God we serve!

Tim

PRAISE, MY SOUL, THE KING OF HEAVEN
ccli 184080

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
To His feet your tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Evermore His praises sing.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise the everlasting King!

We got a win!

2008-01-22T10:18:00.000-05:00

It took way too many games, but the Northwestern varsity girls basketball team that Molly and I coach finally got its first win Saturday night. The girls have been working hard and getting better all year, and it was nice to see that effort and improvement reflected in a victory. We have two more games this week...hopefully the winning will continue!

Let's see: what else is new? Molly had the day off school yesterday, so it was nice to have a relaxing, laid-back day (which of course included basketball practice and scouting two basketball games, but that's about normal during the season :)

Sunday was a busy day at church with a quarterly business meeting and the Master's Puppets team from Cedarville University both in the evening, but everything went well. Even though I traveled on Cedarville's music teams for three years in college, I had never seen a performance by the puppet team, so I really enjoyed getting to see the "other" touring team and what they do.

Well, that's a brief update from the worship pastor's office...now it's time to figure out what music we'll be doing in the service Sunday!

Have a great week!
Tim

Where has the blog gone?

2008-01-18T10:20:00.000-05:00

Nowhere. The blog has gone absolutely nowhere - it's still here! And thanks for checking back to read this latest edition :) After that little thing called the Christmas musical, I became a blog-slacker...but here I am...finally...so happy 2008! Let's see what's happened in the last month or so...

Welcome Home went extremely well...despite the awful weather...we had two great performances in front of the "frozen chosen" in attendance. After the second performance, we hosted a dinner at Mic's Restaurant...a lot of people really enjoyed the great Italian food...we'll have to keep that tradition alive!

Molly and I have been deep in the heart of basketball season. We have five games left in our regular season before the tournament starts; we've really enjoyed our time with the girls and watching them improve, but we're still waiting to see that improvement reflected in some wins. Maybe tomorrow...

We had a grand total of two days off practice for Christmas...Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So...we took a quick trip up to Michigan and spent Christmas Eve with my side of the family....then it was right back to Ohio for Christmas Day with the Earley gang. It's always fun to spend time relaxing with relatives...and eating too much ;)

The new year has brought a new look to the church music library and my office (*for the uninformed, those two rooms are one and the same*). Sam, our unofficial "construction pastor", put in a lot of work last week to install new shelves in my office...many many new shelves. Add in a different desk location, a keyboard, a TV, a VCR, a DVD player, and you have: Extreme Makeover, Office Edition. The end result (after much work and rearranging) is such a huge improvement! There are a lot of music books that have sat on my office floor for the last three years because there was no place to put them....not any more! I even have empty extra shelves right now...what a novel idea! The best part is the full-size keyboard: once we got done using it on the platform in December, we moved it in and sat it right next to my desk. Being able to reach my computer and a piano at the same time is any musician's dream!

(And yes, as the rumors had indicated, the carpet in my office is blue. Just for those of you who haven't been able to see it in a few years. :)

Most of my "spare time" lately (as if there is such a thing ;) has been devoted to the church's strategic planning process. Saturday was an all-day meeting with the deacons and pastors; Sunday afternoon was another three and a half hours. Sunday night we met with the congregation to hear their dreams for the church...then Tuesday morning was our staff meeting. I think my brain is officially fried :) Anyway, it's been a very rich process so far...please continue to pray for where the Lord would have Cornerstone go in the next few years!

Well, I think that should be enough info to keep you satisfied for a few days...I'll be back with another post sooner than later! It's my 2008 New Year's resolution. :)

(Of course you know how long resolutions last... ;)

Tim

PRAY!

2007-12-14T09:16:00.000-05:00

The TV stations are all predicting that a winter storm will hit Springfield Saturday and Sunday...please pray specifically and fervently for a miracle: that we don't get too much snow, the roads will stay clear and safe, and the weather won't cause anyone who was planning on attending the musical to change their minds and not come. Thank you!

Tim

Thanksgiving

2007-11-28T09:34:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving week has always been one of my favorite times of the year. This year's break was a little shorter than normal, because of basketball, but it was still a wonderful, relaxing time!

We actually coached in a game on Tuesday night, and then had early morning practice on Wednesday/Thanksgiving Eve (8:00 am sharp!) When we left Northwestern, we headed straight for Battle Creek, Michigan...good ole Cereal City USA.

Wednesday afternoon/evening in Michigan consisted of playing some euchre, eating a great supper that Mom cooked (Tiffany and Tom had to warm up leftovers because they got a late start from Ohio :), and then going to church for "Pie, Praise, and Prayer". Like every Cary family trip to church, we got there an hour early and left an hour and half after it ended. Mom had to squeeze in a drama rehearsal before the service started, and Tom and I had to squeeze in some basketball afterwards before we could go home :)

When we got home Wednesday, we watched some basketball on TV, stayed up way too late, and Tom and I played a zillion board games we hadn't touched in a decade: Battleship, Trouble, Racko, you name it and we played it. Yes, Chutes and Ladders was included...and I won ("pure skill", I told him afterwards).

Thursday the whole family trekked next door for dinner at Grandpa & Grandma's house. The festivities started at noon, the Lions game came on at 12:30, and we ate dinner at 1. I've never understood this system of waiting until kickoff to eat, but 24 years of lobbying has gone nowhere. Only in Michigan can Lions fans miss half of the Thanksgiving game every year :)

The rest of the day included more euchre, more pie, more euchre, more pie, well, you get the idea.

By lunchtime Friday (after a big breakfast, some more euchre, and a last slice of pie), we were headed back to Ohio...made it to Northwestern in plenty of time for a 5 pm bball practice...and that was Thanksgiving break.

I loved it :)

Tim

A New Video Debuts (and other news/notes...)

2007-11-09T11:14:00.000-05:00

Make sure you're on time to the morning service Sunday...and see the debut of a special new video about "The Most Wanted List". And don't forget to bring ten first names of unsaved friends you want to invite to "Welcome Home".

It's not too late to sign up to be included in the church pictorial directory. Call the office for more information.

Under the category of "Many hands make light work":

Set Decoration Day is Saturday (Nov. 10) beginning at 10 am.

Leaf Day is Saturday, Nov. 17 beginning at 9 am.

So much going on! And don't forget about that video Sunday morning...you won't want to miss it!

Tim

Life is a Whirlwind...

2007-11-02T12:44:00.000-04:00

...at least it seems that way at the Cary house right now! Molly and I tend to meet ourselves coming and going between school, church, coaching, and whatever else happens to be occurring on a given day!

We (the Northwestern High School Lady Warriors) had our first basketball scrimmage yesterday in Cedarville...we plan to cram several more into the next week or so, and hopefully that will help get us ready for the season opener (11/16).

We (the cast of "Welcome Home") have our first combined rehearsal this Sunday afternoon. Lights, sound, choir, actors, lots to get sorted out and put together. Hopefully the next week and a half will see the stages getting built, the set getting decorated, and (cue song): "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..." :)

In between all that, we plan practice each day, eat dinner (sometimes at insane hours), Molly grades papers, and when I'm not sick of basketball already (ha!), I turn on the Lakers or Purdue on TV.

Whew...that was exhausting just to type. But that's what's going on...and that's why you don't see my smiling face posting on this blog quite as often!

(cue complete topic shift coming in three...two...one)

Next Sunday, November 11, is "Ticket Day"...we will be handing out ticket-sized flyers for the Christmas musical and compiling a "Most Wanted List"...first names of unsaved friends/family members/coworkers/neighbors that you are planning to invite to the show. Please, please, please...take some time in the next week to think of some names...pray about who the Lord would have you invite...we want our program to be an effective outreach, not just a nice performance. Then we can pray along with you for the next five weeks that A. you will have the boldness to invite your friends...B. they will come to the program, and C. the Lord will work in amazing ways.

Thanks! Have a great week, everybody!

Tim

A New Willow Creek?

2007-10-22T09:33:00.000-04:00

I just read a recent article called "Willow Creek Repents?" Willow Creek, pastored by Bill Hybels, is known for its highly controversial, pragmatic and business like approach to ministry. But apparently Hybels, as well as Greg Hawkins, executive pastor at Willow Creek have had a change of heart. They confess that their approach seems to have failed to produce true spiritual growth in the lives of many Willow Creeker's. Yet, one wonders if this is just more hyper-pragmatism. The novelty and superficiality of the seeker service model apparently has lost its attraction among many. So, it's time for a change. If this change is because of convictions created from a careful study of the Scriptures, than I would be hopeful and encouraged. My fear is that it is just more of the "if it works" driven type of ministry; the new and improved Willow Creek. I do pray that the change is one back to a biblical driven ministry. Only time will tell.

Because of His grace,
Dan

In My Life: Numbers & Countdowns

2007-10-15T13:31:00.000-04:00

9: number of weeks until "Welcome Home" is over!

7: number of days until our first basketball practice of the year

32: number of days until our first basketball game of the year

12: number of consecutive hours I was in the church building yesterday :)

9 and 4: combined win/loss record of my two favorite football teams (college: Purdue, pro: Tampa Bay)...when the first number (in this case 9) is greater than the second number (4), I tend to be in a better mood :)

11 (and counting): number of days I have been without my car

1: number of new songs in yesterday's service (How Can I Keep From Singing) I like to do new songs occasionally...but not every week, and only if they're very SINGABLE. This particular one is a keeper, I think.

2: Hours left to be super-productive before I leave the office for the day. So I guess I'd better get to it!

Tim

"Blessed Be Your Name"

2007-10-08T10:08:00.000-04:00

For those of you who were in the morning service yesterday and would like more information about the Schrauger family, please visit www.cbcmi.com and click on "prayer requests".

Thank you for supporting Cliff, Vicki, and their surviving children during this extremely difficult time.

Tim

Job 1:20

What I've been up to lately...

2007-09-28T10:53:00.000-04:00

...in no particular order, of course :)

My mother-in-law and I completely organized and cleaned my office...this may not seem noteworthy to you, but since it only happens once or twice a year, it's a major event to me!

I competed in the preliminary round of Springfield's Got Talent, and play in the finals Saturday afternoon at 1:00 (@ the Upper Valley Mall). I guess people enjoy upside-down piano playing...

Molly and I have kept ourselves busy with basketball stuff: open gyms, conditioning, meetings, etc. Practice starts in less than a month!

I'm spending a lot of free time watching football...notably the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who have a winning record) and Purdue (who's undefeated)...so that's been fun!

I finished all the casting for the Christmas drama; now I'm trying to get scripts handed out and help the choir start learning all the music!

Molly and I are headed to Cincinnati tonight for a ballgame -- we're going to try and watch the Cubs clinch the division championship!

I went to Cedarville yesterday to hear Keith & Kristyn Getty in the chapel service. The Gettys are modern hymnwriters; you may recognize their songs "The Power of the Cross" and "In Christ Alone". I came back (as I usually do) with several new song ideas and having thoroughly enjoyed a worship service that I wasn't responsible to lead!

Hope you're having a great week! See you all Sunday!

Tim

NQC

2007-09-17T13:47:00.000-04:00

Molly and I spent part of last weekend in Louisville, Kentucky attending the 50th annual National Quartet Convention. What an experience! Here are a few of the highlights:

We got to see great artists perform: Brooklyn Tabernacle Singers, Greater Vision, Mark Lowry, Talley Trio, Florida Boys, etc.

We got to hear some great speakers: David Jeremiah, Jim Cymbala, etc.

We got to catch up with some old friends: Jonathan Martin, Ball Brothers, a few Cedarville grads, etc.

We got to stay in a hotel near the Louisville airport. I thought this was wonderful, but my wife informs me that airplanes took off every three minutes from 4-5 am on Friday. I have no idea what she's talking about.

We got to have dinner with my uncle who was also attending the convention...and we got to eat at Outback Steakhouse...talk about a great combination :)

We got to purchase an insane amount of music and CDs. I seriously brought back three shopping bags full of stuff.

We got to hear great groups I knew nothing about...like Hope's Call. (I'm listening to their a cappella CD right now!)

We got to experience Kentucky culture and Southern gospel culture in the same weekend...what a weird combination. I told Molly (and it's true) that you could write an entire book just about the sights, sounds, (and smells) of the exhibit hall. For instance, in the same room, you can find concert grand pianos for sale, motorhome tours, ice cream vendors, Christianese t-shirts, and of course, the obligatory live video camera pictures of earwax.

Yes, I said earwax.

I can't come up with any acceptable sentence to follow earwax, so I think I'm done. Guess you had to be there :) Have a great Monday! :)

Tim

FFF...phenomenal!

2007-08-29T15:31:00.001-04:00

We're less than two weeks away from our FFF, and you can feel the excitement in the building! People have been calling the church asking about the event, and we can't wait for it to get here! For those of you that are out of the loop, Cornerstone is hosting an FFF...Fall Family Festival... on Sunday, September 9th. We're pleased to welcome special guest speaker Buddy Davis from Answers in Genesis (home of the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY). Buddy will be with us all day on the 9th, including for the festival, which runs from 3:30 pm -- 7:30 pm.

The festival is free and features family games, a cookout, and a special concert/talk with Buddy Davis. We hope to have a lot of guests on that day, especially families who might be interested in Cornerstone's Triple-C ministry.

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS :) More info here!

Worship Choir news!

2007-08-21T09:35:00.000-04:00

We had an exciting weekend with the choir...twenty-two singers performed the national anthem at Crew Stadium on Saturday for a Major League Soccer game between the Columbus Crew and DC United. Although the home team lost 2-0, it was a fun night of fellowship...our church group comprised about 60 people in all!

The Springfield News-Sun called me the day before the game to ask about the details, and they put an article in the paper on Saturday...you can check the link out here!

The announced attendance for the game was over 21,000 people...that's what I call the David Beckham multi-pack effect on Major League Soccer :)

If you're reading this and have never sang in the worship choir before, mark Wednesday, September 12 on your calendar...it's the first rehearsal and you're invited! :)

Tim

The Death of Summer/The Family of God

2007-08-21T09:32:00.000-04:00

Another summer is almost gone. I used to say that I would take the coldness of winter over the sweltering heat of summer anytime. That was until I experienced some real winters. Now I'm praying that summer will last as long as possible! So, I'm already mourning the passing of summer and looking forward to the amazing colors of fall. Can you tell that I am reaching for something to write about? I'm not a very good blogger. I am looking forward to our Prospective Member's Class this week. Nine people have expressed an interest in becoming part of the Cornerstone family. But what is infinitely more important is that we are part of the family of God. By God's grace, we who have hoped in Christ and have trusted in Him have become children of God. We are God's family. What a great joy it is to be part of this ever expanding, ever growing family as more and more come to Jesus Christ through the witness of the Gospel. Oh how I look forward to the day when we are all together, worshiping and serving together in the presence of our Lord. How I went from mourning over the end of summer to the family of God I'm not sure. Welcome to the workings of my mind!

Until next time,
Dan

What's happening in my office?

2007-08-16T11:03:00.001-04:00

It is now time for a random report on what's happening in my office this week...with choir still being off for the summer...some of you may wonder what I'm doing with myself...so here's a random peek into what life is like lately in my little corner of the church building. Enjoy...or Tolerate...or Something... :)

SOME OF THE WAYS I'VE SPENT MY TIME THIS WEEK INCLUDE:
thinking about soloists and drama parts for the Christmas musical...
playing through possible choir songs for the upcoming year...
preparing for Jeannie's memorial service...
designing flyers for the Fall Family Festival...
finalizing details for the choir trip to Crew Stadium on Saturday...
filming a special video for this Sunday's service...
arranging the piano and bass parts for this Sunday's music...
writing this blog...
cleaning my office...HA!...
distributing extra soccer tickets...
defending why my office is so not clean...
AND various other things...

SOME OF THE THINGS I'VE READ THIS WEEK INCLUDE:
...the Bible
...Leading with Love (a book we discuss in our pastoral meeting each week)

WHAT'S BEEN IN MY DVD/CD PLAYER THIS WEEK:
...Gaither Vocal Band/Give it Away (working on a hymn arrangement for Sunday)
...Cedarville University's Heartsong/I Stand Amazed
...Revelation 19 (a neat three-part song I'd love to have the choir do sometime)
...Vocal Artistry Live (a master class for teaching how to sing)
...Master Acting (a master class for teaching drama)
...Welcome Home (this year's Christmas musical)
...High School Musical 2 soundtrack (no good reason)
...Michael W. Smith/Worship (one of the best piano-driven worship music albums)

WHERE I'VE SPENT MY LUNCH BREAK:
M: Subway
T: Subway
W: Subway
R: Subway

MEETINGS AND SERVICES:
Monday afternoon: Jeannie's memorial
Wednesday morning: Pastoral staff meeting
Wednesday night: Instrumental rehearsal
Wednesday night: Choir rehearsal

ONE REASON I'M EXCITED ABOUT MY JOB:
Our special video for Sunday includes cameo appearances from both the sideways baseball cap and the "I Need Tickets" sign (these items are CBC video traditions ;)

ONE WORSHIP LEADER YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF AND SHOULD CHECK OUT:
Jeff Deyo (former lead singer of SonicFlood)...he was at the conference in Texas and I really enjoyed him...his new DVD and CD are sitting in the "pile of stuff I should listen to when I have time"

OKAY...THAT'S ALL I CAN THINK OF TO WRITE ABOUT. Join our church's Facebook group and submit topics for future pastors' blog entries! Thanks for reading!

Tim

Camping and Corvettes

2007-08-12T08:43:00.000-04:00

I feel like I need to introduce myself but I will resist the urge. A lot has transpired since my last entry (since it has been quite awhile). Most notable was our two week trip to Cali. We celebrated the marriage between my father and his new bride Sheree along with many other family and friends. Then we hit the road with our friends from San Luis Obispo for an epic camping adventure up the California coast, the Pacific North West and Canada. As many of our family and friends know, Michelle is the camper of the family. So, when the opportunity presented itself, I thought this would be a great 15 year wedding anniversary gift. The coastal redwoods of California were nothing less than spectacular. God sure must love beauty. We also spent some time visiting Michelle's family in Mount Vernon, Washington (where I was able to drive my mother-in-law's bright red convertible Corvette. Now that's camping!)

I think I have got a little more of the camping bug myself now, especially when a red Corvette is involved!

Because of His grace,

Dan

It's August already?

2007-08-06T10:40:00.000-04:00

Where has the summer gone? And why haven't I posted in so long?

Answer #1: I don't know.
Answer #2: I don't know.
:)

Actually, August will probably be the calmest month of the year for me, so I'm looking forward to that! All of my traveling for vacation and conferences is basically done...
Molly and I don't have anything going on for basketball...choir hasn't started up yet...and I'm not working TOO hard on Christmas! I'm hoping to use the extra time productively, especially in the office...I want to implement some ideas from the Worship Leader conference as I plan for choir...I want to add some new songs to our Sunday morning services...and I want to get my office clean.

In that order :)

Outside of work...I'm excited that football season is about to begin! Fall is probably my favorite time of year just because there's so many games to watch. Molly and I are continuing our tradition of going to at least one Bengals preseason game...during the regular season, most of the games are on Sundays, so we like to go on an August weeknight if we get the chance. This year, I talked her into going all the way to Detroit to see the Bengals play the Lions...we might even make it to a baseball game while we're up there. (Can you tell I planned this little outing/trip?)

That's about all I have to write about today...as always, if you have any questions or ideas for future blog topics, e-mail them to me or the other pastors! Hopefully we'll get a blog post from Dan this week...his summer break has gone on long enough!

Ciao!

Tim

Top 5 Things NOT To Do South of the Border

2007-07-18T13:16:00.000-04:00

#1 DON'T DRINK THE WATER. Basically, there are parasites in the non-filtered water that will…how do I put this nicely…make you sit on a toilet or in front of a trash can for a VERY long time. These parasites will wage war against your intestinal system…doesn’t sound like fun to me!
#2 DON'T PUT USED TOILET PAPER IN THE TOILET. Trash can only! Or else…you get to go fishing. I won’t even try and put that one nicely. We were told over and over again: “You don’t have magical toilet paper. It will not disappear when you flush.” :)
#3 DON'T HANG YOUR LIMBS OUTSIDE THE BUS WINDOW. It would be a shame (and quite painful) to have them ripped from your body by the vehicle passing you. Thankfully, everyone on our trip returned with all four limbs intact.

#4 DON'T COMPLAIN. Life is good in America…you don’t know how good until you visit Mexico. We take so many things for granted, and this trip was a good reminder of how many privileges we enjoy in the USA.

#5 DON'T LEAVE UNCHANGED. We had the opportunity to visit one of the poorest areas of Juarez. People literally live in homes made of cardboard boxes and construction scraps. They are given 10 gallons of water by the government every week, and that’s all that they are allowed for bathing, cooking, and drinking. Most homes didn’t have plumbing…some didn’t have electricity…and the average weekly grocery budget is only $5.00. As Americans, we can do without a lot of things, and we don’t really need as much “stuff” as we think we do. This experience helped me see what it really means to sacrifice and struggle, what it looks like to go without certain comforts, how misguided our sense of material entitlement can be, and how small our own problems really are.

- - - - - - - -
Overall, we had a really great missions trip to Mexico last week. Our teens (Brad Heintz, Michelle Cave, Jenny West, and Sarah Stephens) were wonderful, and God really taught us a lot (and hopefully used us) through our ministry opportunities. I mentioned it in my sermon last week, but I think this was one of the best missions trips I’ve been on. Some of our projects included helping build and renovate homes, working on the site for a future community park, and leading a Vacation Bible School. Watch for a full report coming in the next few weeks! Thank you so much for your prayer and financial support…we really appreciate it!

Sam

Old and new

2007-07-16T14:40:00.000-04:00

OLD: that's me. I turned 24 on Saturday. Okay, some of you may say that's not old, but it's the oldest I've ever been in my life!

NEW: that's the updated and improved Cornerstone website. Check it out at www.cbcspringfield.net! Special thanks to Kim Hughes for all her work on the site; I think it looks awesome!

Let's see...what's going on with me that I could write about?

I started my fourth year of ministry at Cornerstone last week.

I'm almost done with the process of choosing this year's Christmas musical.

I celebrated my birthday Saturday by getting ice cream at ColdStone with my wife and in-laws :)

I fly to Austin in a week for the National Worship Leader Conference.

I'm looking forward to checking out the Creation Museum next weekend.

I'm glad the Cubs are playing well and can't wait for football season to start.

I'm currently listening to:
Jonathan Martin/With One Voice
Rachael Lampa/Blessed

See you Sunday!
Tim

A difficult day

2007-07-12T10:03:00.000-04:00

Our dear sister in Christ, Jeannie Miller, went home to be with Him yesterday morning. Please pray for Jeannie's family during this time. (Information about the memorial service is included in the above link.)

The Holiness of God

2007-07-02T14:51:00.000-04:00

Dan and I had the privilege of attending some of the sessions at Grace Chapel Church's pastors conference last week. The guest speaker was Dr. Steve Lawson, a pastor that we had heard in California last year.

It was refreshing and encouraging to spend some time with friends who minister in other churches, and it was neat to hear Dr. Lawson speak about how he prepares sermons, leads his church, etc.

On Friday night, Dr. Lawson preached a sermon on "The Holiness of God" from Isaiah chapter 6, verses 1-8. Eight verses, over an hour and a half of preaching...wow! He dug in deep to each word of the text, and I came away with a newfound sense of awe and amazement at what a holy God we worship and serve.

The main point that stuck with me from the message was this: we struggle so much with sin because we don't have a right view of the holiness of God. Holy...Holy...Holy...three times the word is used...and Isaiah sees enough in his vision to say "Woe is me"...God's holiness isn't a laughing matter.

When we come together to worship through music this Sunday, I hope you will join me in trying to especially focus on the perfect holiness of God.

Tim

Back in the swing of things...

2007-06-25T08:27:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm back in Ohio...the busy part of my summer is finally over! Dan and I were talking yesterday about how goofy the pastors' schedules are over the next few months. Almost all my traveling was in June...Sam has three trips in the next month or so, and Dan is headed to California soon. We'll have to re-introduce ourselves to each other when we end up all in the same state at the same time again!

Tennessee was great...my grandparents rented a cabin for our whole family, and it was wonderful to get to spend time with them for a whole week! I saw some Southern gospel quartets, some music variety shows, and some full-scale Broadway-type productions. It's never too early to dream about Christmas musicals, right? ... Right? :)

One of the other nice things about this vacation was we had family devotions every night. There were 14 adults, and we took turns leading (2 each night). What an amazing privilege to grow up in a family where each member is loving and serving Christ! I'm so thankful for that, and it was neat to listen to how He is working in the lives of my family.

Well, that's the story of my week...now I'm busy trying to find my desk under all the piles of stuff and start organizing for the rest of the summer...and choir starting up in the fall...and Christmas. Scary, huh?

I want to leave you with the words of this song we sang yesterday morning...no matter what problems you're facing today, I hope this encourages you! Take them all to Christ!

Tim

"I cast all my cares upon You. I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet. And anytime I don't know what to do, I cast all my cares upon You."
CCLI 184080

Whoever said summer is relaxing? :)

2007-06-14T10:21:00.000-04:00

Actually, summer is relaxing...but in a busy sort of way. I haven't posted on here in a couple weeks because our schedule has been insanely crazy! Basketball camp, vacation with Molly's family in Hilton Head, another basketball camp, and now we're getting ready for a Cary family reunion in Pigeon Forge. Here's some highlights from the last two weeks (since I haven't been able to post since then :) ...

The beautiful house we stayed at in South Carolina...wow...

Running to the beach and seeing the space shuttle on its way into orbit...wow again...

Discovering ColdStone Creamery and cake batter ice cream...all at the same time... :)

Getting to spend time with family...and play lots of cards...

Getting to spend time with some of our basketball players at Northwestern...and watch them improve...and watch my wife be a great head coach :)

I hope you're having a good start to the summer...I'll check in again after our trip to Tennessee. Happy Father's Day!

Tim

Happy Birthday to...us!

2007-05-30T15:45:00.001-04:00

Today marks the one-year anniversary of our pastors' blog. Hopefully you've enjoyed the last 365 days of thoughts, encouragement, discussion, stories, and writing from Dan, Sam, and myself. We're over 4,000 visitors and counting, so we're averaging double figures each day!

Remember, if you have a topic or question you'd like us to write about, feel free to let us know. And enjoy the next year of reading!

Tim

Heaven and Growing Older

2007-05-30T15:43:00.000-04:00

I have been reading Randy Alcorn's book "Heaven." As I grow older I find two things happening to me. First, I have a greater sense of urgency. I'm more aware of time, and how precious time is and how time is a gift of God for us to use wisely. Jesus said to His disciples in John 9:4, "We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work." The day speaks of our allotted time on this earth and night speaks of death. Let us not be dawdling around in the day but be about our Lord's work.

Second, I have an ever increasing longing for heaven. More people that I love and hold dear are there now. But more than that, my Savior who loved me and gave himself for me is there. Oh how I want to see Him! Do you? But heaven isn't the automatic default place for everyone. Heaven is for those who have repented of their sin and have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Have you done that? So, let us all who love the Lord labor while it is still day, knowing that our labor for Him is not in vain.
Dan

Worship 365

2007-05-22T09:53:00.000-04:00

Max Lucado once wrote, "Worship is the 'thank you' that can't be silenced." I keep that quote on the wall in my office here. Most of us operate with at least a working definition of the term "worship"...praising the name of the Lord for how wonderful and awesome He is. We understand what Lucado is getting at when he calls worship a "thank you". But...what about the second part of the quote? Can your worship be silenced? And the key word here is YOUR. I'm talking about YOUR worship...can your worship be silenced? If you have a bad day, do you worship the Lord? If you have a busy day, do you worship the Lord? If your prayer isn't answered the way you wanted, do you worship the Lord? If you're persecuted for your faith, do you worship the Lord?

One of the most difficult statements in the Bible for me to get my head around is in Job 1:21. After Job has lost his children and all his earthly possessions (I think that qualifies as a "bad day")...his first spoken sentence includes these words: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

Would I have responded that way on my worst day? Or to make it more convicting...do I respond that way in my mediocre days?

I'm reading a book right now by David M. Edwards called "Worship 365"...I love the title. That's what our lives should be about. Worship that can't be silenced. Is your life an example of Worship 365? Or are you one of the people in today's church who often get into the habit of...Worship 52? "Sunday's over...back to the real world. Too much to do to focus on God...press the mute button on worship for six days or so."

Don't let that be true in your life this week. Our God deserves all 365.

Tim

ACTION STEP: Spend some time on this Tuesday or whenever you're reading to worship the Lord...express the "thank you that can't be silenced."

"I worship You, almighty God. There is none like You. I worship You, o Prince of Peace. That is what I want to do. I give You praise for You are my righteousness. I worship You, almighty God. There is none like You."
CCLI 184080

What do you think?

2007-05-18T10:31:00.000-04:00

I am constantly amazed at the soul-penetrating nature of the Word of God. The prophet Amos declared, "For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what are his thoughts." (4:13). That's an amazing statement. The NASB version capitalizes "his" thus making it refer to God. But the "his" more likely refers to the thoughts of mankind. Do you see the implications of this? Why does God need to declare to us our own thoughts? Why do we need God to tell us what we are thinking? We need the Word of God to interpret and understand our own thoughts! This is consistent with the testimony of the prophet Jeremiah who wrote, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? I, I the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind" (17:9-10). When it comes to the purpose of life, the reason for our existence, the ultimate nature of man and God, and how the two intersect, we cannot trust our own independent thinking. Only the Scriptures can give us a reliable and trustworthy perspective on ourselves, the world around us and on God. So, stop allowing your thoughts to speak to you, but speak the Word of God to your thoughts!

Dan

And to think Goliath was two feet taller...

2007-05-14T14:49:00.000-04:00

Molly and I were able to spend a couple days this week in Michigan with my family...it was nice to get away! Like most of my family get-togethers, there was a lot of good food, euchre, and basketball. We managed to sprain Mom's hand and Allie's ankle both within twenty minutes of playing hoops in the driveway...that's a record even for us!

Anyway, on Friday night, we went to see a minor-league basketball game between the Battle Creek Knights and the Grand Rapids Flight...and saw the world's tallest professional basketball player. All seven-foot-nine of him. To put that in perspective, I'm about six-foot-two...Shaquille O'Neal is seven-foot-one, Yao Ming is seven-foot-five, and the tallest players ever in the NBA (Georghe Muresan and Manute Bol) are seven-foot-seven.

SUN MING MING is about a month younger than me, hopes to play in the NBA eventually, is featured in the upcoming movie Rush Hour 3, and had a good ten inches on every other player in the game Friday night. The man is huge! He has his own website at...you guessed it...sevenfootnine.com. The funny thing is he didn't really dominate the game...I guess some people are blessed with height...and others with speed. Sun Ming Ming falls only into the first category. He sure made the game interesting to watch though! Battle Creek beat the Giants...I mean the Flight...154-116.

Tim

A Wonderful Weekend

2007-05-08T12:22:00.000-04:00

Two huge events this weekend...my sister's graduation from Cedarville on Saturday and our Spring Celebration concert here @ CBC on Sunday...both went well...and now I can finally take a deep breath! Here's a few of the highlights:

My mom, dad, brother, sister, grandma, grandpa, aunt, and grandma were all in town for two or three straight days. Lots of good food, good fellowship, and good fun!

Tiffany didn't fall coming across the stage to get her diploma (the only real way you can screw up your graduation, as far as I know :).

We had a great turnout for the concert on Sunday night. Thanks to each of you who came! The Ball Brothers did a phenomenal job, and our choir sounded great in their portion of the program! I was very pleased with how everything went. We also had Daniel J. Mount, the writer of a popular Southern gospel music blog, make the trip to attend...he wrote a review of the concert on his site. Here's an excerpt from his article:

"The [church] choir joined the trio in singing 'Mercy Said No.' The Ball Brothers’ rendition of the song is inspiring to start with, but the choir gave it a special quality that set it apart and made it another of the evening’s highlights."

For the complete review, click here. For pictures, check out this link.

Life starts to calm down a little now...Spring Celebration is over...it's not time to worry about Christmas yet...yay for a little break!

I'm looking forward to a short trip to Michigan this week with Molly...we'll be back in time for church on Sunday. See you all then!

Tim

We serve a great God!

2007-05-03T12:30:00.000-04:00

"He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our sins. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him. And by His wounds, by His wounds, we are healed.
We are healed for You paid the price...the life that you gave! We are saved, we are saved.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know- nothing but the blood of Jesus."
(CCLI 184080)

This new chorus mixed with part of the words to a hymn has been on my mind recently. I heard it on the radio this morning coming into the office and the wonder of its truth is resounding in my head. As I reflect on the words, I can almost hear the three men singing in harmony as they proclaim the great and marvelous truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is in the gospel that I hear the truth of my condition. It is in the gospel that I hear the truth of my consequences for my condition. It is in the gospel that I hear the truth of my conquering Savior. (That sounds like a preachable sermon right there! :)
My heart overflows with love, praise, and thankfulness for such a great God as our God: the one true and living God. Only our God can take a broken, weak, downcast person, and make them beautiful. Only our God can take a rebellious, lustful, ungodly person and make them righteous and holy. Only our God can take an arrogant, foolish, God hater and make them wise godly leaders in their home and church.

The Truth is: I am a great sinner but Christ is a great Redeemer.
Sam

May Day

2007-05-01T13:51:00.000-04:00

The calendar has changed...it is April no longer...hopefully that means no more snow? :)

This has been a good week. Here's some highlights:

Friday...Molly and I attended a benefit dinner for the family of Amy Marton, a senior at Northwestern High School who recently passed away. It was good to be able to help out with their medical bills, as well as spend some time getting to know people in the Northwestern community better.

Saturday...we had dinner with Ron, Betsy, Sam, Megan, and James...what a great family we have...and what an adorable nephew :)

Sunday...was a great day of services here at CBC. I was challenged by Sam's message about "the war for our worship". I also enjoyed praising our Lord through singing with all of you...blessing, honor, glory, and power be unto the Ancient of Days!

Monday...we were able to see part of the Northwestern/Kenton Ridge baseball game in the afternoon. Church connections in both dugouts...Brad Heintz pitched for Kenton Ridge, while Brent Parke (who's also our neighbor) coaches the Warriors. It was an exciting game, and KR ended up winning in extra innings. Molly and I didn't get to see the end of the game, though, because we also had an "open gym", where we watch some of the girls basketball players. It's been fun to start to get to know them and see them play. By the time we got done and made it home, it was nearly 10:00!

Looking ahead to this week, I'm excited to see my family...they'll all be here Thursday from Michigan for Tiffany's graduation at Cedarville (Saturday morning). They're planning to stay for church Sunday too, so make sure you say hi and introduce yourself!

There's also this Spring Celebration thing happening this weekend. You should come. :)

I think that's it for now. Sam will have a blog up here soon. I promise :) I hope :) Maybe :)

Tim

Church is about Changing!

2007-04-26T12:24:00.000-04:00

Sam and I just returned from a mini one and a half day conference at Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette. As I have processed what I heard and experienced, I came away with at least one nugget of truth: a reminder about what we are to be doing in the church. The church is about seeing people change and we all need that changing. If you come to church thinking you are just fine the way you are, then you are coming to church for the wrong reason, whatever that reason is. This is what progressive sanctification is all about. None of us have "arrived" yet in the outworking of our salvation. We are all progressing (hopefully) as we live out our faith here and now.

Even the apostle Paul himself said, "Not that I have already obtained it [the "it" in context is Christ-likeness] or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:12) What a remarkable statement! Progressive sanctification in a nutshell! Our greatest desire and goal in life should be a continual striving at becoming who we already are in Christ Jesus and to help others do the same. This is what God is striving for. What great hope this ought to give us! The church is not for perfect people (practically speaking) but for progressing people. And God has graciously given us everything we need for this in His all sufficient Word, His Holy Spirit and His people, the church. So, let us all come this Sunday expecting to be changed and to be an instrument of change in some one else's life.

Dan

News and notes

2007-04-24T10:23:00.000-04:00

I know what you're thinking...I can practically hear you. "What good is a blog if you guys hardly ever write on it?" And you're right :) I officially apologize for all three pastors becoming blog slackers over the last couple months, and we'll do better. I hope. :)

What's going on with Tim and Molly lately? Let's see...

#1 We've been busy with basketball. In case you haven't heard this yet, Molly is the new varsity head coach for the girls' team at Northwestern High School. That somehow makes me the assistant coach...and gives us a lot of work to do as we start to think about next season.

#2 We attended the missions conference here at Cornerstone. Special thanks to everyone whose planning and time went into an excellent weekend!

#3 Since it's spring...and spring means baseball season...I've been watching the Cubs play on TV when I get a chance. Someday I'll get to watch them WIN occasionally, but that's another story...

#4 We've enjoyed having the Kellers back in the USA for a few weeks...they return to Sri Lanka on Sunday.

#5 I'm still working on a lot of little details for the Ball Brothers/Worship Choir concert next Sunday, May 6. I'm really hoping each of you is able to come -- this should be a great night of praise, worship, and music. I'm challenging the choir to memorize all of their songs...a worthy goal, but we'll see how that works out :)

#6 We're counting down the days until summer. (At least the weather's warmer now then it was a couple weeks ago...I was afraid we would regress into winter!) Molly and I are looking forward to June family vacations with the Earleys in Hilton Head and the Carys in Pigeon Forge. I'm also excited to attend the National Worship Leader Conference in Austin, TX this July.

#7 I've spent a good bit of time over the last few weeks working with Kim Hughes on our worship choir website. Kim does a great job with all the graphics and design, and you should check out the finished (at least for now) product at www.SpringfieldChristmas.com. Hopefully this site will be a great tool as you invite your friends to both the Spring Celebration concerts and Christmas musical dramas in the future.

Well, I think that's it for now. Check back soon for more updates from the pastors...and have a wonderful week!

Tim

Southern Sunshine

2007-04-10T14:35:00.000-04:00

Molly and I just returned Saturday from a week of rest and relaxation in sunny Florida! The weather there was wonderful...but I'll try not to rub it in too much. :)

Here's some highlights of our spring break trip (in no particular order):

--hanging out with friends in Pompano Beach

--attending their church on Sunday morning

--eating at the Cheesecake Factory

--staying with my Grandma B. in Sebring

--having dinner with my Grandma and Grandpa C. before they headed back to Michigan

--touring the Kennedy Space Center

--seeing a real live alligator in the "wild"

--eating Giordanos pizza!

--attending the Orlando Magic/Toronto Raptors NBA game

--eating my grandma' s cooking every day

--visiting with my mom's cousin Kim, who's a missionary to Lithuania (is that my second cousin?)

--presenting a solo piano concert on Good Friday at Maranatha Baptist

--did I mention Grandma's cooking? She makes the best cinnamon rolls ever :)

--getting home on time Saturday (if only our bags could say the same)

Speaking of getting home, we made it back in time for the Easter morning service here at CBC. Special thanks to the choir and soloists for all their work on a great morning of worship and music! What a wonderful occasion as we celebrated the resurrection of our Savior.

"He's alive! He's alive! He's alive and I'm forgiven; heaven's gates are open wide!
He's alive!"

Have a great week of worship!
Tim

Expedience

2007-03-22T16:23:00.000-04:00

Someone once said, "The winds of conviction pass through the pulpit first." In my studies this week, one particular issue seemed to come up; the issue of expediency. In John 11, the High Priest Caiaphas suggested that it would be more expedient for one man to die, namely Jesus, then for the whole nation to perish. It is easy for us to think that we would never make such a decision. But if we are really honest with our hearts, how often do we make decisions based on pure expediency? Good old Webster defines "expedience" as: "regard for what is advantageous rather than right or just." Again, if we are brutally honest with our own hearts we often make our decisions based on personal expedience rather than on what is right. This, in principle, is no different than what Caiaphas did. While God in His sovereignty used the wicked decision of Caiaphas to accomplish His holy purpose, Caiaphas was still culpable. The foundation for all our decisions in life must always be the truth of God as found in His inerrant Word. May we rejoice in doing the will of God from the heart and not expedience.

Dan

Singing and soccer...soccer and singing!

2007-03-22T11:20:00.000-04:00

Let me start with the e-mail we sent out today:

This Sunday, March 25, is your last chance to buy tickets to the Columbus Crew soccer game on Saturday night, August 18. CBC gets a special group rate of $10 each for this Major League Soccer game; make sure you sign up to sit with us and enjoy a great night of fellowship. This would be a wonderful event to invite some friends to...spend a summer Saturday watching soccer and hearing the Worship Choir sing the national anthem! Check with your friends and family so you know how many people want to come, then make sure you stop by the table in the foyer on Sunday to reserve your seats! If you won't be around on Sunday and still want to purchase tickets, contact Pastor Tim as soon as possible. Thank you.

I don't have a lot more to write about besides that; I just really hope you'll consider coming with us to Columbus. We had a great time when we went over last August, and I'm really looking forward to this opportunity for our choir and church to be a testimony to thousands of people!

In other news...I've been busy this week! On top of the normal duties of planning for Easter, our Spring Celebration, and Sunday's service...I'm working on my program for a solo piano concert. You're welcome to come, but it's a good distance from Ohio. I will be playing on Good Friday at my grandma's church in Sebring, Florida. I'm looking forward to this chance to visit Grandma...minister through music...and, of course, enjoy warm weather on spring break!

One of the songs I'll be singing is "His Strength is Perfect" by Steven Curtis Chapman. In a lot of ways, these past few days have been stressful and difficult for me, and I'm thankful for the words of this song that have constantly reverberated in my head. I hope they encourage you today.

Tim

"His strength is perfect when our strength is gone. He'll carry us when we can't carry on. Raised in His power, the weak become strong. His strength is perfect. His strength is perfect."
CCLI 184080

The Madness of March

2007-03-12T11:23:00.000-04:00

A few of you may have figured this out by now...but I'm a pretty big sports fan. Okay, so most of you have figured that out :) And of all the sports events of the year...my favorite by far is March Madness (or for the un-initiated, the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship Tournament). Starting tomorrow, there will be a total of 64 games in three weeks, concluding with the Final Four in Atlanta on March 31 and April 1. Words like bracket, pool, bubble, mid-major, seed, and RPI are tossed around freely...teams like George Mason last year become the Cinderella darlings of America...and there's the potential for three or four buzzer-beaters and fantastic finishes almost instaneously!

My dad got me started filling out a bracket each year as a little boy, and I remember having contests with my brother and sister to see who could get the most games right. (The first few years, they thought it would be cool to pick the lowest-ranked teams to go all the way, since they were underdogs...I might have encouraged this slightly...and unfortunately for Tommy, Florida International never did win that elusive national title).

No matter whether my favorite teams are in the tournament or not, it's always exciting...and this year will be extra-exciting because Purdue made the field of 65! The Boilermakers haven't been in the tournament for several years, and they've been planted squarely "on the bubble" most of this season...even as late as Saturday, Sports Illustrated was convinced they wouldn't make the tournament while ESPN said they were going to be in. It made for a pretty nervous weekend for the players and fans (including one worship pastor in Ohio), but thankfully, Purdue was included in this year's tournament field. Now I have my own underdog to pull for while watching the games...March is a great month!

Tim

A Day in the Life

2007-03-09T09:41:00.000-05:00

I have been a bad blog-boy. It has been some time since my last entry, so I hope I won't be banished to blogger purgatory. I thought I would give you a rundown of the average day for me (is there such a thing as an average day for a pastor?) Let me use this past Wednesday as an example.

The first thing I do is wake up. I try to say a little prayer of thanksgiving for the new day and ask God ( "beg" might be a better word) to enable me to live and do for his honor and glory; all this before my little piggies hit the carpet. I get myself ready and then help our boys get ready for school. We then usually rush out the door and I drive the boys to school. After I drop the boys off, sometimes I will go to Speedway (for my California friends, that's a gas station) to grab a cup of coffee. This gets me to my office at church at around 8:00 a.m.

The very first thing I do is spend that first hour in personal devotions. I typically begin with Bible reading. On Wednesdays I usually read the passage we will be considering at prayer meeting that night. I then spend 30-45 minutes in prayer. I usually pray inside out: that is, I start with myself and then move outward, praying first for my most intimate family and friends and then for those not as intimate. I like to use the church pictorial, praying over a page each day. Next, I work on my Sunday morning message. This takes me to lunch time at noon. I usually go home and have lunch with my dear wifey. After lunch (If this is too stimulating for you, you can take a break and come back) I come back to church. On Wednesdays, we have a pastoral staff meeting at 1:00. This will go for about two hours. In the afternoon I will deal with miscellaneous administrivia; answer e-mails, make phone calls, go through mail etc. I then spend some time working on my Sunday School lesson.
I try to head home for a little dinner, and then come right back to church for prayer meeting and choir practice. Once we arrive back at the homestead we get the boys ready for bed. I read the Bible and we pray, and then I spend the rest of the evening with Michelle. This usually gets me to bed around 11:00. So, if you ever wondered what a pastor does with himself on days other than Sunday, I hope this has solved the mystery for you (at least in regards to this pastor). And don't ever forget, we are immortal until God is through with us!

Dan

News from the Worship Pastor's Office

2007-03-06T10:49:00.000-05:00

Here's some random things I've been working on that you should know about:

A. SPRING CELEBRATION
We're looking forward to an incredible night of music on Sunday night, May 6. This concert series has brought Jonathan Martin and Cherie Adams to CBC the last couple years; now we have the privilege of hosting The Ball Brothers for our 2007 concert.

The Ball Brothers are a trio of three brothers (how ever did you guess that already? :) that sing many different styles of Christian music. If you enjoy Southern gospel, this is the concert for you. If you enjoy big-band swing, this is the concert for you. If you enjoy a cappella hymns, this is the concert for you. If you enjoy inspirational Christian music, this is the concert for you. Check out the link to their website above and listen to samples of their music -- hopefully you'll be as excited as I am.

The Ball Brothers are gaining recognition on a national scale; they recently appeared on TBN's Praise the Lord and are featured in Get Away Jordan, the brand new video from Ernie Haase and Signature Sound. We are also extremely excited that our Worship Choir will be able to participate in this year's Spring Celebration concert; we look forward to performing several songs on our own and with the Ball Brothers.

Mark your calendars...start inviting your friends...May 6 at a special time of 6:00 pm.

B. SOCCER
Speaking of the Worship Choir, we were pleased to be invited back to Columbus to sing the national anthem again this year for a Crew professional soccer game. Saturday night, August 18, 2007 is the date, and we have reserved a limited number of tickets in the CBC section. You can purchase these tickets for $10 each starting this Sunday...see me for any questions. (Children 2 and under do not need a ticket if they sit on a parent's lap). We'd love to have each of you join us for a great night of fellowship in Columbus!

C. EVERYTHING ELSE!
Even with all these projects, the rest of the music "stuff" at church doesn't stop. Our choir and instrumentalists have faithfully worked week in and week out to prepare music for each Sunday's worship service. Make sure to take time to thank these worship leaders for their sacrifice of time and effort...I appreciate it so much!

We sang a great new song this Sunday morning; I first heard it when the HeartSong team came from Cedarville a couple weeks ago. What a wonderful picture of our everlasting praise to God! May these words ring in your heart and mind this week.

Tim

REVELATION SONG (CCLI 184080)
Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain;
Holy, holy is He.
Sing a new song to Him
Who sits on Heaven’s mercy seat.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty Who was and is and is to come.
With all creation I sing
praise to the King of kings;
You are my everything,
and I will adore You.

Clothed in rainbows of living color,
flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder,
Blessing and honor,
strength and glory and power be
To You the only wise King.

Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder
at the mention of Your Name.
Jesus, Your Name is power, breath and
living water, such a marvelous mystery.

I have been refreshed.

2007-02-22T15:57:00.000-05:00

What does it mean to be refreshed?
The dictionary says, "to make one stronger and more energetic than before, to revive or stimulate, to become fresh again." That is a great description of how I feel after a week to focus on the Word of God and its application to my life and ministry.

Last week I had an opportunity to attend Faith Baptist Church's Biblical Counseling conference for the fourth year in a row and I feel as though my soul is alive again. I began the week empty and tired and I ended the week with my soul satisfied and overflowing with gratitude and worship of our great God. In other words, you could say I have been refreshed.

I only wish more people could experience this kind of week. A week without distractions. A week to focus my attention on my relationship with God and His Word. Oh wait! You can! Again this year we are planning to provide scholarships for people to attend this conference and others like it. So you too can be 'refreshed' and better serve the Savior and those around you. Would you consider spending a week purely focusing on your relationship with the Lord and your ministry in the lives of others and attend this conference with me next year? Perhaps you will be able to say as I am, "I have been refreshed."

Back from Indiana...

2007-02-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

Sam and I had a great week at Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette...except for the 17 inches of snow :) Yes, I said 17. I'll even spell it out because it's such a huge number: S E V E N T E E N.

The funny part is everyone knew "The Storm" was on its way. By Tuesday, the screen that usually scrolled conference announcements just had the television station's radar. Our evening session Tuesday was moved up so we didn't have to make two trips to the church (who needs dinner break anyway? :) All the prepared people (not your CBC pastors of course :) had made that last trip to the grocery store where they grabbed anything they could possibly need for the next 20 years while they were snowed in. "The Storm" was coming.

(Cue scary, dramatic music).

Getting to the church Tuesday morning wasn't a big problem. We had already gotten about 4 inches overnight, but we allowed extra time to get from the hotel to the church. After that, though, it was pretty surreal looking out the windows and seeing it snow for 12 straight hours or so. Basically, Lafayette got an inch of snow every hour all day long. By the time the conference finished at 6:30, we were officially "Blizzard Central". The good news is our vehicle was able to navigate the snowy terrain successfully and safely. There were some cars in the parking lot when we left that weren't going anywhere for a while (the two-foot drifts around them might have had something to do with that). The bad news is that Tippecanoe County was in a snow emergency and almost every place to eat dinner on Route 26 (think Bechtle Ave. times three or four...any restaurant you can imagine) was deserted. We were finally able to find a nice restaurant called Mountain Jack's and ate there before venturing back to our hotel. And that was the snow day. (We actually heard stories later about a bunch of conference guests that had gone to Cracker Barrel; the restaurant was so short-staffed that the guests pitched in and started working. "And what would you like for dinner, sir?")

ANYWAY...outside of that little weather situation, we did have a great week. I learned so much from God's Word, and really enjoyed the time to study and learn. Thanks to those of you who were praying for us.

The Biblical counseling program at Faith is built around two important doctrines: progressive sanctification (we should be growing and changing to become more like Christ) and the sufficiency of Scripture. The teachers at the conference did a great job, in my opinion, of building all their material and instruction on that foundation. I realized how many times I don't live or think like the Bible is sufficient for all of life's situations and problems...it's so easy to fall into the habit of thinking and acting just like the world! My project today is to go back through pages of notes and summarize for myself some of the main things I learned. If any of you are able to go to the conference next year, I highly recommend it.

I also really enjoyed the chance to participate in a worship service I wasn't leading on Sunday...okay, two worship services! We went to the early service and Sunday School time at Faith, which meant we were done by 10:30. After that, we headed down the road to a different church where one of my friends from Cedarville is the music director, and made it just in time for their 10:45 service. What a great day of worshipping the Lord!

And finally...for your reading pleasure...
Here's a few other random goofy thoughts from the week (I don't think I can write a blog post without some randomness).

It's hard to walk down a "sidewalk" when it's covered by 17 inches of snow.

It's always frustrating when you tell the Pizza Hut worker "carryout", show up to get your pizza, and find out they delivered it to your hotel.

Every church should have a pop machine :)

Listening to 1400 voices praising God together is awesome.

Sitting through 9 hours of class a day, even with great material, can be hard and mentally taxing. Sam and I would go to dinner and spend most of the time just trying to figure out and understand what we had heard all day. If you were there, you could have seen the smoke rising from our heads...that's how much knowledge was packed in during a short amount of time! :)

And last but not least,
Purdue beat Indiana 81-68.

Tim

Looking back and looking ahead...

2007-02-08T13:32:00.001-05:00

Here's the latest update from Pastor Tim's world...I've divided it into "looking back" and "looking ahead"...for purposes of simplicity :)

1. LOOKING BACK...

BacktheJackets.com
I spent this past Saturday at Cedarville University watching basketball. Four games, as a matter of fact...two alumni games and two varsity games. Molly played in the ladies' alumni game and was a smashing success (translation: did not get hurt or fall down :). The CU men's and women's teams both won in the evening also, so it was a good day. Afterwards, we went out to eat with a bunch of friends from the "good ole college days". Hanging out with alumni definitely makes me feel old ("do you remember when...?), but we had a great time together!

Super Bowl commercials
After church on Sunday night, we had our small group over to the house to watch the Super Bowl...good times, not so good commercials. As someone who enjoys watching lots of sports on TV, I always look forward to the one time a year when the commercials are new and funny, but this year's were a bit of a letdown. A few I did enjoy: the "No hablo Ingles" and "face-slapping replaced fist-pumping".

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...
Molly and I have had the added bonus of some extra time together this week, courtesy of two straight snow days for Northwestern Public Schools. I juggled my work schedule a bit so I could spend some extra time at home with her during those days, and we really enjoyed being able to relax together. (I owned the Phase 10 competition, by the way... :)

2. LOOKING AHEAD

The blog will be a little slower next week as Sam and I head to Lafayette for a Biblical counseling conference. We'll be gone Saturday - Friday, along with Johnathon and Crystal Bowers. I hope you all have a good Sunday morning here, and I look forward to seeing you when we get back!

Tim

Growing in Holiness

2007-02-01T10:07:00.000-05:00

The chorus of a song by Christian music artist Wayne Watson goes, "I'm growing and I don't like it; I'm growing and it hurts. I'm tired, but I love You; I guess I got a lot to learn; I guess I got a lot to learn." As I have been studying the holiness of God this week, I have felt a little bit like the prophet Isaiah when he was given a vision of the Lord high and lifted up. Isaiah immediately pronounced a woe upon himself. Being in the presence of a thrice holy God as revealed in Scripture has been extremely humbling. It has been a painful purging and growing experience. The penetrating rays of God's blazing holiness have exposed pockets of sin and disobedience in my life. This is painful. No one likes to see their ugly parts, but they must be exposed to the light of God's holiness if they are to be cleansed and purged. It is like salt in a wound; it stings at first, but what follows is the joy that comes from sweet fruit of righteousness. Above all, it has made me flee to and embrace the cross of Jesus Christ more fervently and with greater joy. Our sin has been dealt with once and for all in the death of Jesus. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Our filthy rags have been covered over with the robes of His righteousness! So, in the end it is a pain that is filled with great joy!

Dan

Looking forward to February

2007-01-30T12:41:00.000-05:00

The first month of 2007 is almost behind us...hard to believe! Here's a few exciting things coming up for me in February:

#1 Biblical Counseling Training Conference...I will be attending this conference in Lafayette, Indiana from Feb. 10-16. Sam has gone for several years in a row now, and has nothing but good things to say! I'm looking forward to this time of studying God's Word and enjoying fellowship with CBC friends: Johnathon & Crystal Bowers, Bob & Shirley Mengel, and Sam are all attending.

#2 The end of Northwestern's 8th grade girls basketball season...Molly loves coaching and does a great job...our schedule definitely calms down after the season ends though! Her team is currently playing in the conference tournament, and will be done at the end of this week.

#3 HeartSong concert here at church. Sunday night, February 18 is a special night here at Cornerstone as we are led in worship by a music team from Cedarville University. I hope each of you will plan to join us for this evening of praising the Lord together! 5:45 pm...invite a friend!

Happy February everyone!

No such thing as a slow summer!

2007-01-25T13:16:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again. January is the month where I spend all my time planning for the summer's activities. Yes, activitieS... plural, multiple, more than one!

It begins with planning for the senior banquet that is always in May. This year will be easy: we only have one senior! Then Vacation Bible School. The only thing I have done for that is setting the dates. I am still swimming through the pool of mediocre children's material that is labeled VBS kits!

Next on the agenda is planning for Senior Trip. We will be going to Gatlinburg, TN again -- it will be loads of fun! The main planning is already complete; it's more of the fine tuning of the trip (grocery lists and lessons for each night of the trip) that still needs to be put together.

Oh yeah, let's not forget about missions trip! The pinnacle, the Mount Everest, the creme de la creme of youth events. This year is THE year. That's right, it's the year of the big "out-of-country" trip. The trip that lifelong stories are made of. I thought I had everything planned for this lifechanging trip until a minor crack began to form.

You see, the master plan was to visit the Reilly family in Costa Rica. We were going to teach an English VBS as well as participate in sports ministry & street evangelism. However, it appears that all those plans have crumbled. The Reillys will be in the States during June & July. (Side note: July is the time every year that we schedule missions trips.) They will return to Costa Rica the first week in August, so that is when we scheduled the trip. Unfortunately, that is also the same time that all of the teens begin mandatory sports and band practices. Not good planning on my part!

So now, I am back to the drawing board. I still have some good ideas of other trip possibilities, so please be in prayer for this process. Missions trip is always one of the best trips for the teens.

And if THAT weren't enough planning, this year is the year we go to TLC @ BBC. Did you catch all that? (Translation = Teen Leadership Conference @ Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit, PA). This is an easy trip for me; all I have to do is drive there and the college takes care of the rest. It's a great week of teaching for the teens to be challenged in their walk with Christ, and most of the time, God uses the speakers to challenge me as well.

That's my summer...May to July...crazy, huh? And it's only January! Lots to do between now and then to get ready...so I'd better go! Thanks for reading :)

Sam

Music outside the Church, part 2: High School Musical

2007-01-22T14:20:00.000-05:00

Molly and I were among the thousands of people who jammed the Ohio State basketball arena last Thursday night to see “High School Musical: The Concert”. The small difference between us and the other 15,000? We were neither 10-year-old girl nor parent of 10-year-old girl. But what does that have to do with anything? :)

Now for those of you aren’t familiar with High School Musical, let me give you a brief history. HSM is a made-for-TV movie that first aired on the Disney Channel exactly one year ago. One of the few musicals designed for the younger generations of the 21st century, it became immensely (and somewhat surprisingly) popular almost overnight. Its positive themes of stereotype-defying friendship and acceptance resonated with millions of fans and helped create namesake video games, t-shirts, DVDs, a best-selling CD soundtrack, and eventually, the concert Molly and I attended. Five of the six stars of the actual movie were live and in person in Columbus to sing the hit songs from HSM. Here’s a few things I learned:

#1. Excitement is contagious. As the countdown to the concert began, I thought my eardrums were going to burst…and I had earplugs in! The kids at this show screamed for two hours straight, it seemed. Every time they saw one of their favorite characters hit the stage, the yelling began. “We love you, Vanessa!” And on and on it went. Yeah, like she can hear you from half a mile away! :) But I have to admit, I was probably just as excited by the time the concert started as the kids were. The music in the show is incredible, and the production/ performance was excellent. I couldn’t wait for the next song to start. When’s the last time you sat in the CBC sanctuary at 10:28 on a Sunday morning and couldn’t wait for the worship service to start? You were so excited to meet with God in a group setting that you could barely stand it? You were overcome by the thought of how amazing He was and you had to yell out “I love you, God!” And He CAN hear us! Where is our excitement? Why do ten-year-olds feel closer to Disney characters than we do to our Heavenly Father? Not easy questions for me to answer…how about you?

Lesson #2. Live with an attitude of gratitude. After each performer finished their set of music, the emcee would “interview” them on stage for a couple minutes. (It’s called stalling for time, I believe… :) Anyway, the conversation would go something like this.

Over-the-top excited emcee: “Wow, life must be great for you right now! You’ve got your own album coming out…you get to do these concerts every night…and you’re ready to go work on the sequel. You must be having the time of your life!”

Out-of-breath performer: “Yeah, it’s amazing. I can hardly believe it’s real. I’m getting the chance to live my dream…and it’s all because of you, my wonderful fans! (Points and/or blows kisses to audience) Thank you so much for your support…I couldn’t have done it without you!”

This script played out time after time with each of the different performers. Molly and I were both struck by how purposefully these young teenagers (and the Disney marketing giant they represent/work for) repeated the mantra: It’s all because of the fans. We love our fans. We’re here for our fans. This wouldn’t have happened without our fans.

Eventually, the fans start believing it…and buying more stuff…and the performers (& Disney stockholders) are set for life. Wait a second, this isn’t a marketing class…I think I got off on a tangent there :) WHAT I’M TRYING TO GET AT IS: Do you live your life with a constant realization of what amazing things God has done for you? Is the cross in the forefront of your mind each day? Is the resurrection the first thing you think of when your feet hit the floor each morning? Do you live your life as if salvation is your most priceless treasure? (because it is!). How much more thankful should we be to our Savior, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, and Provider than Corbin Bleu is to the ten-year-old girl who buys his album?

I was going to write more, but instead, I want you to stop and use this time to thank the Lord…for everything. That’s more important! Hope you enjoyed “Music Outside the Church.”

Tim