oasisCHURCH

I added a link to

I added a link to the "Teaching Downloads" section to the right. Everytime we record our all-church gathering I will put the link up on stewieblogs.

Looking forward to a relaxing time in God's presence and in the presence of brothers and sisters tomorrow. Heather always does a great job leading worship and discerning both, the Spirit of God and the feelings of all the people in the room.

Today was such a beautiful day. I took Brock with me to our intersquad scrimmage/practice today. He had a great time. It was a good father-son day.

That's all for today. Just keeping it simple. I have nothing profound or spiritual to say today. Still processing this past week. Admittingly, I have not yet found the joy and comfort out of what transpired with our house... and I may never. But I am moving on. I had a Bud Light or two... relaxed, and enjoyed an evening with my children last night. Nothing else was on my mind. Just sitting on the couch with the two of them on my lap.

Now in THAT..., I did find joy.

I had a very bad

I had a very bad blog week. In fact, it was so bad that many people may have even stopped looking at my blog. That's okay.

The offer on our house in Wauseon came and went. I had really believed it would be the one. That finally we would see the end to our long and tiresome house-for-sale ordeal. The couple who made the offer found another house in another town that they liked better than ours (two days after making an offer on ours), so they refused our counter offer. Our realtor told us that even if we hadn't counter-offered they would have gotten out of the contract one way or another.

Ever since finding out this news I have sort of felt like Mel Gibson's character from the movie Signs at the dinner scene where he says, "I am not wasting another minute of my life on prayer." Well, I don't actually feel like that about prayer in general, but I certainly do about our house. That sounds terrible, but it's just being honest... it's wearing my feelings on my sleeve. That's what a blog does... it allows us to see the whole sleeve. This house contract got me excited again. As I prayed I really felt like this was it... this would finally be the release. I was shocked at the news yesterday.

I am thankful to everyone who offered to help us in this deal, and especially for the prayers we received. If you're reading this, please keep sending them up. Thank you.

Beautiful day today. Did several

Beautiful day today. Did several things. First went to EHS this morning to put up the batting cage and to work on the ball diamond while the players took several swings in the cage. The pitching mound looks pretty decent now. Had to build it up a couple of inches. I think we'll be able to practice on the field soon as long as the weather cooperates.

When I got back home today I found out we had an offer on our house in Wauseon. This would be the first offer in over a year (actually, nearly a year and a half). The offer is much lower than we can afford to sell the house, but we are trying to figure out a way to make it happen. Such as, getting a personal loan for the difference in what we'll lose from selling the house for less than we owe. Yes, we would still be paying back a loan and have nothing to show for it... but at least the house would be out of our hands, including the mortgage, the taxes, the utilities, the insurance, etc. I don't know what to do. I really need a word from the Holy Spirit on this one.

The next thing that happened today was even more exciting... Brock rode his bike without the training wheels! He was soooo excited. So was I. He rode and rode and rode around the library parking lot. I cannot believe how big he is getting. He's an ox... for a four year old.

I also noticed how big my daughter, Kaylee, is getting today. She came in and said, "Daddy, I want to tell you something." Then she had me bend over, and she whispered in my ear, "Brock and I want to go outside to play so he can ride his bike and me too." She speaks in full sentences now. And she is so beautiful.

Well, my notes are finished printing for tomorrow morning's discussion on community, fellowship, and being intentionally missional. I have more to write, but need to stop now so I can spend some alone time with April.

So much to write about,

So much to write about, so little time...

Brian and Sarah Hall
Our weekend visit with Brian and Sarah Hall (and family) was wonderful. Sarah is one of my favorite people in the world, and Brian is without a doubt one of the best friends I have ever had. Proof of that is the fact that it took only minutes for our conversations to cut through the surface and venture into the deep... just where they always were a little less than two years ago when we left Wauseon. I wish I had two or three more days with them. Time flew by while they were here. Even staying up until 3:00 in the morning did not provide adequate time for our visit. Come back soon.

Waverly Gathering
Words would not be fit to describe our experience on Sunday night. The Spirit of Christ truly reigned in our gathering with Lotus Christian Fellowship. We felt, not as two distinct bodies gathering together... but as ONE. The Lord brought us together and we had everything in common. I feel such a camaraderie with them. Heather (Zeigler) mentioned tonight that while there she got a true sense of what it means to be brothers and sisters in Christ... one body. We are members of their body, and they ours... just from a distance. Immediately we felt a love for them, and a longing to continue to fellowship with them. Hopefully there will be so much more to come in our relationship with Lotus Christian Fellowship.

School and Baseball
Classes are going well. We're studying modern nonfiction in Literature, and maps of the states and capitals in Geography. Just finished up a unit on world religions in Geography. It was just a brief overview of some of the major religions, practices, and beliefs of the world. Baseball is phenomenal as always. It would not matter where I was or who I was playing with, coaching, or whatever... baseball would still be phenomenal. I am on cloud nine every time I get the opportunity to be directly involved with baseball, whether coaching or playing. We went outside today since it was in the 50s (degrees). First game is in three and a half weeks. The Eagles will be ready. These guys are working very hard. That's all I will say about that.

Home and Family
Of course I became a little spoiled during all of our time off for the snow... getting to stay at home with April and the kids. It's been difficult to go from that to being gone until after 7:00 p.m. (because of baseball practice). When I come home the kids both greet me with such excitement... hugs and kisses. I need to do better at allowing myself to wind down and just be with the kids. Too often I come home from a day full of instruction, coaching, and discipline... and I assume that same role with my kids. They are just excited to see me, and are jumping off the walls, and I need to learn to just share their joy and simply BE with them.

Well, there's a little keyboard confessional for the weblog. Now it's time to log off, and sit down with my wife. Good night.

We’re having a great time

We’re having a great time hanging with Brian and Sarah Hall, and Brock and Kaylee are TOTALLY digging Caleb and Taylor.

I had an interesting conversation at school that I’d like to share with the blog community. Actually, this is a pretty common thought, I have found, among people who want to discuss what I do for a living. The conversation went something like this:

CO-WORKER: So Chris, you’ve mentioned that you have changed careers. What did you do for a living before teaching?

CHRIS: Well, actually, I didn’t “change” careers. It’s kind of like this… I added one.

CO-WORKER: What do you mean?

CHRIS: I mean, I used to be in ministry full-time with a church, but now that isn’t my full-time job…

CO-WORKER: (interrupts) Oh… I see. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want.

CHRIS: What do you mean?

CO-WORKER: I mean, if it makes you uncomfortable.

CHRIS: Oh no, it isn’t like that at all. I didn’t get fired, or I didn’t get mad and quit the ministry. What I meant to say was, I still am in ministry. I am still a pastor. In fact I help start new churches.

CO-WORKER: Really??? How do you have time for that now?

CHRIS: Well, my way of life in church these days is much simpler than it ever has been before. My goal as a pastor is to help people be the church more than it is to create a place for people to go to church. Of course we do gather together, but that isn't our main focus as a church.

CO-WORKER: What is your main focus?

CHRIS: To live in our neighborhoods. To go to our places of employment. To love God. To enjoy the lives we have, and the lives we share with each other. To be an encouragement and a blessing to the people with whom we live, work, and play. And most of all, to recognize the fact that wherever we are, there the church is. If that is true... and if we truly believe that... then we will be extra sensitive to showing the people all around us the love of God in very practical, simple ways... without the need of a major church program.

CO-WORKER: So are you against organized religion?

CHRIS: Not really. We are actually... sort of... organized in what we do. But we aren't driven by our organization. Any time there are meetings or gatherings some organization is needed. And we do gather.

CO-WORKER: Where do you do that?

CHRIS: Mostly in homes. They provide the most natural and comfortable place of gathering. But we also get together on Sunday mornings at the old American Legion Hall in Middleport.

CO-WORKER: Oh, I think I see what you're saying.

CHRIS: I know it is different. And it's okay if you are confused a little. Just remember this. God intended church to be a life, not just a part of our lives that we participate in whenever we choose now and then. I am just not as concerned any more with where a person goes to church as much as I am how much they love Jesus and live to share that love with others. That's really all I want to do.

CO-WORKER: Well, that does make sense. In fact, I used to "go" to church myself, but I don't anymore. But that's a whole other conversation.... However, now I do understand what you meant when you said you are "adding" a career. It's like you never really left the ministry, you are just doing ministry in a different way.

CHRIS: Exactly.

CO-WORKER: Well, this has been quite interesting. We'll have to talk more on this later.

CHRIS: You bet.

[I continued down the hall to my classroom, and "co-worker" went on his way to the office.]