John Challis Passes Away At Age 18

John Challis is one of those beautiful stories of courage in the face of death. He passed away today at age 18. Here is his story:

CCCC Church Planting Movement

The Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC) recently produced a video on church planting that is fantastic. God is doing a special work within the CCCC. This video highlights the church planting movement within the denomination, specifically in the Boston, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Los Angeles areas. I know that many of you who read this blog have considered church planting. Let me encourage you to prayerfully consider doing so with the CCCC's. It's a wonderful denomination that God is truly doing a great work in. Check out the video and see for yourself.


Church Multiplication and the CCCC (Long) from CCCC USA on Vimeo.

Off To Michigan!

Our family is going on vacation tomorrow to Maranatha Bible and Missionary Conference in Muskegon, Michigan. We go every summer, and it is a highlight for us. Maranatha is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and is absolutely beautiful. There is great programming for children-adults. I'd encourage you to check out the website for Maranatha by clicking HERE. I've attached Marantha's promo video to this post.

Baptism Sunday!

Today was a special day at Woodbury Community Church. Once a year we have an outdoor service at Carver Lake Beach in Woodbury. Today was that Sunday. It was awesome! It's so special to worship outdoors. We sang songs that we believe to be true about our God. We dove into the Word of God and looked at Mark 6:30-52, which talks about an incredible day that Jesus spent at the Lake. He fed 5,000 people, walked on water, you know - a typical day in the life of Jesus. And then, we baptized seven precious people.

Baptisms may be one of my favorite parts of being a member of the Body of Christ. It's beautiful to listen to people share about how they met Christ. It's awesome to hear people publicly confess their faith in Jesus Christ.

After the baptism, we ate. One of the fun parts of being part of a smaller church is the church potluck. It was great to talk to my brothers and sisters in Christ. It was sweet to meet new people. It was special to see God's church in action. John Kimball, one of our church members took about 40 pictures of the day. I've included a few with this post.

Is Our Gospel Too Small or Too Big?

The folks over at Preaching Today have started an audio podcast entitled the Preaching Today Talk. They are doing a great job interviewing pastors, theologians, and some of today's leading thinkers about a variety of topics. They have chosen a very important topic for the first series of talks. It's all about "Getting The Gospel Right."

In a day and age when I believe that we have made the Gospel something that it is not, I believe that this topic is of utmost importance. You can listen to D.A. Carson's take on the subject by clicking HERE. Once you do, you'll be shown how to download the podcast directly to iTunes. Scot McKnight has also contributed to this conversation. Enjoy, and may your mind be stimulated.