Lambert’s, lightsabers, and ice cream cake!

Yesterday was my nephew’s 8th birthday.  First off, I cannot believe the little guy is 8 years old.  Seems like not long ago, I was staying in Springfield because they were in labor … with video camera in hand waiting for the family’s first glimpse of him, while the rest of my college ministry left for a retreat … which I later drove to, and proudly showed the first footage of my new nephew … now he’s a second grader, driving around a new go-cart, stud soccer player, and super funny kid.

I got to hang out with them last night, and our evening consisted of:

Dinner at Lambert’s … stinker must have eaten like 4 rolls . . . no room for grilled cheese!

Putting togeter a “Make your own lightsaber” kit … not like this one that’s just for weirdos.

Ice Cream cake from Dairy Queen

and “Lego Star Wars” on the playstation.

I love that little guy!  Happy Birthday buddy!

What was your best/worst birthday as a child?

What are you reading?

So, I’ve finished a couple books lately, and am gearing up to start another.  Made me curious to see what you all are reading.  Mine have all been “churchy” books, but yours don’t have to be, just wanted to see what/who was being read out there.

My recent books:

Grace Walk by Steve McVey

A book you’ll actually read: On Church Leadership by Mark Driscoll

The Big Idea by Dave Ferguson

I’m getting ready to start :

UN Christian (what a new generation really thinks about Christianity) by David Kinnaman

So … what are you reading?  Or, what are some of your favorite reads?

birthday celebrations …

So this weekend was Kris’ (my roommate and fellow church staff member) birthday.  We had dinner out with friends and then had everyone over to our place for cake and games and such.  It was a good time.  Happy Birthday Kris.

So along with the birthday celebration came the realization that I have a big one coming up.  the big 3-0.  I’ve heard stories both ways, how it was the best year, or it was a nightmare turning 30.  I’m not too scared of it, life definitely doesn’t look quite like I expected it to look by the time I was 30, but I can’t complain one bit.  I have great friends and family who love me, a church/church family that I get more excited about every week, and I know that moving forward, I’m moving under the orchestration of God’s perfect plan for my life, so I have no worries!

That being said, have you ever had a birthday that you were just dreading?  Or did you have a birthday that was just amazing?  Le me hear those stories about growing olde … um … WISER!

The results are in …

Okay, so at least I got ONE reply for your 5 songs (thanks Fran!)  So, now I need to be a man of my word and list mine.  It was a totally hard decision, and I’m sure there are other songs that I’ve forgotten, or would have preferred, but here is the eclectic list … wouldn’t want to get bored with just one genre …

40 – U2

Lose Yourself – Eminem

When a Man Loves a Woman – Percy Sledge

Glorious – Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockels

Blessed Assurance – Fanny Crosby

I’m sure that all of you music connoisseurs out there have probably fallen to the floor since I haven’t listed any Beatle’s, Stones, Dylan, etc.  Oh well, it is what it is.

5 songs …

I love music.  I always have. Some of my earliest memories are of waking up in my house and hearing the radio tuned to KDRO 1490 AM and my mom singing along as she was getting ready for the day. In the age of technology, we have any song we could ever imagine at our very fingertips, which is why this next question was so hard for me to answer:

I was asked a while back,

“If you had to pick only 5 songs that you could/would listen to for the rest of your life what would they be?”

Rolling Stone Magazine listed these 5 at the top of their list of 500 greatest songs of all time:

1. Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan

2. Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones

3. Imagine, John Lennon

4. What’s Going On, Marvin Gaye

5. Respect, Aretha Franklin

Do they make your list?

Hard question.  What are your 5?  Tell me yours, and I’ll reveal mine…

Picture this …

So today, I had the rest of my immunizations in preparation for our trip to Africa in December.  We had quite a list of immunizations that were either required or suggested, and this morning, I had 6 more to get.  I could have spread them out a little more over the next month or so, but I wanted to get them over with, and while I had the money to get them all, I figured I should.  I’m don’t HATE shots, the “little sting” doesn’t even bother me, but I CANNOT watch the needles going in!  So when the nurse walked in with a handful of syringes, I started to squirm a little.

Picture this . . . but with 2 more needles!

Anyhow, I’m now finished with my immunizations (with the exception of a flu shot that I’ll get prior to leaving), and one step closer to Mali!

Continue to pray for our preparation.

Any good shot stories?

Cool T-shirts, great cause.

Amber and Vernon are some friends of mine that I’ve been blessed to serve alongside a few times throughout the years.  They have a ministry called His Voice for Sudan which is a ministry to the orphans and widows in the war ravaged country of Sudan.  They have built and are sustaining orphanages in Sudan, and planting indigenous churches there.  You can click the “His Voice” link above to find out more information about their ministry, and after reading about it, you can help support them by going here to buy a really cool t-shirt, and the proceeds will go directly to supporting the orphans in Sudan!

Mission to Mali

This winter, I have the incredible opportunity to travel to Mali, West Africa and be part of an outreach to a tribe of people called the Fulanke (foo-lawn-kay).  We’ve partnered with Stonebridge Church, also from Nixa, to travel to Africa December 29 – January 11 to take the message of Christ to a group of people who have never before heard his name!  What an opportunity, and a great responsibility.  I wanted to post this message to give you a glimpse of what our trip will entail, and ask for your support.  I would ask that you would pray for me and my team as we prepare.  Here are their names:

Eric

Johanna

Tracy

Mark

Randy

Becca

Jenna

Shauna

Taylor

Aaron

Kristen

Also if you feel led to help support financially, please contact me at eric@finleycrossings.com, and I would be more than willing to let you know how you could do that.

I’m attaching a link to the Stonebridge website where there are 2 videos that will give you just a glimpse into the ministry that we will be a part of on this journey.

Thank you for your prayers, they mean more than you could ever imagine.

Eric

http://www.stonebridgechurch.net/International_.html

communion

We talked about communion today in church, and are going to have a Communion Service here on Saturday (27th @ 6pm).

What does the act of communion mean to you?  Is it something that you’ve just always done, and so you don’t really think about it anymore? It is a serious reminder of what Christ has done for us.

I do however have a funny communion story:

I have a friend who tells the story about her daughter during communion at their church.  She says that particular morning as the Lord’s Supper was being passed at church, just before the cracker tray made it to their pew, their daughter Abby yelled out in a full voice, “I WANT A BISCUIT!“

I know there have to be other funny communion stories out there … (I KNOW there are some)

Exchanged life

Isaiah 40:31

31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Biblical scholars say that the literal translation for the word “renew” here is exchange. So, those that wait on the Lord will in effect exchange their strength for His. To me the idea of the “exchanged life” is directly associated with the believer’s discovery of a new identity in Christ.

Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

A seemingly easy concept, but one that I often struggle to apply in my everyday life. That it truly is “no longer I . . . but Christ…” What an incredible difference when we realize that we are living Christ is living in/through us … instead of bondage, we experience liberty; instead of failure, victory; instead of fear and weakness, a sense of sufficiency in Him.

So why this blog? To let you get to know me, and in the process hopefully you’ll get to know my Savior. Like my profile says, I am doing my best every day to do this thing called life. I’ll stumble, and I’ll make mistakes, but I get up and with bumps and bruises along the way, I’ll still pursue Jesus. I absolutely believe that I cannot do it, but that Christ in me can. So, here’s my life, the good, the bad and the ugly …