Job Search Renewed

I've called several of you and might send out an email soon as well. But I wanted to update you on our job search. For about two months we had focused primarily on two churches. Both of them ultimately decided to go different directions; so as of Monday, Steph and I were left confused and a little disheartened that seminary is drawing to a close and our job search is not. But God's been amazing through this all and taught us to trust Him in this process. We are confident that He will lead us where He wants us when He wants us there. So we have renewed contact with a few churches to see where they are in their process of hiring. Each of them has opportunities that excite us, so we are grateful that God has left doors open for us to peek into. So we are going to be speaking to churches in the near future to see what transpires. Please keep up in your prayers when you remember us, and we'll let you know how things progress!

On a side note, I got to preach on Easter Sunday--an impromptu sermon almost. Our pastor at Pioneer got sick the night before and asked if I could preach. I didn't have a lot of time to prepare, but God's taught me a lot through Isaiah 53 recently, which incidently is prophesying about the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. So I did my best and let God take His word and apply it to people's hearts. God's really given me a love of preaching that I had not necessarily expected to have....I hope your Easter was wonderful and that you were able to take time to remember that we serve a God who has the power to do the impossible and that we too will one day share in Christ's eternal reward because He was willing to suffer and die in our place, conquering death and giving us hope in our own resurrection to eternal life. What an awesome Savior we have!

Trying something new

I'm trying to see how to embed YouTube videos on our blog. Let's see if this works :)

Your Best Life Now

Check this out!

Joel Osteen entered into the commercial enterprise a long time ago by turning the gospel into a serve-yourself/life in Christ is all roses/watered down/consumer-oriented message. But when I saw this at the Family Christian Bookstore, I was floored! He has turned his book into a board game! If that doesn't tell you what the baseline of his ministry is (entertainment and shallowly trying to get people to believe in themselves instead of God), then I don't know what would. I could be way off with this, but does this bother anybody else?

So much could be said, but I will restrain myself. I just wanted you all to see this--if for nothing more than a laugh. But it's sad that people probably buy this stuff and watch his "sermons" and are being misled into believing that the gospel is about them more than about Christ and the glory of God.

HILARIOUS Pastor Slip-Up Video

Watch it here.

Refreshing after a long week....yeah for laughter. Check out the look on the dude's face. Watch the whole thing....hopefully Marc doesn't slip up like that one day. =)

Allergies

Here's a picture of my recent allergy testing. They basically poked my arm with a needle about 40 times with different allergens. Fun times, eh? =) They then marked the marks with a marker to see how big they grow....wow, nice sentence Steph. =) This picture is from my first round. My second round they injected me with a stronger concentration, so my arm puffed up a bit more. The result: I'm allergic to pretty much everything in the air. =) I've decided to wait until we know where we're headed to pursue treatment. The most promising option seems to be not allergy shots but allergy drops, specially made from my test results to build my immunity. If we don't move too far, the office can send it to me. It's a relief to know what's wrong with me.

Speaking of moving, we had an AMAZING visit to Lebanon, Ohio this weekend. We are in love with that town and the people. Marc and I will blog about it soon. We both feel very at peace about the job search...excited about Lebanon but humbling ourselves to God's will. He knows where we'll be. No matter what we're in His hands. It's been an uplifting time. Have a blessed week!

Stephanie

Clips

Here's two things I think would be worth your time to watch. The first one is a movie trailer and the second is a clip from E.R. If you only have time to watch one, watch the E.R. clip. It's one of the most surprising things they've aired on national television in recent times I think.

Ben Stein's movie about Intelligent Design, coming out this spring.
Watch it here.
http://expelledthemovie.com/playground.php

A must watch clip from ER, where the limits of relativism (believing that all religions are ultimately valid or true) are shown as a man faces death and wants clear answers. This is powerful!
Watch it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNuSBGa1mLM