Love/Hate Alive and Well. Sorry.

Obama likes Rick Warren. I like Rick Warren. What’s not to like? But, not surprizingly, people on the left and ultra-right actually hate Rick. Here’s    a story that may interest you…

One Seriously Dysfunctional Family

No matter how dark your situation seems to be, no matter how dirty you might think you are, no matter how fed up you are at work, no matter how bad the economy is, there is a message of amazing hope and encouragement in a most surprising place: a boring list of names called a genealogy.

Get this: God chooses some seriously messed-up people to achieve his goals. Jesus’ lineage is anything but a star-studded line-up of super-saints. This thing reads more like a roll call at the county jail. Talk about a dysfunctional family! We see murder, adultery, incest, prostitution, cheating, lying-it’s all there-in the dysfunctional family tree of Jesus.

But in the perfection of God’s timing, three by fourteen generations, God did the job. In a similar way, He’ll do it again, and with a similar cast of characters:) There is an awful lot of confusion, depression, anxiety and fear out there. But if you are a child of God, never live in pessimism and despair. Never. God knows where he’s taking this thing. God has a design. Learn more this Sunday morning at 9:15 or 11:00. And this is definitely a “bring-a-friend” message.

WOW!!!

I am OVERWHELMED! You helped a homeless family get settled in a house, providing all kinds of furniture and goods. You sent five boxes of sixteen 42-inch stuffed stockings to a platoon in Iraq for Operation Shop and Awe. And on top of that, we provided 160 bags of clothes for a bunch of neighbors around the church!

And we’re just getting warmed up. We’re going to provide hot meals for the homeless on December 8, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. There’s a collection box in the lobby to make 50 gift bags for the Elizabeth House Soup Kitchen, an opportunity to provide Christmas gifts for two anonymous families in the church, and a way to support Baby Riley’s family. I am totally PUMPED about this people!

Then yesterday, I get this call from the guidance counselor at our neighborhood elementary school: “Pastor Mark, is there any way Calvary can help some struggling families at our school? We know of 28 families who need clothes, food, toiletries, and toys for Christmas and I thought maybe you all might….”

So I’m dreaming right? The neighborhood school is calling the neighborhood church for help? That blows me away because churches generally have had a diminishing if not tarnished reputation among secular organizations, and that has to be the craziest saddest thing in the whole wide world. 

But YOU have made Calvary a church with a great reputation… “Dear Pastor Mark, Your congregation is amazing… Michelle and her children were speechless with the outpouring of your members. This took time, effort and money to make a difference for a family who had nothing. To know we have this type of support is not just reassuring it is a blessing and a gift.” –Bonnie Hudak (Grassroots, Howard County)

So we are going to make many Christmases some kinda brighter this December. Look for the Tree of Opportunity and Donation Boxes in the lobby to see the many ways we can help.

Merry Bad Economy, and a Happy New Year

Mark

Thanksgiving Fun Facts!

Did you know this about the probable original Thanksgiving menu?

New Podcast: God’s GPS

Looking for some direction in life? Maybe you need God’s GPS.

The Names

The Sunday before last, I asked you to write down the name or names of people that you felt might be open to a relationship with God. Maybe you can spot the one(s) you’ve submitted. I am committed to praying for these names, (simply reading the list aloud to God and summing it up with a prayer for them to commit or recommit their lives to Christ) and want to offer you the opportunity to pray for them as well — and I also thought it would be a great idea to pray seriously about inviting them to church.

Here are those names — a sea of them — and there is a unique story behind each and every one. They are individuals that God loves and cares deeply about and longs to have a relationship with. So please, pray…

Michael S, Ronny, Wendy, Leslie, Sandi, Simon, John O, Rachel, Marty, Victor, Wayne, Dan, Angela S, Johann, Frances, Jonathan, Amy, Louis, Kiersten C, Karien, Bob, Oleg, Ravinder, John, David P, Onnie, Joe, Bipin, Stephanie, Randy, Donna P, Hein, Katie, Jason, Stephen, Ken, Lucy, Debbie, Diane, Jason, Dorothy, Tiffany, Bryan, Jeff, Grant, Dan, Alvin, Erik, George, Doug, Jason, Sue, Robert, Kerstin, Thelma, Jim, Darlene, Mike, Erin, Camer, Ian, Michelle, Tony, Rodney, Tim, Suong, Jeffrey, Ira, Valarie, Bailey, Tamara, Tiffany, Christy, Mindy, Wendy, Will, Agnes, Geri, Diana, Millie, Harold, Amanda, Joe, Jeff, Melani, Chris, Liz, Sarah, Jemarc, Lester, Lorrie, Stacey, Joe, Joanna, Tomika, Dave, Terri, Becky, Caroline, Chris, Beverly, Jack, Lou, Jacquelyn, Jaki, Tim, Dawn, John, Kim, Aubrey, Beau, Donna, Dale, Laura, Rich, Eric, Diane, Mimi, Dave, Mathew, James, Andy, Liz, Mike, Jay, Susan, Charlotte, Donna, Barry, Risa, Cheryl, Maria, Jackie, Darryl, Adam, Bob, Arielle, Mia, Nancy, Debby, Steven, Amber, Maria, Ricky, Tommy, Brendan, John, Bill, Yang, Kurt, Paul, Nusirat, Evan, Carren, Dawn, Anne, Yomi, Betsy, Charlie, Diane, Taryn, Iyebo, Will, Lisa, Craig, Steve, Mobola, Debra, Laurie, Kelly, Nyah, Edgar, Tako, Samuel, Julie, Juan, Dele, Tonya, Clara, Lide, Missau, Moses, Karen, Kelinda, Julie, Josh, Amibor, Stephanie, Tayo, Shanna, Samantha, Efeilomo, Mark, Lawrence, Byron, Lauren, Idowy, Ray, Lola, Jeffrey, Sal, Iyisi, Tommy, Elaine, Kristin, Kristin, Eric, Alex, Arif, Suzette, DalBello, Stephanie, Harold, JR, Steve, Renee, Nick, Doug, Trinh, Jessica, Stephanie, Joe, Christina, Angela, Kevin, Steve, Ryan, Bob, Cathy, Jeff, Lisa, Nikki, Lisa, Mary, James, Nina, Deavion, Beth, Struan, Paige, Dave, Kay Kay, Linda, Jenny, Raff, Stephanie, Michelle, Sue, Donald, Jean, Geoff, Alfred, Dwight

Make Us Messengers

“God, make us messengers.” I can’t get that prayer out of my head. I hope you can’t either. I want to always be looking for ways to be a messenger in my everyday life. I want my life to be defined by the mission of Jesus. This past week, I found a new way — a new avenue for being a messenger. There are unique opportunities just a few short miles away. We’ll talk about that this Sunday.

An Amazing Experience

It’s no secret that Columbia sits nestled in one of the richest counties in America. But did you know that growing homelessness exists just a few miles away? The sightings along Route 1 between Laurel and Elkridge tell only part of the story. There are way too many people living in cobbled-together-makeshift campsites along the wooded Laurel/Jessup corridor.

And winter is coming.

On Monday, October 13^th, I served my first shift at the Route 1 Day Center – a place of refuge for homeless folks. Here, our weather-battered friends can get a hot meal, do some laundry, take a shower, grab some “new” clothes and a few non-perishables to go.

I am committed to this effort, and I hope you’ll consider it too.

Lisa made a seeming four tons of hot Potpie and we slung those trays up the steps to the Day Center kitchen. The weather-worn travelers began to come from everywhere. I looked out the window, seeing them in clusters from every direction. I had no idea there were so many.

And I saw some people from church there! You know who you are, wink! It was like being at church; it was great. It was the “send us out” part of Calvary’s recurring “fill us up, send us out” theme.

So this is where the church comes in — the rest of us. We need drivers to pick up people, cooks to prepare meals, people to provide food for the pantry and clothes for the closet, and a few warm/real people to just be there for whatever.

You’ll be hearing a lot more about this very soon. We are conspiring and organizing. If you can’t wait another minute and need to get involved now, contact the heart and soul behind all this, Anne Dunn at anne@spiritofcommunity.net. I look forward to serving with you!